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Black Arts and Culture District May Come to Encanto
May/June 2022
 Leaders in San Diego gather outside of San Diego City Hall after announcing a proposal for a Black Arts and Culture District in Encanto, April 13, 2022. Photo by Jacob Aere |
An exciting opportunity within the Encanto Community Plan to designate the Black Arts and Culture District is happening now! This district will celebrate community arts and artists, bolster the local economy, and heighten cultural tourism.
SOHO strongly supports a City Council resolution to designate Imperial Avenue from 61st Street through 69th Street in Encanto as the San Diego Black Arts and Culture District.
A formal acknowledgement of the San Diego Black Arts and Culture District is long overdue and would help to support equity and inclusion citywide by highlighting this San Diego community’s diversity and its contribution to what makes this a great city to eat, play, and work in.
“The designation of this cultural district would signal the Imperial Avenue corridor is a cultural epicenter and destination,” Bruce Coons, SOHO’s executive director, wrote in a recent letter to a City Council committee considering the matter.
Former San Diego councilmembers George Stevens and Charles Lewis began calling this part of southeastern San Diego “Gaslamp East” two decades ago, but city officials failed to take any action to move the idea forward. Creating the district would make the area eligible for city, state, and federal funds for economic development, infrastructure, and arts initiatives.
SOHO urges the city to emphasize the historical designation of Encanto buildings. This would help incentivize restoration, rehabilitation, maintenance, and adaptive reuse, as well as enable historic property owners to take advantage of the tax-saving Mills Act.
Add your support by signing this petition.
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