Prospects for a Chinatown Grow Brighter : 21 Buildings Put on Local Historic Register; Vote on Church Delayed

The prospects for a Chinatown Historic District in downtown San Diego moved another step forward Friday when the Centre City Development Corp. endorsed adding 21 of 22 proposed buildings to the local historic register.

But CCDC--the agency in charge of downtown redevelopment--couldn’t make a decision on the 22nd building, the old Chinese Community Church at 643 1st Ave., which is in the middle of a block, just south of Horton Plaza, that is proposed for a high-rise residential tower.

After hearing from both the developer, Charles P. Tyson, who said the empty building is incompatible with his construction plans and is an eyesore that attracts scores of transients, and several members of the Chinese community, who made appeals to have the structure saved, CCDC’s board of directors asked for more information and put off a decision on the old church for three weeks.

Chinatown Remnants

The 22 buildings, primarily along lower 5th and 6th avenues, are remnants of San Diego’s turn-of-the-century Chinatown, much of which was destroyed shortly before the Panama Exposition of 1915 as part of a civic “cleanup.”

The city’s Historical Site Board has voted to use the buildings to create a Chinese/Asian Thematic Historic District by adding them to the local historical register and then nominating them to the national register. Both actions require City Council approval.

In contrast to most other major West Coast cities with large Asian populations downtown, such as Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles, San Diego has no designated Asian district. But many descendants of those early Chinese immigrants, such as Dorothy Hom, say it is important for the city to preserve as much of their heritage as possible.

Being placed on either the local or national historic registers is more than just a designation. Inclusion on the local register, for example, means that before a building can be renovated or demolished, the owner must receive special permission from the Historical Site Board and the City Council. In the worst case, demolition could be delayed for up to a year.

And such a delay, given the pace of downtown redevelopment, could be burdensome for developers.

That is the position Tyson says he finds himself. He owns half of the block just south of Horton Plaza, between G Street, Martin Luther King Way and 1st and 2nd avenues. The block is one of two that CCDC has identified for high-density development, with the only height limit being that imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Tyson told the CCDC board of directors Friday that he soon intends to propose construction of a high-rise residential tower containing 350 to 400 housing units covering the entire block. Such a development would be significantly delayed and hindered, he said, if he is not allowed to demolish the old Chinese Community Church, located in the middle of the block on the east side.

Tyson said he has already applied for a city demolition permit but that demolition has been delayed because of the church’s tentative designation as a historic site.

“We’ve already waited six months,” Tyson said. “It’s almost impossible to create the number of housing units (required by CCDC) without going to a higher density.”

Built in 1927

The church was built in 1927--several blocks away from the core of the city’s former Chinatown--and served as a place of worship until 1959, when the congregation sold the property and moved to a new location on 47th Street. The building has since changed ownership to Tyson and has been used, among other things, as a printing shop.

Since early last year, the building has been vacant and is now a nighttime home for transients, who have destroyed and littered much of the inside. Tyson said the longer the building remains standing, the more he is taking the chance of being sued should someone get hurt inside. Additionally, he said, because transients keep entering the building--despite the presence of barbed wire, boarded-up windows and greased poles--he is in danger of losing his liability insurance.

Some CCDC board members, such as architect Gil Ontai, said it would be possible for Tyson to save the building and continue with his high-rise tower. “I think we can come up with alternatives . . . but we’ve got to look at this seriously.”

Other board members, such as Phil Blair and Jan Anton, said that CCDC was being sensitive to historic preservation by recommending 21 out of 22 buildings for inclusion in the proposed Chinatown district. “It’s not fair to tie his hands,” Blair said of Tyson. With a clear 3-3 deadlock, the board decided to ask for more information about, in the words of board member John Davies, “does it (the old church) interfere with intense development on that block.”