Rebirth of Alustiza’s

To Accommodate the New Life Treatment Addiction Program for Women

at the Gospel Center Rescue Mission

Proposed Building Reconstruction

For over 50 years, Alustiza’s was a favorite restaurant and watering hole for busi­ nessmen, farmers and local power brokers. Few people realize the restaurant and upstairs hotel was built by Fermin Alustiza, a highly successful Spanish immigrant from the Basque region and opened for business in 1924.

Fermin Alustiza arrived in San Francisco in 1906 at the time of the great Earth­ quake and Fire. “Fermin was a stocky, powerful man – intelligent, ambitious, and not afraid of hard work. His travels took him north of San Francisco to Johnsville, in Plumas County, where he was employed in construction of the Western Pacific Railroad in the Feather River country. It was there that the paths of Fermin and Agustina Aboitix crossed. Augustina and her brother Francisco had journeyed to America from the little country vil­ lage of Ispaster, nestled in the Basque province of Vizcaya.”

“As fate would have it, Francisco too found employ­ ment with the railroad and as he and Fermin worked together they became friends. Hence, Agustina and Fermin met and fell in love in Johnsville, California halfway around the world from their birthplaces which were about 50 miles kilometers apart in Spain!”

“Many Basques who came to the American West in those days were attracted to the hotel business­ which combined both a saloon and boarding house. Agustina’s domain was the kitchen… she was a natural born cook and worked preparing food since she was very young. These were hard­working people; besides operating a hotel, they were also engaged in the sheep business. At one time they had between three and four thousand head of sheep on the island pasture lands west of Stockton.” Fermin’s original partner in the hotel business was Satur­ ino Garamendi, the grandfather of now Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, John Garamendi.

In 1923, Fermin and Agustina began work on “Alustiza’s California Hotel.” “They built a three story brick build­ ing with walls eighteen inches thick. As he had been a stonemason in his youth in Spain, Fermin wanted it to be

sturdy and of the best construction. With Agustina as his helpmate, they opened for business in June of 1924.”

In 1969, the next generation took over the operation of “Alustiza’s.” Jack and Bob, grandsons of Fermin and Agustina, with their inherent affinity for cooking and good food, remodeled the facilities and won the Award of Excel­ lence for Contributions to Urban Beau­ tification from the City of Stockton’s Cultural Heritage Board. In the ensuing years, the times changed and in 1983, the building was sold to the Gospel Center Rescue Mission. and became the “New Hope Family Shelter” until a new build­ ing was constructed in 2006. The old “Alustiza’s” building was considered for total demolition, but an inspection con­ firmed that it is sound and would better be preserved than replaced. The “Rebirth of Alustiza’s” project is a partnership with Gospel Center Rescue Mission and Stock­ ton Leadership Foundation.

Map of Basque Region

Antique iron sign from Alustiza’s

NOTE: All quotations are from Mary Alustiza’s book “The Basque Table” a cookbook that details the history of Alustiza’s “California Hotel”.

The History

“Rebirth of Alustiza’s” Phase I - Demolition

l Fund-raising for demolition estimate: $50,000

l Professional removal of hazardous materials

l Totally gutting the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors with volunteer labor from local church men’s groups

l Redesign of new interior of building Architect: Steve Castellanos, Derivi Construction and Architecture, Inc.

Phase II - Reconstruction l Fundraising through government and private

grants. Estimate: $1,000,000

l Providing jobs through the general contractor and sub-contractors

l Finishing and furnishing rooms by volunteer community groups

Phase III - Completion l Moving the 2nd and 3rd year of women’s

rehab program into the 24 bed facility

The Phases

At the present time there are no suitable facilities for transitional hous­ ing at the GCRM and very few within the county. Women and women with children must remain temporarily in the New Hope Family Shelter which blocks other women from starting their first six months of treatment. The reconstruction of Alustiza’s provides GCRM with a unique opportunity to create that much needed transi­ tional housing by converting the old 24 room hotel into a suitable facility for redeeming the lost and restoring families!

For further information about this project, contact:

Bill Brown, Executive Director, GCRM. Office: 209­320­2314 ~ Cell: 209­612­5573 Email: wrb339@aol.com

Bill Stoermer, Chairman, “Rebirth of Alustiza’s” Stockton Leadership Foundation Board member Office: 209­931­7070 ~ Cell: 209­612­5573 Email: bstoermer@sandalwoodmc.com

The Future The Need

Since the property sits on the same block, Alustiza’s was acquired by Gospel Center Rescue Mission with the hopes of turning it into a transitional housing center for women. Currently, Gospel Center Rescue Mission serves greater Stockton by providing much needed resources to some of the neediest people within our community. In addition to its nightly dinners and temporary housing for men, GCRM also provides much needed training and support in its efforts to help men and women get their lives back on track.

l In 2005, 13.3% of the U.S. population, or 38,231,521 million people, lived in poverty. Of that, it is estimated that 30% are single mother, head of household situations. l Within the context of poverty and the lack of affordable housing, certain additional factors may push people into homelessness: Lack of affordable health care, domestic violence and addictions, etc. l Domestic Violence: Battered women who live in poverty are often forced to choose between abusive relationships and homelessness.

The reconstruction of Alustiza’s California Hotel provides a unique and wonderful op­ portunity to expand their New Life Treatment Addiction Program for Women.

The GCRM Women’s New Life Program currently has 18 women in a six month residential addiction treatment program (Phase One). When these women success­ fully complete the first six months of treatment they need to be able to transfer into clean and sober transitional living so they can com­ plete the transformation of their lives by attending classes at Delta College and/or by working during some part of the next 30 months. History has demonstrated that sending women who have de­ stroyed all of the supportive relationships in their lives out to fend for themselves at this point in their recovery means they have no place to go but back to where they came from. This usually means back to the same lifestyle and addiction! Women who remain in a treatment environment for up to three years are 60% more likely to be successful in their recovery because they have had time to establish new supportive relationships in the church and community. It also means they have developed the means of supporting themselves and their children!

“This project gives me peace of mind that the history of the Alustiza’s building is being linked with an exiting future.”

Jack Alustizia