In With the Old . . .

Secretary of State March Fong Eu and state Archivist John Burns have finally convinced the Legislature and governor of the need for a new state archives building. Gov. George Deukmejian has signed a bill sponsored by state Sen. Alfred E. Alquist (D-San Jose) to allocate up to $100 million for a building to house the archives and the secretary of state’s office in a one-block area just southwest of the Capitol. At last, California’s most treasured and important documents will be properly cared for, housed and made available for public and academic use and appreciation.

The treatment of the state archives has bordered on the scandalous. Nearly 25 years ago, the California Heritage Preservation Commission called for a new building. The archives are now stored in a hand-me-down structure, the old state printing plant. There has been inadequate space for storage and no room at all for public display of such important documents as the original California constitutions of 1849 and 1879. The roof leaks every winter. Fire suppression and temperature and humidity controls are inadequate. There is no protection of documents from light damage.

Eu said the new building should be completed in four or five years. It will also provide space for consolidation of the divisions of the secretary of state’s office, now housed in rented space in several locations in downtown Sacramento.

California made the proper decision some years back when it decided to rebuild and restore the state Capitol rather than replace it with a modernistic new seat of government. Now the state is bringing the past to life again by providing adequate protection for, and public access to, California’s documentary history.