Old Brewery Will Go, Mural to Be Saved

The San Diego City Council appears to have resolved the controversy over an ensemble of long-forgotten murals, paintings, stained glass and other artwork at the defunct Aztec Brewery in Barrio Logan.

On Monday, the council, over the objections of its Historical Site Board, decided against preserving the old brick brewery at 2301 Main St. but agreed to grant historical status to the artwork itself, which is mainly housed in the brewery’s rathskeller.

If everything goes according to plan, the brewery will be demolished and a warehouse will be built on the site, and the artwork will end up in the offices of Chuey’s, a well-known Mexican restaurant at Main and Crosby streets, and the adjacent offices of contractor Luis E. Garcia, whose father, Jesus, owns Chuey’s.

It’s now up to the city to try to arrange a lease of the artwork.

The buildings housing the brewery were originally constructed in 1911 and 1915 and housed the Savage Tire Co., which was owned by A. W. Savage, who was most well-known for his Savage firearms.

In 1933, the buildings were converted to the Aztec Brewery, whose owners hired now-deceased artist Jose Moya del Pino, among others, a year later to create what became one of the finest and least-known collection of paintings, murals, stained glass, tile work, carved beams and furniture, chandeliers and painted doors depicting Aztec life to be found anywhere in Southern California.

A group of Latino artists rediscovered the artwork a few months ago and lobbied for preservation of both the art and the buildings, which housed part of a tire distributing company. Other barrio leaders, though, were against saving the buildings, saying the new warehouse was needed to bring jobs to Barrio Logan.