A tour of Monterey’s Cooper Molera complex bodes well.

The comment has been repeated enough it’s become a slogan of sorts: I had no idea this was here!

For years, despite its central location, the generous space behind Cooper Molera at the top of Alvarado Street in downtown Monterey has hid behind walls, something historically spectacular but basically invisible, right in front of our faces.

It is like having, say, a major celestial event happening right above you, behind a wall of fog. But when the complex that surrounds and includes the Cooper Molera Adobe in downtown Monterey opens in the coming months – complete with a cafe-bakery, 130-seat restaurant, courtyard patios and orchard/park that will be open to the public – few historic venues in Central California will eclipse its versatility and charm.

That starts with the two barns in the back, the biggest and most dramatic part of the property, adobe included. You can see them from Polk Street, over the big walls, but the more impressive peeks come up close – of weathered beams, barn doors on balconies-to-be and bay views through big windows.

Under a lease with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, State Parks used to manage and rent out the space for weddings and other events, but when building codes went through a cyclical update in 2010, the barns were red-tagged. State Parks couldn’t afford the fix and they fell into disuse. Without that event revenue, State Parks couldn’t pay rangers to supervise the volunteers who kept Cooper Molera going. On Dec. 31, the National Trust took back the lease.

By now the barn is pretty beat. It is 117 years old, after all. (The smaller south barn is another 35 years older.) But their major makeover has already begun, with scaffolding in place and new 23-foot-long redwood siding planks on the way.

On a recent summer morning, players from the various pieces of the unconventional – but hopefully replicable – partnership gather for a tour.

One of them is Katherine Malone-France, vice president for historic sites with the National Trust, which has owned the property for decades – after Francis Molera deeded them the property with no warning whatsoever – and manages the Diaz and Cooper homes on Munras Avenue as the Cooper Museum Store. Based in Washington, D.C., the nonprofit owns and/or supports 27 historic sites around the country, but has never participated in a buildout like this, a $6.5 million project that includes two new kitchens and multiple revenue engines.

“We’re making preservation a solution for what communities need – and I can’t think of a better place to do it than Monterey,” Malone-France says.

Doug Wiele is pointman for Foothill Partners, the group behind the adjacent Trader Joe’s complex and the Fidelity building across the street. “A certain set of people come to historic buildings,” he says, “but other people will be coming to a bakery, see art in the museum and get that experience too. We can let the boundaries be soft. More people are interested in shopping and dining in distinctive spaces.”

Kirk Probasco is a Foothill partner, longtime local real estate pro and former owner of Stokes Restaurant in the historic building that now houses Restaurant 1833, so he’s well-suited for the complexities behind and ahead. He seems most excited about the possibilities for the barn as a music venue for touring acts stopping between San Francisco and L.A. – and has had conversations with promotional powers-that-be. He envisions indoor-outdoor shows that host up to 300, or tasting events that meet existing demand for large non-hotel spaces.

“People ask, ‘How many people can you handle?’” he says, later adding, “Bringing this back to life and giving it to the community is what matters.”

Each appears borderline giddy that bulldozers are pushing around dirt – careful to avoid the mysterious ruins that look like a haunted cellar at the center of the property. (Archeologists are also common at the worksite; updating historically protected structures and building around them involves a lot of rules.) They’re also psyched the property will seize its multifaceted potential, with space for students to make adobe bricks and corn tortillas, three terraces of landscaping, and all the possibilities of the 1,000-square-foot restaurant space with 50 outdoor seats.

“It’s going to be so nice to have people experience this,” Malone-France says.

All in all, the property’s scope is hard to imagine without a look behind the walls. Only then does it become believable the footprint is the same size as the Trader Joe’s complex next door (about 2.5 acres). At that size it reaches from next to the newly opened Fieldwork Brewing Company (another Foothill project) to Polk Street, connecting two parts of the city that felt surprisingly distant.

“It becomes part of the pedestrian environment in downtown Monterey,” Malone-France says. “We think this can be a model for historic properties, and we are doing it here.

“The hope is this place really sings.”

On the vendor’s wishes, they’re not singing on who will run the restaurant and bakery. But that announcement is forthcoming, and those tenants should be able to move in and begin their own build-out as soon as January, which is good. Because more people will be watching what’s happening beyond the wall than ever before.

Quick Bites

• Little Sicily is getting closer to opening at 16 E. Gabilan in Oldtown Salinas, with gnocchi, calamari, arancini, cannoli, coffee, ravioli, pizza and lasagna. The recipes belong to owner-operator Mike Pappalardo and his mom. “All from scratch,” he says. “Homemade style.” Mid-September is a cautious open date.

• Oak Restaurant at Laguna Seca Golf Course (373-3468) rolls into its second month featuring Chef Marc Jones’ comfort food like reverse fried chicken and waffle, “golf” prawns over cheddar biscuits, Korean short-rib tacos and jambalaya burrito with gumbo sauce. Full Hawaiian dinner and dancing Saturdays at 5:30pm (music 6:30-9:30pm) too.

• A lot is happening at Carmel Plaza. Carmel Honey Company, which soft opened there in early August, celebrates a ribbon-cutting ceremony 4:30-6:30pm Sept. 1. Blair Estate’s tasting room and Hahn Family Wines’ space are under construction, while the overhaul of the ground floor with water features and seating is scheduled to wrap in November.

• Since-1969 P.G. institution Tillie Gort’s is up for sale, both the business and the building. Its tasty take on organic vegetarian and wholesome multicultural vibe has long been ahead of its time.

• Salinas Valley and Monterey Peninsula chambers host an open house-ribbon cutting at Castle Rock Coffee and Mercantile at 667 Highway 68 (next to Toro Café) 2-4pm Thursday, Aug. 24.

• In response to inquiries about Safeway taking over the Pacific Grove Nob Hill, Safeway spokesperson Wendy Gutshall says they anticipate the new Monterey store to open in the spring of 2018 as a “traditional, full-service Safeway store with a focus on local, organic, natural and healthier options.”

• Holman Ranch celebrates its birthday Thursday, Sept. 7, with its Fiesta de los Amigos benefit for the Alzheimer’s Association ($60, 659-2640).

• Nielsen’s (624-6441) hosts another free wine tasting with small bites 3:30-5:30pm Thursday, Aug. 24, at its wine bar that spotlights bold reds from Paso Robles like Arndt Cellars Marteau Rouge Red with the winemaker there to illuminate vino lovers. Admission is free; 21+.

• Art Buchwald: “The best things in life aren’t things.”