Most of the city's rescue missis
are located in the 16 square blk
area between 4th and 6th avenue,
from Broadway to the railroad tracks,
and as the missions are dedicated to saving
some of the unfortunate people who live here.
As another effort,
similar in missionary zeal,
dedicated to saving the area it,
this used to be the business and
commercial center of San Diego.
It might not ever be that again,
but there are a lot of people
here working very hard to restoe
the dignity of the area once ha.
They plan to do that by
restoring the buildings.
And recreating the atmosphere oe
turn of the century gas lamp er.
They want to takedown the garish signs,
scrub the years of grime
and layers of moldering,
paint off the buildings exposedd
refurbish the architectural feas
and create the Gaslamp Quarter.
This block on lower 5th Ave.
for instance would look like th.
Sidewalks extended 4 feet
to make room for trees,
sidewalk cafes and stairs
leading down to basement shops.
Gas lamps, of course,
would be a major feature.
And running down the
middle of the street,
electric trolley cars.
The trolleys might turn out to e
the easiest part of this projec.
Some of the cars that serve this
part of town are known to be
still operating in other cities.
They will be repurchased and returned
here to run on their original r,
which are still buried under
the asphalt along 5th Ave.
The idea of creating a gas lamp quarter has
been kicking around for about 10 years,
but people started paying serios
attention two years ago when the city
approved an ordinance making the Gaslamp
Quarter and historical districtd
providing $100,000 in block grant funds.
Some of that money will be used
to build a demonstration projec,
a 250 foot strip of refurbished buildings,
probably along 5th Ave.
to show what the entire gas
lamp district could look like.
Work on the demonstration
project should begin this fall.
Actually, a lot of renovation ad
restoration has already taken place here.
The Grand Pacific Hotel at 5th
and J was once a proper,
if not elegant,
hostelry,
but it's gone downhill steadily over the
years and had become a cheap flophouse.
Shirley Bernard,
a La Jolla real estate broker,
bought the Grand Pacific last y.
She got so wrapped up in restorg
the hotel that she moved into
one of the suites so she could
be closer to the project.
Her enthusiasm is infectious,
and some of her tenants,
who used to scurry in and out
of their locked rooms and down
dark and dirty corridors,
are now pitching in to help
to do some of the renovating.
The importance of this kind of
personal participation isn't lot
on the leaders of the project.
Charles Tyson is chairman of ths
Lamp Quarter Planning Area committee.
Why is he convinced the idea will work?
I think the primary reason is that the
people in the area have been dedicated
and them showing their dedicatin
through a number of different sources
for a number of quite a while n.
And I expect that in the immedie
future you will see the result of this
dedication and we already see the result
of this dedication right behind.
And as a result of that,
the people are coming to the ar,
the people in the area are workg
to rehabilitate and rejuvenate.
Buildings, and as a result
it will be a a viable area,
and is a viable area right now.
That viability can be seen in
other parts of the quarter.
The Hotel Lester, just off 5th .
on Market Street,
where just a little paint and ph
up is already spruced up the blk
and a half dozen other buildings
in various stages of renovation.
As commendable as restoration
projects like these are,
they won't by themselves turn ts
area into the Gaslamp Quarter.
To do that, the adult entertaint
business will have to be moved .
A proposed ordinance to disperse
* shops and peep shows will be
taken up soon by the City Counc,
and this may be the real key to
the success of the Gaslamp Quar.
This is Charlie Clum,
News 8 downtown San Diego.