A roofline and the structure of First Church of Christ Scientist, located at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose, is exposed to the elements, February 2023.
SAN JOSE — Recent wind blasts have shredded a tarp that had been covering an old church in downtown San Jose, exposing the historic building to the winter’s elements, including fierce rain storms.
Z&L Properties, a unit of a China-based real estate firm, owns the church and adjacent sites such as a surface parking lot and weed-choked field.
San Jose officials have begun to press the property owner to place a new tarp or reimburse the city for the replacement work,