The The Blue Wing InnA historic California landmark on Sonoma Plaza that was one of the first hotels built north of San Francisco is in need of major repairs and, in the eyes of state officials, could be turned into a site that would generate significant revenue for state parks. system.

It’s a big job, and California State Parks officials have begun the process of asking if a private operator might want to take it on.

The State of California purchased the building in 1968 with the intention of turning it into a museum. Funding hurdles prevented the state parks from fulfilling this vision, and the building sat unused and in a state of increasing disrepair.

So the state park system on Oct. 24 began seeking public input on what community members would like to see in a potential contract that would put historically compliant restoration efforts in the hands of a business.

Instead, the operator could run businesses on the redeveloped site — such as a hotel, restaurants or shops — and pay rent back to the state.

“A concession contract with California State Parks is a business contract,” said Parks and Recreation Specialist Peter Ostroskie. “There are certain legal obligations in that contract, but then it allows this business to have the opportunity to work with us and generate revenue.”

The Blue Wing Inn, at 131 E. Spain St. right across from Mission San Francisco Solanoit was built around 1840 and opened in 1848 and began as a transfer of ownership between General Mariano Vallejo to his mayor Antonio Ortega in the newly established. Pueblo de Sonoma.

The building is located inside Sonoma State Historic Parka nonprofit organization established in 1982 as a cooperative association of the California State Parks Association. SSHP consists of six locations in Sonoma: Mission San Francisco Solano, Sonoma Barracks, Toscano Hotel & Kitchen, Servants Quarters, General Vallejo’s home, and the Blue Wing Inn.

During the gold rush, the Blue Wing Inn housed miners and American soldiers. It gained landmark status in 1932.

“What a lot of companies do is they look for a building in state parks that will require some work, but not a lot,” Ostroskie said. “With the Blue Wing Inn, there is lots of parts and we are looking for plans on how someone could manage this to slowly start taking over most of the running of the building for us and paying for the things that need to be done on the building. “

In addition to restoring the building, a concession agreement would require the operator to provide a certain amount of educational and historical opportunities for visitors to learn more about the history of the property.

State parks officials have not yet developed a formal process for soliciting a potential concessionaire. However, they began soliciting input from Sonoma residents on how the process might go, starting with a community meeting at Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma on October 24.

Some community members shared ideas about what they would like to see at the Blue Wing. Recommendations included a tasting room, a cooking school or an art gallery.

Others balked at the idea of ​​a private business rehabbing and then operating parts of the inn and instead pushed for the long-stalled museum plan to move forward.

The challenge, state officials said, is the potentially high cost of repairs and restoration. The park system declined to provide an estimate.

Although the process of establishing a concession agreement has just begun, it is a priority for parks officials to work with community members on future plans for the Blue Wing Inn.

“We know the people of Sonoma are very passionate about their buildings and the city,” Ostroskie said. “There are lots of ideas, but there are also lots of voices that aren’t being heard, and so we’d really like to see more people coming to public meetings.”

The next step in the process will involve further community engagement meetings, to be announced, with parks officials. Finally, “State Parks will issue a request for proposals for a new concession contract through a competitive bidding process,” officials said in a news release.

Parks officials’ commitment to work with the community on the future of the Blue Wing Inn seemed to reassure some attendees at the Oct. 24 public meeting.

“I would like to see the minimum required for the building because it is the least remodeled of the Gold Rush era hotels,” said Karla Noyes, a former professor at Mission San Francisco Solano and Hotel Toscano. “It has its historical integrity intact.”

“I was encouraged that they seemed to care about the building as much as I did,” she added.

You can reach writer Isabel Beer at 707-933-2734 or [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @IsabelSongBeer