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Shortly after the California State Historical Resources Commission voted unanimously on Friday to add Grant Union High School to the National Register of Historic Places, Kelvin Lee explained why the honor meant so much to him.
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Lee graduated from Grant in 1964, is president of the school’s alumni association and addressed the commission prior to its vote.
“It means a great deal,” Lee said. “It means that the building that means so much to the alumni and to our community is going to be recognized forever as a historic place and I think it gives recognition to the unique feature that that particular campus has in our community.”
He added, “It is the center. I would say that it’s the axle in which the whole wheel of our community revolves around.”
Friday, this axle gained recognition, becoming one of three Sacramento sites along with the former El Dorado Elementary School and the Thomson-Diggs Co. building to be added to the historic register.
Twin Rivers’ objection to Grant High
Ryan DiGiulio, chief business official for Twin Rivers Unified School District, which Grant High is part of, sent a letter to the state on June 30 objecting to adding the school to the register.
“While we understand that such a designation is largely honorary, the practical implications would have a substantial impact on the District’s ability to maintain, modernize, and plan improvements at the campus,” DiGiulio wrote.
As she waited for the commission to consider Grant’s nomination, Grant alumna Ari Green said she was hopeful about her school getting listed.
“Grant means everything to our family,” Green said. “We are very prideful. We are very proud of the institution.”
No one from Twin Rivers spoke during Friday’s meeting to object to the listing. Commissioner Neal Payton also didn’t seem sympathetic to the district’s concern, saying he’d read its letter many times.
“I recognize all the things they’re thinking about and I don’t take them lightly, because they’re serious,” Payton said. “I mean, school districts are under a lot of pressure. But the amount of money that they are concerned about … is essentially loose change.”
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Payton urged Twin Rivers “to think creatively, be more curious, and to work with the folks who have brought this to the attention.”
Lee insisted the district’s objection was water under the proverbial bridge.
“They’ve been nothing but supportive of the alumni association’s concern, our community’s concern,” Lee said. “They’re investing money in our school, so it is not an adversarial circumstance. It’s a technical circumstance, that’s all.”
No objections for El Dorado school and Thomson-Diggs
The votes for El Dorado Elementary School and the Thomson-Diggs building came early in meeting as part of the consent calendar because the properties had not received objections.
Sean de Courcy, the city of Sacramento’s preservation director, addressed the commission to support the nominations of the two sites. He noted that Thomson-Diggs is being converted into housing.
“By reusing an existing historic warehouse and office building rather than constructing new housing from the ground up, the project preserves an important piece of Sacramento’s industrial history while helping to address the city’s housing needs,” de Courcy said in prepared remarks.
He added, “We hope this project establishes a successful model that encourages similar adaptive reuse projects throughout downtown.”
As for the former El Dorado Elementary School, de Courcy said that the city “has had considerable success adapting former school buildings” and that “recognizing these schools before they are redeveloped helps ensure their history remains part of the community.”
East Sacramento resident Shannon Ross, who has helped lead the effort to save the former elementary school that has operated as the A. Warren McClaskey Adult Center in recent years, attended the meeting and was pleased the school was added to the register.
“It took awhile but we finally moved it along,” Ross said. “So that’s really great.”
In all, 10 properties in the state were added to the register through the consent vote, including the Bellaire Tower in San Francisco, The Woman’s Building in Los Angeles and the Russell E. and Virgie R. Babcock House in San Diego. Members of the Prince Hall Freemasons were on-hand to support the nomination for Firma Lodge No. 27 in Vallejo.
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This story was originally published August 9, 2026 at 10:56 AM.