Battle Shapes Up Over Saving Building That Housed Long-Ignored Art Works

For more than three decades, murals and other artwork depicting Aztec culture sat largely ignored in the taproom of a former brewery in Logan Heights.

Then a snapshot of the work appeared in a San Diego newspaper, prompting widespread interest.

Now, it appears that the San Diego City Council will be asked to step in and settle what has developed into San Diego’s latest controversy pitting community groups against a developer.

On Thursday, a representative of the Ramser Development Co., a Los Angeles-based concern buying the former brewery site for construction of a warehouse, said that the firm would seek the City Council imprimatur for its development plan.

Scott Benjamin, Ramser’s San Diego partner, said that the firm planned to appeal the ruling of the San Diego Historical Site Board to the council. The historical board ruled March 23 that the building housing the artwork could be demolished, but the pieces of art must be preserved.

Despite the appeal, Benjamin said that the company was determined to save the art and donate it to the Logan Heights community.

“We want the work preserved and we want it to remain in the community,” said Benjamin, who met with reporters Thursday. “That’s our obvious first choice.”

Benjamin, in fact, maintained that the firm had no problem with the historic panel’s ruling. However, he said it was concerned that the historic site panel might modify or reverse that finding in coming weeks, further delaying development plans. A community group has asked the board to review its action.

“This way we’ll have a clear direction, and hopefully we’ll have a plan that we can work with,” explained Benjamin, who said the council had 30 days to act on the appeal.

Thus, the two sides appeared to be heading toward a showdown before the council.

A representative of a community group that has been actively attempting to save the artwork--and the building that houses it--said that it welcomed the opportunity to take its case before the City Council.

“This opens up another forum for us,” said Al Ducheny, chairman of the Harborview Community Council.

The Harborview group is seeking to save both the artwork and the former Aztec Brewery site, where the work is housed, Ducheny said. The group plans to request that the council prohibit demolition of the former brewery buildings, Ducheny said.

Benjamin said that the $10-million warehouse project could not proceed unless the brewery was demolished.

While the controversy continues, the fate of the artwork remains unclear.

Already, Benjamin said, two murals and three wall hangings have been taken down and crated; they are being stored on site, he said. The development firm is willing to pick up the estimated $40,000 tab of moving the pieces to another site, Benjamin said.

The brewery, at 2301 Main St., opened in 1933. One of its highlights was the building known as the rathskeller, where Spanish-born artist the late Jose Moya del Pino and others created one of Southern California’s finest and least-known collections of murals, paintings, stained glass and tile work depicting Aztec life.