The downtown San Jose home of Camino Brewing Company, which announced its closing last week, shouldn’t be vacant for very long. That’s the word from Garden City Construction CEO Jim Salata, who owns the building on South First Street where Camino’s brewing operations, taproom and beer garden were located.
“It’s going to be a whole reinvention of this space,” Salata said over the weekend, adding that he’s working with consultants already on the concept and he hopes they’ll have something open by summer.
Garden City Construction CEO Jim Salata talks about plans for the “reinvention” of the former Camino Brewing Co. space at 718 S. First St. in San Jose on Saturday, April 13, 2024. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
Salata expects the new iteration to be more than a taproom, and it’s actually still up in the air if on-site brewing will continue. “I am so excited with so much possibility,” he said.
Over the past several years, Salata also has been restoring the former Faber’s Cyclery next to Camino Brewing just south of Interstate 280, with hopes of turning that into a watering hole called Benjamin’s Saloon. However, the restoration of the 140-year-old building has been time-consuming and costly while the newer Camino space is getting fast-tracked.
PICK-UP PATROLS: San Jose should be a lot prettier this time next week, as more than 40 clean-up events are planned at locations throughout the city for the Great American Litter Pick Up on April 20. City officials will join volunteers to help clean up parks, trails, plazas, schools areas and neighborhoods from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
In a social media post, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan called it his “favorite day of the year,” but it’s more likely just another Saturday for Mahan, who seems to have taken part in neighborhood cleanups and service projects just about every weekend during his tenure.
Litter pick-up tools will be provided to volunteers, and you can sign up for any of the cleanups on the Beautify SJ website at bit.ly/volunteer-bsj.
TOMATOES ON TRIAL: The annual Santa Clara County UC Master Gardener Spring Garden Fair is taking place April 27 at Martial Cottle Park in San Jose, providing home gardeners everything they need to get ready for the growing days ahead this summer. As always, the event will include talks on the best ways to grow vegetables, plant flowers to attract pollinators and take care of fruit trees.
There’ll be thousands of seedlings for sale including tomatoes, peppers, herbs, native plants, and succulents — all grown at Martial Cottle Park.
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One interesting new twist for this year is a tomato trial. The Master Gardeners want to find out how three new tomato varieties do in Santa Clara County by having local gardeners try them out. If they make the cut, the tomatoes could be offered at future sales.
“The plants we offer for sale at our garden markets are chosen specifically for the growing conditions in Santa Clara County,” said Barbara Krause of the UC Santa Clara County Master Gardeners. “A tomato that thrives in Marin or Modesto may or may not do as well here.”
Gardeners who want to be part of the trial need to sign up in advance, buy the trial tomato set at the Spring Garden Fair and then report their results online.
Admission is free to the spring fair, which runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., but parking is $6. Get more details at mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/events-calendar/spring-garden-fair.
GETTING EARTHY WITH IT: Cupertino will be celebrating the planet Saturday with its annual Earth Day & Arbor Day Festival at Library Field Park, starting at 11 a.m. The festival will include hands-on activities, live entertainment and food trucks — along with partner organizations providing information about environmental issues and solutions.
Meanwhile, Palo Alto will have its Earth Day festival on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Rinconada Library on Newell Road, with animal encounters, an induction cooking demonstration, an upcycled art show and a game of “Eco-Bingo.” City employees also will be providing information on how you can take environmental actions like electrifying your home, taking more sustainable transit options and living a zero-waste lifestyle.