A children’s hospital is offering $20,000 to move this three-bedroom house. The building is a 1,040-square-foot house. It is located at 5204 Martin Luther King Jr. Way on the corner of 52nd Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way in North Oakland. Original construction still remaining in the house includes the kitchen cupboards, dining room built-in hutch, and bathroom tile.
For years the previous owner, Lawrence Bossola had rejected multiple requests to sell from the hospital administrators. Bossola’s parents built the home in 1934 and he had lived there almost his entire life. Although 81-years old, the house is not considered historic. A year after Bossola’s death at 87 years of age, Al Gavello, his friend and executor of his estate, sold the house in 2002 to the children’s hospital for $325,000. Gavello has maintained that Bossola respected the children’s hopsital and has also donated $25,000 to the hospital in Bossola’s name.
The house is currently used as an administrative office for the trauma services department. However, the hospital needs that 5,355 sq. ft. of land to build new outpatient offices. The deadline for relocation or demolition is around the end of September. There are a number of physical obstacles to moving the house. The house in surrounded by the children’s hospital, the BART tracks, parking garages, and medical offices. Therefore, it is likely that the structure will have to be separated into pieces to fit under the BART tracks, on the streets, and on freway ramps.
CONTACT INFO
Darrel Graef
Project Superintendent
Turner Construction Company
510-764–3059 / 510-479-0045
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Melinda Krigel
Media Relations Manager
UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland
510-428-3069
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Doug Nelson
Executive Director Development &Construction
UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland
510-428-3000