Mansion’s Conversion to Restaurant Opposed

The Friends of Casa Romantica is urging council members to thwart plans to develop the historic city-owned mansion as a restaurant.

The organization’s members have said the 1928 Casa Romantica, once the home of city founder Ole Hanson, should be turned into a cultural center.

The bluff-top mansion, bought by the city’s Redevelopment Agency in 1989 for $2.4 million, is now leased to a wedding business. The city recently reached an agreement with a developer to restore the home and operate a restaurant there.

At a meeting last week, the group asked the city to hire an independent firm to survey residents about the home or to place the issue on the November ballot.

“Most likely this will require a special election, which will be a costly matter to the city,” Wayne Eggleston, the group’s spokesman, said.

City officials said there have been more than 40 public meetings, hearings and workshops about the fate of Casa Romantica.

“The plan we have will open up the Casa to more people and make it a public building,” City Councilman Steve Apodaca said. “It is our duty to pursue that agreement.”