North Park 'Main Street'

onion
Instead of working with what they have (which is some of the best Mid-Century Modern retail in the city) and accepting that good architectural design didn't end with the death of Irving Gill, North Park seems to be working very hard to become 'Anytown USA' by transforming the south east block of 30th & University into something that would fit in Temecula, San Marcos, Poway, Scrips Ranch, Tierrasanta or pretty much any nondescript suburb. One of the worst examples of the tastelessness that exists in the 'revitalization' effort is the bar that was once 'Shooterz' [sic] (though this building possibly predates the death of Gill) that was a brick facade building complete with saw tooth parapet being 'reborn' into what is now 'True North', A stucco faced bistro/bar adorned with fixtures of the latest style that Home Depot had to offer, it exudes all the architectural interest of a 7-11. But thank God they covered up all that ugly brick with stucco, because if there's one building material in San Diego that we have waaaaaaay too much of, it's brick! Thank goodness these people don't have anything to do with Balboa park or the Aerospace museum might end up looking like a Greene & Greene Cape Cod.
Project Information
Project Address: 
300 University
Project Owner/ Developer: 
Unknown
Owner Contact Name/ Email: 
Unknown
Project Architect/ Designer: 
Unknown
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Comments:

North Park Main Street is

Submitted by Ryan Walker on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 18:25.
North Park Main Street is not a design review committee. Furthermore they are currently working with the State Preservation Office on a grant that will provide standards and guidelines for historic buildings and the main street in general to implement sustainable strategies. I would encourage everyone to take a look at North Park Sustainable Main Street on their website or perhaps within Orchids & Onions.

Ryan, thanks for your

Submitted by suzannec on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 19:10.
Ryan, thanks for your comment. Just so that you know, this is a nomination from last year's Awards Program and although you are welcome to comment on these archived projects, it is not an active nomination, nor was it awarded an Onion last year. Thanks for your interest and please feel free to comment on the 2011 nominations as well.

THERE IS MUCH MORE OF THIS TO COME...

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 10/19/2010 - 00:38.
Oh Thank God this was recognized as an ONION. I am horrified and sad everytime I drive by 30th and see what they have done along El Cajon and University. It is so sad!!! The Uptown news had a cover story on how great the "Fresh and tasty" building was going to be by 32nd st and North Park. the picture looked exactly like this same garbage. It had the words "neighborhood market" and thus the paper wa praising it as great green design...."thinking outside the big box". It was about as inside the big box as you can get. We have to stop this....especially all the tax money that is GIVEN by the redevelopment agences to the developers to build this FOR US....like the Rennaisance at 30th and El Cajon.

An egregious nomination

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 10/05/2010 - 01:28.
Sad that someone with little to no understanding of the rehabilitation of a neighborhood has been allowed to nominate an organization that has done more to rejuvenate the neighborhood than any other person or entity. Let me echo others who suggest nominating the owners of True North (or any of the other establishments one has a problem with) instead of North Park Main Street, which is occasionally asked to provide feedback on architectural designs. No business owner is required to discuss their plans with North Park Main Street, nor does North Park Main Street have a say in such decisions. I respectfully request that this nomination be pulled, and that a new, more appropriately-targed nomination, take its place.

Building that belong in . . . Temecula

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 09/18/2010 - 03:48.
I am a resident of Murrieta, neighbor of Temecula. Whomever decided to include in this "Onion" submission that these types of buildings belong in Temecula is naive to what the actual architecture in Temecula and surrounding areas actually encompass. We are not necessarily far from being modern, but these buildings are what architects are trying to depict what the old, run down building in North Park would have looked like at first inception. Maybe take that into consideration before posting ignorance that this style of building/architecture belongs in cities in which they would stick out even more of a sore thumb than North Park. At least someone is trying to clean up the washed up, poverty looking area North Park has become (at least a vast majority of it)

Inappropriate Nomination

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 09/16/2010 - 18:31.
This is an inappropriate nomination.  NPMS does not make design decisions for individual businesses. Nationally, Main Street organizations are recognized and respected for encouraging historic preservation, and advocating for preservation of significantly contributing structures & districts. In North Park, the Main Street program has received national praise in recent years for serving as a catalyst to positive change in a district that was previously struggling to attract viable investment or small business tenants. While their work is multi-faceted and extremely hands-on, Main Street is strictly an advisory group, and does not have authority to grant demolition or construction permits. The primary goals of NPMS are based on supporting small business, historic preservation, and economic health in the district.  Whoever submitted this nomination does not know the mission, vision, or daily tasks of NPMS, and is obviously making a nomination in opposition of alcohol & high traffic destination businesses, not NPMS.

North Park Main Street has a good historic preservation record

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 09/04/2010 - 17:59.
Disagree with this nomination of main street. If you wish to nominate the Bar owners for the specific bar, that is one thing. But the folks at NP Main Street have been tireless in their efforts at historic preservation and encouragement of adaptive re-use of North Park Buildings, as witnessed by their successes with the North Park Theater, Claire de Lune, etc. Even this bar shown was not a total tear-down, and is not the architectural horror of some other more onion-worthy nominations.

Orchid for North Park Main Street

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 08/31/2010 - 22:14.
I believe that North Park Main Street has brought a great many architectural improvements to the area, along with its Board and members: Smoking Goat, Linkery, West Coast Tavern, Urban Solace, Ritual Tavern, ArtProduce, to name a few. I think the nomination for an onion was more based on resistance to the rather large drinking establishments than objection to the architecture. I also think that North Park Main Street does need to go the extra mile to bring more quality public art into the Arts and Entertainment District and they must continue their efforts to reduce offensive signage (CVS and Walgreens) and removal of predatory lending establishments that very much contribute to visual blight.

Notable historic preservation for North Park Main Street

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 09/01/2010 - 02:44.
One may not like this bar. Why not name the bar as an onion rather than an entire program that has has notable successes. What about the work they did to preserve the North Park Theater? It took years and they never gave up. Claire de Lune was an early Orchid winner. The conversion and preservation of the historic Bank of America facade into Caffe Calabria was wonderful...note the beautiful Bank of Italy medallions on the front. There are so many examples of good exterior and interior design that to take one project as typical does not seem fair.

more business does not mean good design

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 08/31/2010 - 23:28.
Just because more business is present in North Park does not mean that the buildings they inhabit are well designed. To follow this logic would mean that a big box Wal-Mart must be good architecture just because they're making a profit.