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Combating Tijuana's Building Boom
January/February 2018
By Maria E Curry
 Restaurante Chiki Jai |
 Streamline Moderne building on Calle Niños Heroes before remodel. |
 Same building after remodel. Photos by Maria Curry |
Downtown Tijuana and Colonia Cacho, one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, are losing their historic buildings as apartment buildings are rapidly replacing them. Concerned Tijuanenses, many of them young architects, are complaining daily on social media and in other arenas, seeking a solution.
As a mitigation measure, heritage preservation professionals, including myself, are planning several educational events, starting in February. They will be offered at no charge or for nominal fees. They include:
- Talks in universities and public forums to create awareness of the current rampant loss of significant historic resources
- A workshop on architectural styles, to provide basic tools for an emergency reconnaissance survey that will be presented to the City Council and to developers,
- A brief course in Preservation for Border Cities, to explain preservation theory, methodologies for creating historic contexts, and the differences between Tijuana's historic architecture and that of central and southern Mexico
- A heritage tour to the countryside to expand awareness of the history of Baja California.
Our goal is to educate residents, developers, property owners, politicians, and students about the importance of preservation planning. We will provide tools and information to attendees to help them become effective negotiators with developers, able to advocate the economic and cultural benefits of preserving historic buildings.
Development is destroying or altering significant historic structures, including, most recently, a Streamline Moderne apartment house on Calle Niños Heroes. Remodeling ravaged its twin curved facades and ruined its historic integrity. The next casualty falling to modern condominiums: the Chiki Jai restaurant, dating from 1947, on Avenida Revolución.
The Chiki Jai was the traditional gathering place for Spanish Jai-Alai players. The name means "small party" in the Basque language and the menu features high quality Spanish dishes. Errol Flynn, Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, and Ernest Hemingway dined here. This small restaurant features bull fighting decor and memorabilia, representing an important tourist attraction from old Tijuana.
In a twist of development fate, some of the new apartment and condominium projects have excellent modern designs, including one that was nationally recognized. Nevertheless, their location diminishes Tijuana's irreplaceable historic essence. In Mexico, little is known and less is understood about the architectural and urban history of border cities because heritage studies emphasize Colonial cities built before 1900.
Our preservation education program will document buildings from the 1930s-1980s, after the end of Prohibition and the beginning of the maquiladora industry. We expect to lobby city government for official support in preserving buildings, potential historic districts, and views threatened with development.
We are also promoting the preservation of natural heritage areas in Baja California with custom tours that show the impact of Spanish colonization through missions and ranches. Eduardo de la Peña, director of Baja Camping and known as "Tijuana Jones," organizes these tours. He has 20 years experience, focused on history, traditional ways, culture, art, music, and nature, employing local guides including native Kumiais. A knowledgeable and entertaining guide, Peña has permission to access restricted places with spiritual significance. He is designing a one-day tour to a ghost mining town, the old wine route, and a 100-year-old ranch in Ensenada.
Other experts who will teach about preservation include historian and Ph.D. candidate Josue Beltran, who coordinates the Tijuana Museum and archive; architect Fernando Quiros, who teaches at Universidad Durango; and Gabriel Rivera, researcher in the city archive. I will represent the scientific committee on Modern Architecture from ICOMOS (the International Council on Monuments and Sites) Mexicano. The educational programs will be held at the Centro de Estudios de Sor Juana on Avenida de las Palmas and the Universidad de Durango on Boulevard Benitez.
We hope our programs and tours spark a new generation of skilled Tijuana and Baja California preservationists, capable of responding to development threats before it is too late.
For more information, email marucurry@yahoo.com
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