Funeral home destroyed in fire served Modesto for 95 years. What’s next for the site?
Franklin & Downs stood ready for decades to aid grieving families at its downtown Modesto funeral home.
Now the place is itself being mourned, following a July 16 fire that severely damaged the 1895 structure at 12th and G streets.
It had not been used since 2016 and was prone to trespassers in recent years. Meanwhile, Franklin & Downs has continued to operate on McHenry Avenue in Modesto and Fifth Street in Ceres.
The charred ruins still stand behind temporary fencing while the Modesto Fire Department determines the cause. People walking by might sense some of the past grandeur amid the faint scent of smoke.
“Remember what it used to be,” said Matt Innes, part of the third generation at the funeral business. “Remember what it was to people. That’s all you can do. The building is gone.”
The Modesto Bee met with Innes at the site a week after the fire. He suspects it might have been set by an unidentified trespasser, but he is awaiting MFD’s findings.
Property had been sold in April
The property had been purchased in April by the Stanislaus County Office of Education for $1.25 million. The office had an immediate need for the midblock parking lot next to the funeral home. SCOE said at the time that it was aware of the building’s poor condition and that it likely could not be restored.
In an emailed update Thursday, SCOE confirmed that the funeral home is beyond repair. It cannot yet decide on the building site’s future or say when the parking spaces will be available.
“The structure has been determined to be nonsalvageable and will be removed,” Communications Director Judy Boring said. “For safety reasons, the parking area adjacent to the former mortuary will remain closed until the structural remains are removed.”
As for the long term, she said, “a decision has yet to be made on whether to add additional parking or build a new building. Program needs will be evaluated to determine the site’s future.”
The office is working with its insurance carrier to cover the fire costs, Boring said.
SCOE has been at its main site since 2000 and in 2017 acquired the former Modesto Bee building at 14th and H streets. The office assists school districts around the county with finance, personnel and other matters. It has its own special-education students and programs for young adults who need alternatives to traditional schooling.
Housing behind a former funeral home?
Innes said he had removed many of the building’s ornate furnishings before the fire, such as a chandelier, couches, lamps and railings. He hopes to donate them to local nonprofits that might use them or auction them.
Before the sale to SCOE, Innes said, he had thought about building housing behind the old funeral home. That would fit with the downtown master plan approved by the City Council in 2020. The district has plenty of office workers during the day and dining and entertainment into the night. It is short on the multistory apartments that are part of downtown revivals elsewhere.
The Franklin & Downs building spent its first 26 years as the residence of civic leader George Perley, local historian Harrison Power said by email Wednesday. Perley was in the real estate business and in 1911 was elected to the City Council.
Power, chairman of the Modesto Landmark Preservation Commission, provided these further details:
Local architect Julian Mourot designed the home in the Eastlake style, part of the Victorian movement. It had a basement, two main floors and an attic. Its most prominent feature was the rounded tower with a conical roof over the front porch.
Perley sold the property in 1921 to George Sovern, who turned it into a funeral home. Sovern also served as county coroner from 1930 until his death in 1938. His widow, Dora Sovern, sold the building in 1946 to Lew Franklin Sr. and Saxon Downs, the current company’s founders.
The new owners promptly enlarged the building and replaced the large tower with a Colonial facade. Franklin & Downs added the McHenry and Ceres branches in the late 1970s. The downtown building came to be known as Colonial Chapel.
Innes, 57, is the grandson of Lew Franklin Sr. He has early childhood memories of running through the upstairs room where clients selected caskets. During business hours, he could don the three-piece polyester suit purchased for him by uncle Lew Franklin Jr. Innes continues to be an owner but now is also employed as a facilities manager for the county government.
The Fire Department had not completed the investigation as of Thursday afternoon. No one was injured, despite the roof collapsing near some of the firefighters, Capt. Joe Spani said last week.
McHenry Mansion is among survivors
Modesto was founded in 1870 by the Central Pacific Railroad and graced by many Victorian homes in the early decades. The best-known today is the McHenry Mansion, a tourist draw at 15th and I streets. It survived its own fire in 2011, which damaged the entrance and ground floor.
Other old buildings have been lost as owners knocked them down to create parking lots or structures with plainer designs. Power, the landmark commission chairman, noted this in his email about the funeral home.
“With the loss of the longtime icon of downtown Modesto, the community now has one less tangible connection to the city’s history,” he said.
Power suggested that SCOE consider a new building that uses some of the furnishings salvaged from the funeral home.
“While we cannot get back what has been lost, hopefully, what is built in its place will be of great use to SCOE’s mission and be of benefit to the community,” he said. “Perhaps a new building could even be named for Perley, with his portrait hanging in the lobby.”
This story was originally published July 26, 2024 at 10:36 AM.
