GILBERT, Ariz. — Time is running out to raise more than $100,000 to save a historical house in downtown Gilbert that is slated to be torn down to make way for a Bottled Blonde nightclub location.
The deadline to raise the money is Monday, organizers said.
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Gilbert's Clare House dates back to 1918 and was the home of Forest Clare and his family. Clare ran a metal shop for 50 years until his retirement. The house later became a coffee shop in downtown Gilbert but stayed largely intact.
It sits between Joe's BBQ and Dierk's Bentley's Whiskey Row on Gilbert Road. But it's since been sold to a developer planning on building another location of a Scottsdale bar and club called Bottled Blonde.
"We're growing," Casey Kendel, chair of Gilbert's Redevelopment Commission said. "Downtown Gilbert is growing. The town is growing, and with that comes a lot of change."
But while Kendel is a shepherd of that change, he's also leading the effort to save Clare House from it.
Kendel needs $135,000 to pick the house up, put it on a flatbed trailer, and move it to the Gilbert Historical Museum for display.
But so far they've only raised $23,000.
And Kendel said the developer needs to know by Monday, July 15, if they have the rest of the money.
"At some point, their project does need to move forward, and they will be breaking ground," Kendel said.
"But I think that with a few key donations, we can get the house saved and moved," he said.
Click Here to donate to the Gilbert Historical Museum's fund to move Clare House.
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