Congratulations to Cesar!
Two thumbs up for Cesar Medina who yesterday became the first member of his family to earn a US citizenship. The accomplishments of this proud Hillcrest resident (and owner of The Pet Palace) was celebrated at a festive Baja Betty’s party to mark his special day.>FYI: Whole Foods Markets has purchased Wild Oats food chain (aka Henry’s Market) for $565M. <
FYI: The folks at last night’s University Heights community meeting learned from an Albertson’s grocery chain representative that they have plans to raze their North Park store (University at Louisiana) and develop underground parking, a 54,000 square-foot store, two more levels of parking on top of that, then 240 condos around the parking deck on levels two and three, then more up from there. She didn’t say how tall it would be but there will be a courtyard in the middle (not visible from the street). Albertson’s are asking for the lot to be zoned up to accommodate this project.
The 6th annual Hillcrest Mardi Gras filled the heart of the ’hood with live entertainment featuring Babette Schwartz (left), Tootie & the Lips Girls, Pepper MaShay, Hillcrest’s favorite diva Candye Kane (right) and happy revelers in search of beads. The fundraiser benefits the GSDBA Charitable Foundation and the Hillcrest Business Improvement Association.
There is an important meeting this Saturday morning (Feb 24) in Balboa Park’s Recital Hall from 10am to noon. It involves a discussion of the draft Uptown Historic Survey. The purpose of a survey is to “recognize the community resources that have value and that should be retained as functional parts of modern life.” A further purpose is to incorporate the survey into the planning process to: “effectively use historic resources, to respect their value and extend their lives, it is necessary to integrate historic preservation into community planning.”
The survey shows that out of 11,104 parcels in Uptown a total of 5,130 structures had potential historic significance standing alone with many more contributing to historic districts and conservation areas. It also identified 19 areas proposed as historic districts.
Sadly, there are forces in San Diego who oppose any form of preservation, and they have been effective in preventing the adoption of the North Park Historic Survey — which was finalized in 2002 but still has not been adopted. If we do not act now, the same will happen with the Uptown Historic Survey.
The
Uptown Survey was scheduled for adoption by the City’s Historic
Resources Board on November 30, 2006. Inexplicitly, at a late date it
was announced it was only an information item, and it is now in
bureaucratic limbo. Supposedly, it will be place on the March 2007
agenda of Historic Resources Board (they will also again
be deciding if Hillcrest’s historic House of Heirloom building should
be saved. >)
Unfortunately, potentially historic buildings are being torn down in Uptown on a regular basis — often without more than cursory historic review. This is an unacceptable situation and is offensive to all of us who have worked for decades to make this community both a safe and unique place to live and work.
Once the Uptown survey is adopted, a task force of residents, property owners and developers should be created to work on drafting reasonable and effective design guidelines for our unique neighborhoods.
(Leo Wilson is the chair of Uptown Planners and the Park West/Bankers Hill Community Association.)
Grab the Green Money Machine
debuts at the Uptown District
First Future Credit Union held a grand opening of their new Hillcrest office today from 10am-1pm. SD’s Blues Brothers entertained as several lucky duckies got to enter a phone-booth sized “vault” with swirling money for 30 seconds and grab as much dough as possible.
First Future, formed with the merger of San Diego-based Santel Federal Credit Union and Kearny Mesa Credit Union, serves over 60,000 members with assets totaling over $880 million. There are 17 branch offices all over the county.
Lengendary Photograher Annie Leibovitz Opens Photo Retrospective in Balboa Park
A journey through photos taken by one of the world’s most celebrated photographers has opened at the SD Museum of Art. The Annie Leibovitz Collection (1990-2005) exhibits photos of public figures for covers of Vanity Fair as well as an intimate glimpse into Leibovitz’s private life. The iconic photographer shared insights of her work with an appreciative crowd yesterday afternoon at the museum. Make sure to visit Balboa Park’s San Diego Museum of Art before April 22 to enjoy this remarkable collection.
