Threat of Eviction Rings Familiar Bell for Salvation Army

The Salvation Army knows all about downtown redevelopment. Less than 10 years ago, it was kicked out by Horton Plaza. Now the agency that aids alcoholics and drug dependents may be kicked out again, this time so a new City Hall can be built in Centre City East.

Although Salvation Army officials are attempting to be as diplomatic as possible, it’s clear they are tired of being on the receiving end of the boot every time somebody has an idea for revitalizing downtown.

Adding to their consternation is the fact that neither the city nor the consultant who made the recommendation has contacted them, leaving officials to fret about the future of their program.

Special Workshop Called

The first contact will occur today. That’s when Salvation Army officials will attend a special workshop called by the City Council to discuss the consultant’s findings. The consultant, led by the ROMA Design Group of San Francisco, analyzed three options, including rebuilding the existing City Hall-Community Concourse complex on C Street, and recommended that the city build a landmark “Capitol on the Hill” in Centre City East.

The recommendation, made in July, has received the endorsement of both the Centre City Planning Committee, a group led by Horton Plaza developer Ernest Hahn that is working on a comprehensive downtown land-use plan and, more important, the city manager’s office, which says the $241-million project is not only the best financially, but promotes other city goals as well, such as helping revitalize a downtrodden section of downtown.

The City Council won’t make a decision today, but, if everything stays on a schedule set by the city manager’s office, events will move fast, with the council set to make a specific decision Nov. 28.

“We haven’t been asked or approached or anything else,” George Molyneaux, a Salvation Army spokesman, said Monday. “Our concern is that they recognize what we do, and what we do we can’t do just anyplace.”

The consultant’s recommendation envisions construction of the City Hall complex on five blocks, with two other blocks, financed separately, set aside for a new central library and a possible museum. The problem for the Salvation Army is that it occupies almost two blocks in the heart of the proposed complex.

The organization’s Adult Rehabilitation Center, which includes a residential center for 100 men, a warehouse and room for training programs, takes up a full block bounded by 13th and 14th streets, Broadway and E Street. And it owns two-thirds of the next block, bounded by 12th and 13th streets, Broadway and E Street, site of its Thrift Store and a parking lot.

Salvation Army officials estimate the replacement value of their buildings and land at about $15 million.

‘Might Look Pretty . . . ‘

“We want to be in this environment where people are, where the need is. . . . If we move, (the new building) might look pretty, but we won’t be serving the need,” said Edward Lataille, the clinical psychologist who heads the Adult Rehabilitation Center’s program.

Lataille and his team of seven professional counselors work with 100 men and 12 women. The men live at the center for as long as nine months while they--and the women, who live at another location--receive treatment, job training and support. Much of the job training involves work on repairing furniture, appliances and clothes donated to the Salvation Army.

Those items are then sold at the Thrift Store, which uses the proceeds to finance the rehabilitation program.

Lataille says the program is at capacity and that 80% of the people in the program are from San Diego County.

At this point, since no site has been selected, the Salvation Army wants to be as cooperative as it can. It wants the city to recognize its program and wants its help in finding a new location in Centre City East if the “Capitol on the Hill” proposal is accepted.

The organization has decided that “at this point we don’t want to ruffle their (City Council’s) feathers,” said one official. “What really concerns us at this point is that we haven’t really been consulted on this, and yet we control about 40% of the property” involved in the proposal.

Other officials say it’s clear to them, given the backing of City Manager John Lockwood and Hahn, that the political cards are stacked against them and a battle would be futile.

Another element is at play. Although concerned for their own program, several Salvation Army officials concede that the recommendation to move City Hall to Centre City East is probably the best one overall for the city.

Another reason the Salvation Army is putting on its best face is that it and the city were able to reach an amicable accommodation over Horton Plaza. There’s no reason to think the city and the Salvation Army can’t come to another agreement.

The Salvation Army had been at 735 2nd Ave. since 1906, according to Robert Svendsen, assistant to the organization’s administrator, Maj. Robert Bodine, who was out of town and unavailable for comment Monday.

The old building was roughly where the Nordstrom department store and Horton Plaza parking garage now stand. The city and the Salvation Army worked out a land swap; the city got the property it needed for the shopping center and the Salvation Army got its Centre City East property.

“They essentially found us a new home,” Svendsen said.

As conceived, the City Hall complex in Centre City East, plus the library and other public use building, would be built in two phases, the first finished in 1995 and the second in about 2010. When completed, the complex would include 1 million square feet of office space in a domed capital building and an adjacent high-rise; an 11-story, 375,000-square-foot central library; a multistory parking garage for 1,950 vehicles and a public square of more than an acre.

The complex would lie just south of City College and across 14th Street from the new police headquarters. The recommendation by the consultant calls for the city to close Broadway where it meets the trolley tracks at 12th Avenue. Between 12th Avenue and 14th Street would be City Hall.