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Historic preservation can revitalize Downtown San Diego
By Jaye MacAskill & Amie Hayes
Op-Ed from the San Diego Union Tribune, April 12, 2017
Original article
 The Santa Fe Depot in 2010. The depot was threatened with demolition and redevelopment during the 1970s. Preservationists, architects and others rallied to save it, and it's now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (U-T file photo)
The C Street corridor needs exciting architecture and new development, and Save our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) supports this vision. While we care deeply about the past, it is not a sentimental journey. Rather, it is a quality-of-life issue. Plain and simple, historic preservation revitalizes neighborhoods by spurring economic growth, is more aesthetically interesting than new development and makes for better communities by providing the roots any great city needs as it moves into the future.
This is why, for nearly 50 years, SOHO has fought to save the places that San Diegans love the most even though we were told that every single one was not economically feasible or in too poor of a condition to renovate. Places like the Santa Fe Depot, Horton Plaza Fountain, the Gaslamp Quarter, Western Metal Supply Co./Petco Park, the old Police Headquarters and, yes, even the Hotel del Coronado. The California Theatre is a designated historic site and like these other San Diego landmarks, was always held in high esteem, hailed not as a movie palace, but as a "movie cathedral" when built. At 90 years old, it deserves a second chance.
Everyone wants this site to be redeveloped successfully. A rehabilitated California Theatre would not preclude a major housing development, but it would certainly enhance one. Who wouldn't want to live in the rehabilitated office tower of this legendary palace? An adaptive reuse project would be a stunning achievement, highlighting the cultural fabric of the city, and would be an authentic tourism attraction.
The planned demolition of the California Theatre would put one third of a city block into the landfill. To demolish such an architectural gem is remarkably shortsighted for our time. The demolition of the 81,000-square-foot building goes against all common sense and knowledge of best practices in sustainability, not to mention being against the city of San Diego's own climate policies.
City code requires owners of unoccupied historic buildings to maintain them in "a manner that preserves their historical integrity." Should the very developer who broke the city's demolition by neglect ordinance for years and years now be rewarded by being allowed to finish off the site? Why has the city not levied fines all these years?
With several legitimate offers to purchase and restore this San Diego icon, SOHO urged the City Council to avoid significant impacts to the unique historic resource by denying the current project and pursuing alternatives as required by CEQA (the California Environmental Quality Act) in compliance with long-adopted codes and plans. Translated, SOHO simply and respectfully asked the city to follow its own laws.
These Los Angeles developers are not as experienced as you would want for such a major project of this type. If they were, they would have laid out a comprehensive plan to revitalize this site and provide new housing. It is financially feasible, but they failed to utilize the benefits of historic tax credits and other incentives that promote adaptive reuse.
This type of project is not unique; it is being done all over the world alongside the construction of new housing units and commercial development. Historic renovation creates jobs and requires higher paid skilled workers. If the California Theatre were to be preserved, the end result would be an adaptively reused historic building and new housing that would be the ultimate catalyst to the C Street corridor revitalization.
San Diego marks the birthplace of California, founded close to 250 years ago. Come 2019, how many historic sites will we have left to commemorate such a milestone?
There are very few designated historic sites in the entire city, and they cannot be brought back once in the landfill.
SOHO believes that San Diego's architectural patrimony is worth saving and so do thousands of other San Diegans who wrote and called their council member, signed petitions, and attended public meetings.
MacAskill is president of Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO); Hayes is historic resources specialist for the group.
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