Santee has seen tremendous revitalization thanks to the hard work of many visionaries. The City’s community and economic development planning process for the Town Center area have resulted in a beautiful park along San Diego River, transit-oriented retail centers and housing and a Class A office park. The Las Colinas Women’s Detention Facility is a somewhat unlikely resident in Santee’s Town Center area, nestled away from the street and hidden from view on a 14-acre site. Now, the County, which owns that parcel of land, is planning to replace Las Colinas with a 45-acre “jail camp,” including low rise barracks, razor wire fencing and guard towers. Definitely not what the city’s visionaries have worked so hard to achieve! If the County moves forward with its plan, this Town Center model of smart growth will be forever blighted. Expanding the jail as proposed would mean that the detention facility would butt up against a high tech office park, homes, senior housing, a church and even a pre-school. Additionally, a land use study found that the County could make up to $89 million on the sale of the Santee land in question and easily use less valuable land they already own in Otay Mesa. Any land use project that could result in a total of $165 million in lost taxpayer resources (including lost revenue and devaluation of adjacent County property) is just plain bad, but add in the terrible effects the new jail would have on a burgeoning urban center and this idea deserves an onion!

Image

When an architect first chooses a concept on which to base his or her design, the difficult process of designing and building is just beginning. If the established concept was made with a thorough understanding of the needs of the users, the available resources, and existing constraints, then the resulting project will likely be deemed successful. However, if the concept is established without the understanding and respect of these characteristics and pursued to the nth degree solely for the satisfaction of the architect's ego, then chaos ensues. Such is the result of the sanctuary building and other site improvements recently completed at Congregation Beth El in La Jolla.

In the case of this building, Stanley Saitowitz and his designers created a building that is dangerous to its users, creates an extreme amount of discomfort during religious services, and ignores the basic operational needs of building maintenance. The use of materials consistently clashes - acid-washed precast with plastic light switch cover plates, dark hardwood floors abutting WalMart storefront systems, and long expanses of highly finished drywall with light washing across the surfaces showing each and every imperfection.

Modular pavers used in the courtyard (where there modularity is not only ignored but blatantly disrespected) continue into the interior space, where the porosity, joints, and texture make the floor impossible to sweep or clean. Large expanses of single pane glass are etched with scripture and meant to be viewed and read from the outside, but the varying materials, configurations, and light levels and reflections leave the observer struggling to make sense of what exactly is portrayed. Enormous concrete panels are assembled in a way that creates unsightly, uneven, and dissimilar joints as much as 2" wide, all filled with sealant with the care and craftsmanship of an apprentice.

The designer responsible for the site work details spent little time observing the behavior of the users of the site, be they congregants of Beth El or those of a neighboring synagogue who use the property as a path of travel between two parallel streets. Massive stairways are built to the bare minimum standards and are steep, intimidating, and harshly lit at night. The handrail sections have sharp edges and no breaks to allow for users to pass from one side to the other if they choose. For those who cannot use stairs or are pushing strollers, a complete lack of curb cuts between the entry at the bottom of the property to the highest entry point (more than 100 feet in elevation change) must stay in the drives and deal with narrow alleys that only permit two cars traveling opposite directions to pass, with no space left for the pedestrian. Lamp posts placed directly in the middle of sidewalks reduce their effective width such that strollers, wheelchairs, walkers, users of crutches and anyone using a hand cart must divert into the landscaping in order to pass.

On the inside, the symmetry of the seating works against the multiple types of services that are typically conducted within this type of space. With the seats arranged in parallel with facing rows, in all but a few seats the congregants must turn their head for extended periods of time to watch the activity. The rows are spaced such that no one can pass someone who is seated - everyone must stand up. The vertical panels with sharp edges and corners are the cause of constant bruises to the thighs or other more painful parts of the anatomy, and the closed-end rows make egress difficult and lengthy, and often leave multiple seats unused because people simply don't want to deal with the trouble of getting to them. The multiple elevations changes within the space create trip and fall hazards with nearly each event. The seating at the second level is built with stair so steep that most people turn away once they look down from the top level, the designated and only approachable path of travel. The glass panels at the 2nd level completely eliminate any modesty from anyone wearing skirts shorter than ankle length. The same effect occurs from the top looking down onto the first few rows of seats.

Image

The historic interior was gutted. Not only gutted but done so as part of a speculative remodel with the space for rent. The new tenants might have loved the original interior and now it's lost to San Diego for good.

Image

Hmmm. The architect obviously took his/her inspiration for the trellis from the power pole on the street. Nice touch.

Image

Wow, what happened here...the grand onion perhaps? And check out the incredible job they did to make sure the children feel incarcerated.

Image

At the very least they could have tried to screen this heaping mass of bad architecture...

Image

Although this development received LEED and Urban awards it is a monstrosity to the area, this ill planned and approved development by the city of La Mesa certainly lends itself to future societal problems as have most all tenement type housing projects. The project has no aesthetic or social value for the area and is an example of idealist or good intentions gone bad, it seems the City planners were looking at increasing tax revenues rather than building a workable and interesting community. The Trolley stations have crime issues and a development of this type will only add to it.

Image

An onion for not cashing my donation check to help rebuild the Villa Montezuma House. The early July check wasn't for much, so I also donated my music services for the cause(s). Anybody home? It is not only walking distance to Coronado Bridge but also to the Santa Fe Depot for historical reference and similar noisy projects that take away $$.

The other day, I picked up a San Diego Historical Society brochure at the Sante Fe Depot, posing as a tourist, and was surprised to find that the Villa Montezuma House was not even listed!! Why can't we fix America first, or San Diego, or even this particular historical site that already exists for a needed sense of culture? Luckily, I have a few friends, and not sure if the post office or the Friends of the Villa Montezuma House is still one of them. I am, though, still serious of my donation.... and, will add an onion if you call me at 619-463-7253. Hope the phone still works.

Image

This was probably a fairly innocuous building until someone decided that it needed sprucing up. Now this building has so many tacky details, it is hard not to notice it.

On nearly every inch of available wall space foam patterns have been slapped on - from wave patterns to sunbursts to geometric circular patterns. Someone went crazy picking patterns from the catalog. I guess we should be thankful that at least they are beige and not painted different colors!

Image

While a creative land use as office condominiums, the project, built above an existing old building, is visually schizophrenic, with cheap looking corrugated steel rising above brick. If design commands top dollar, the space in this project ought to be available for a bargain. It`s not. The addition of the silver office condos looks like an overscaled HVAC unit dropped on an otherwise magnificent old brick warehouse building.

Image