Calistoga Civic Club v. City of Calistoga

Plaintiff, Calistoga Civic Club appeals from an adverse judgment entered in favor of defendant-respondent City of Calistoga.

The subject matter of the present litigation is real property consisting of a lot and clubhouse located at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Myrtle Street in the City of Calistoga. The lot was acquired by the club in 1916 for a sum of $750; the clubhouse was erected in 1924. Since the time of its completion, the clubhouse has also served as the home of the Calistoga Public Library. It is this dual function that is the source of the present controversy.

As the record indicates, the club was founded and incorporated as a nonprofit corporation in 1905. Its charter provided that its term of existence was for 50 years. While the corporate charter thus expired by operation of law in 1955, the club, unaware of its terminated corporate status, continued to operate as a de facto corporation until 1968 when it filed amended articles of incorporation to provide for perpetual existence.

The trial court found (and the record supports the proposition) that the maintenance of the library was one of the primary purposes of the club. An examination of the club’s…