Features

A last-ditch effort to save the 19th-century home of Berkeley pioneer John M. Doyle is $15,000 short and running out of time. 

Mayor Tom Bates said a resident has put up some money to pay the cost of moving the house, slated for demolition May 16, to a nearby location.  

Developer Patrick Kennedy, who plans to replace the building at 2008 University Ave. with a 35-unit housing project on the site, has also offered some cash for the move, said Bates. But $15,000 more is needed. 

“If someone is very interested in seeing the building saved, now is the time to do it,” said Bates, urging would-be preservationists to contact his office soon. 

Even if the money comes through, he said, the city would have to push the permits through quickly and hope for a small miracle from PG&E, which requires weeks of advance notice before conducting the sort of complicated wiring job the move would require. 

Bates said the city will make every effort to push the process forward if the money appears. 

The Doyle House has been the subject of a battle between Kennedy and preservationists from the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA). Kennedy cleared his last major hurdle to the project earlier this week when BAHA dropped a lawsuit asking the city of Berkeley to do an environmental impact report on the demolition proposal. 

—David Scharfenberg