The Carl Luck Museum is still very much a work in progress. Originally proposed in the 1970's by members of the newly chartered San Juan Bautista Historical Society, the museum's development has been envisioned from the start as a community museum for this town long known as the "City of History." Despite early planning and discussion on what the museum would become, the museum's development has hinged on the availability of space, community donations, and the Carl Luck Filling Station building located adjacent the Luck Library of San Juan Bautista. In the Spring of 1999, the museum received a real boost in the form of permissions to occupy the Carl Luck Filling Station, and the assistance of the Gabilan Conservation Camp crews of Soledad under the direction of Lt. Commander Flavio Silva and Dr. Ruben Mendoza of the CSU Monterey Bay Museum Education Project. While permission was obtained from the City of San Juan Bautista to occupy the filling station, the men of the Gabilan Conservation Camp set about gutting the building and removing the trash that had accumulated therein.
Since that time, work has steadily progressed on the renovation of the interior of the proposed museum space. In addition to the concrete patching of the building provided by volunteer Mr. Patrick MacDonald of Patrick MacDonald Masonry of Fresno, California, the interiors have been painted and the doors and windows have been replaced under the supervision of Mr. Joe Columber of San Juan Bautista. Ms. Georgiana Gularte of the San Juan Bautista historical society has coordinated all recent efforts to install ceiling fans, electrical wiring, and walkways.
In the Fall of 1999, the students of the CSU Monterey Bay Museum Education Project under the supervision of Dr. Ruben Mendoza have worked to organize, catalog, digitize and post materials to this site in an effort to create an online or virtual museum presence for this fledgling museum and important historical society. This effort has been conducted as a service learning project for the purposes of making this community's history a history for the community. We do hope that you enjoy this site and keep track of its ongoing development over the coming year.
