Artifacts unearthed at site of downtown SLO bus hub — and now work is on hold
An upgrade of a downtown bus transit center has been halted while San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority officials research the possible discovery of historical artifacts.
While digging for underground electrical conduits in late January, Brough Construction workers unearthed bricks that are “likely from the old County Hall of Records” building at the corner of Osos Street and Palm Street in San Luis Obispo, said Geoff Straw, the San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority’s executive director.
The block includes the Osos Street county government building that once was San Luis Obispo County’s courthouse. The area is a significant part of the city’s history.
The former Hall of Records building was used as a temporary jail in 1942 while the courthouse building was under construction, said Kate Ballantyne, deputy director of public works for the county.
Japanese-American resident Patrick Nagano was temporarily housed at the jail during World War II and later described conditions there as horrid.
“The cell was small, dingy, ill-lit, and smelly,” Nagano told Tribune history columnist Dan Krieger in 2015. “On entering the cell, I nearly kicked over a can brimming with the urine of former occupants.”
The old Hall of Records is not associated with the city’s 1873-era courthouse building, according to county officials.
An old postcard depicting San Luis Obispo’s 1873 courthouse also shows a red-colored building that appears to be the old Hall of Records.
“We are working with a local environmental planning firm (SWCA Environmental Consultants) to conduct a field inspection and an historic literature review to determine what may have been located at that site in the past,” Straw said Monday.
“SWCA discovered the bricks are likely from the old County Hall of Records,” Straw added Tuesday.
SLO County bus project could be delayed
It remains unclear how long the project could be delayed as the possible artifacts are examined.
“It could just add a week or so to the project, but it could be longer,” Straw said. “We could have to change the project and take mitigations, or even abandon it, depending on what we find out.”
Fencing around the site, jutting onto Osos Street, has been installed to keep people out of the construction zone. And city officials warn people to stay away from the blocked off area.
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Meanwhile, passengers have been diverted to board buses on Palm Street near Santa Rosa Street, adjacent to the courthouse.
The idea behind the planned transit center is to create a more convenient hub for one of the busiest bus areas in the county, said Mary Gardner, the RTA’s manager of marketing and community relations.
“This is where many of our bus routes from throughout the county come into SLO, and it offers easy transfers to the city’s bus system, with SLO Transit located just a block away,” Gardner said.
Gardner said the “existing shelter there just had gotten old.”
“Our project is just better angled to block the sun,” Gardner said. “It gets so hot out there, especially in the summer, for people waiting.”
RTA upgrade includes ticket vending, shelters
The RTA started the $170,000 improvement project in mid-January.
Improvements include an expanded passenger waiting area with four large passenger shelters, a ticket vending machine, LED signs with GPS-based vehicle location systems to alert passengers about bus arrivals. Additional benches and trash containers are also planned, as well as a large kiosk.
The work includes a new, expanded bike parking and a new bike repair station.
The project was supposed to take about 10 weeks, with a projected April completion. RTA bus loading has been re-routed to the Palm Street area in front of the courthouse in the interim.
Straw said sidewalks improvements in that location are designed to ensure Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance, and unanticipated problems with sidewalk heaving — raised surfaces from tree roots — could increase project costs.
“We had to stop progress due to the sidewalk tree-heaving issue following a site-walk on Jan. 27 with city and county officials,” Straw said. “During that meeting, we also discussed the bricks and how to best proceed.”
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