During the past year and a half, two aging, vacant landmarks in our town have been transformed into two handsome buildings — one restored and another replaced — that are now eminently useful and sources of community pride.

It’s no surprise I’m talking about the Grand Theatre Center for the Arts and the original building at Tracy High School. And as I mention those community icons, I have to also mention two people who played central roles in making their transformations possible: Ellen Gripp and Denise Wakefield.

Both Ellen, who headed the city’s redevelopment agency, and Denise, facilities director for the Tracy Unified School District, have retired from their posts in the past couple of weeks. Suddenly, two mainstays of Tracy’s successful efforts to create new uses for abandoned iconic buildings are gone from the scene. Their experience, skills and commitments will be missed.

I worked with both Ellen and Denise in the past few years, and from that personal experience, I know the important contributions both of them made to these successful projects. Both were doing their jobs as public employees, but the energy and skills they brought to the projects were above and beyond business as usual.

Ellen, in her job as head of the city’s redevelopment agency, had a lot to do with pushing plans to reconstruct streets, water and sewer lines and to build new streetscapes in the downtown area.

But her work in bringing the Grand Theatre from concept to reality was even more impressive. All the city money that went into restoring the 1923 theater and two hotel buildings came from the redevelopment pot. No general fund money was used, and Ellen made sure the redevelopment funds were available for the Grand project, one that fulfilled the goal of redevelopment — bringing older buildings to life with new uses.

There were a number of skeptics in and out of city government when it came to the Grand project, but Ellen managed to bridge gaps, smooth out differences and make things work. As a member of the Arts Leadership Alliance board, I saw her deft touch in keeping city and ALA interests aligned and moving the project to its completion in mid-2007.

As more and more Tracyites appreciate the great community asset that the Grand Theatre has become, they have readily agreed that constructing Tracy High’s new 34-classroom building, combining the style of the original building with a modern facility, is a flat-out winner.

Anyone close to the project knows that Denise was an essential catalyst in passing the $51 million Measure E bond and leveraging those local funds with state money to erect the new building.

Along the way, she was sensitive to the concern of many old-timers that the early-California mission-revival style of the original 1917 building would be lost if that building was completely demolished. After it was determined that the façade of the original building couldn’t be saved, Denise made certain that the exterior design of the new two-story structure mirrored that of the original single-story building as closely as possible. Her action defused any serious lingering opposition to the bond and the project.

And as plans for the new building were completed, Denise was instrumental in gaining state bond money that amounted to more than half the cost of completing the project, which was finished this fall, except for offices that will be opened soon.

As she leaves her job, planning for two new buildings on the Tracy High campus to replace 1950s classroom and administrative wings is moving forward. Again, state money is augmenting local Measure E bond funds, although some of that state money could be delayed because of the state’s fiscal woes.

The success of the projects financed by Measure E, including the West High stadium, pool and auditorium, set the stage for passage of Measure S in the November election. Those funds will be used to refurbish five the oldest elementary schools in Tracy.

All of these projects, when coupled with construction of John C. Kimball High School, which is funded by developer fees, will put Tracy schools on solid structural footing for years to come.

Denise and Ellen may be gone from the scene, but their impact will long be with us in the form of important public facilities they had key roles in creating.

Sam Matthews, Tracy Press publisher emeritus, can be reached at 830-4234 or by e-mail at shm@tracypress.com.