Old Home Tour Focuses on Preservation

It’s not so much the stucco itself that Kristi Alvarez objects to. It’s that people put it on nice, stately old homes in an attempt to modernize them.

Alvarez is on the Pomona Heritage board of directors, and is chairing the group’s ninth annual Old Home Tour today.

“A lot of times, people come in and buy an old home because they’re a little bit cheaper than a new home,” Alvarez said.

But then they renovate them, putting on stucco, tearing out old windows and putting in new aluminum frame ones, and making other changes that ruin the integrity of the house’s architecture and historical significance.

So, for Alvarez, the purpose of the home tour, which begins in Lincoln Park, is twofold.

One is to raise money.

“We’re trying to get a historical ordinance passed in Pomona,” to protect older homes from such renovation, she said. There are fees connected to that. Plus, she said, “We’re trying to start a grant program to help people who are restoring their homes.”

The other is to educate people.

“We’re trying to make people aware of Pomona and its potential and its past,” she said. “It’s not a froufrou tour. . . . It’s to educate our visitors and hopefully get them to appreciate old homes.”

Alvarez estimates that there are about 800 houses with historically significant architecture in the Lincoln Park neighborhood alone, and about 5,000 historically significant buildings in the whole city. But there are only five houses on the tour, one built in the 1890s.

In addition to the tour, there will be a craft show, entertainment and food in Lincoln Park, at Lincoln and Palomares avenues. The tour costs $10; the craft show and entertainment are free. Food prices vary, with a hamburger, chips and soda going for $2.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.