Historical Designation Raises Concern
By Kendra Hartmann
Veasna Chea knows what it’s like to come from a rough neighborhood. He knows the forces that compel kids to look for happiness and companionship in gangs and drugs. He knows what it’s like to come from a family that doesn’t display affection and how that can affect a child later.
Veasna Chea grew up in the Tenderloin, the roughly one-square mile patch of land where cultures collide in the middle of bustling San Francisco. As a kid, he searched for the satisfaction he missed in his family life in anything that presented itself, and there were many in the Tenderloin. Drugs, gangs, raves, clubs – anything that offered some escape from what he saw as a trap he couldn’t break out of.
Students from San Francisco Christian Academy walk their usual path in the Tenderloin to a neighborhood playground for physical education class. Photo: Craig Young
“When you grow up in a place where you have nothing, you search for happiness in all the wrong places,” he said. “You feed into a stereotype and you find a little bit of happiness, but no completion. It’s just an illusion.”
Five years ago, tired of a life of vice and seeing no end to self-destruction, he found his way into the shelter of the San Francisco Rescue Mission and Pastor Roger Huang. Succumbing to hard work and his newly found faith, he now finds himself a first, second and third grade teacher at the San Francisco Christian Academy, a private school run by the Rescue Mission.
“People here can’t see farther than the boundaries of the neighborhood,” said Chea, 25. “They think there’s a cycle they can’t break, but they can. They just don’t know how.”
His own good fortune has made Veasna Chea extremely passionate about the work the mission and the academy do in the Tenderloin. That’s why he’s particularly upset at the pending designation of the academy’s main building at 230 Jones Street as an historical landmark. To him and to many others at the academy, the designation would be a hindrance to their work. His wife, Elaine Chea, who also teaches at the school, said the designation won’t help and could be detrimental to the school and the children who attend it.
“We’ve been here for almost 20 years, so I don’t see why it’s happening now,” she said. “We’re here to exercise the potential for excellence that we see in the Tenderloin, and any loss to us could be a great loss to the community.”
Buildings that are chosen as historical landmarks by the city or state may have greater restrictions in alterations that can be made to the building, and any changes have to be approved by the Planning Department in order to preserve the historical character of the structure. In most cases, this only extends to the façade of a building, but some landmarks’ interiors must also be preserved. The building owned by the San Francisco Rescue Mission is still under review, and the Planning Department has not yet decided whether or not the interior of the building has historical significance.
Veasna Chea, among others who work at the Mission, is worried that if the school decides to add on a gym or a computer lab, it will be more expensive and time consuming—or they won’t be allowed to do it at all.
The building was built in 1924 and housed the Musicians Union Local-6 of San Francisco until the union sold it in 1998. The two-story brick façade would have to remain unchanged under the guidelines of the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board. The organization that petitioned the board for the designation earlier this fall, the Community Leadership Alliance, said they were approached by members of the community who had an interest in preserving the building and asked the Community Leadership Alliance to take the issue up with the board.
“The Tenderloin has an extremely rich history with music and the arts and it is in the community’s best interest to preserve these historical buildings,” said David Villa-Lobos, director of the Community Leadership Alliance. “We feel that the building has not been kept up well and we want to make sure that its historical integrity is not compromised.”
The historical two-story brick facade of the San Francisco Christian Academy is under consideration as a historical landmark. A group of people has requested review of the building, but officials at the school worry that a landmark designation would limit their options for remodeling and meeting the needs of their students. Photo: Craig Young
As vice-principal and co-founder of the academy, Marie-France Ladine feels that a landmark designation would limit the school in future endeavors to improve the curriculum.
“We want to be able to expand upon our program, especially in areas such as athletics and music. If we wanted to add a gym onto our building, we’re restricted in what we can do,” she said. “I myself have children who attend the school, and like any other parent, we want the best for our kids.”
Ladine started the school with her father, Pastor Huang, in 1997 when they realized the Tenderloin was in need of a private Christian school. The first year they opened, the student body consisted of seven children. Seven years later, more than 60 kids attend the academy, and each one learns at his or her own personal pace.
“We realize the building has historical significance and that owning a historical landmark can be a source of pride, but that’s not what we’re here for,” said Ladine, 34. “We are in it to help the kids and the families of the Tenderloin have better futures.”
When Ladine first heard that the building was being considered for landmark status about three months ago, she started to look into what that would mean for the school. She found the San Francisco Korean United Methodist Church, which had been through the same process almost 10 years ago.
Former Pastor Chang Park recalled the limitations he had come up against when the church’s building at 1123 Powell Street was appointed landmark status as the first Korean church in the city. When the congregation grew too large for the building, the church tried to sell it, but discovered that it was not as valuable as a landmark because potential buyers didn’t want to buy a building that could have restrictions on future alterations to its appearance. Chang said the market value of the roughly 94,000-square-foot building was about $3.2 million, but the church only got $1.7 million for it.
There are many benefits, however, to owning an historical landmark. Owners of buildings with such a status are given incentives to repair, restore and rehabilitate their structures in lieu of demolishing them. Such incentives include a property tax reduction, loans for the purpose of improving conditions in the building that are in violation of the building code, federal tax credits and grants.
The trade off is that the Planning Commission must approve future alterations, and while the process of designating a building is pending, the owners cannot construct, demolish or alter any part of the building. And while the process is not particularly complicated, once a petition has been accepted by the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board it can be lengthy.
The board has already published the buildings nominated for landmark designation for next year, but owners of the buildings may have to wait months before their building is officially designated – and some may eventually be taken off the list and not designated at all. What makes the case of the Musicians Union building unique is that the owners don’t want to be designated, and an outside organization – the Community Leadership Alliance – has taken the initiative to preserve the structure.
According to Neil Hart, Chief of Neighborhood Planning and the Preservation Coordinator for the Planning Department, non-owners petitioning for a designation is uncommon, but it happens, and the process doesn’t necessarily need the owners’ consent to go ahead with the process.
“Presenting a property to be designated is a pretty complicated, expensive and involved process, so it’s not common for someone who doesn’t own the building to go through that,” he said. “And while the (Landmarks Preservation) Advisory Board will always try to get the owners on board, it’s not necessary to complete a designation.”
Villa-Lobos said he and a few others at the Community Leadership Alliance did the work and research necessary to present the property to the board so they could save money. He also said, however, that he was surprised the board accepted the presentation because it was not prepared by a professional organization, such as the Architectural Resources Group, a firm that specializes in landmark designation.
A structure that is presented by a non-owner must first be given support by one of the board of supervisors or by a member of the Planning Commission, Arts Commission or the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board. Villa-Lobos feels it is his obligation as the director of the grass-roots organization based in the Tenderloin to uphold the historical integrity of the community.
“A lot of people think we’re not concerned about the aesthetics of this place, but many of us are. It helps to take some of the pressure off the drug and violence problem and shows people that there are some great things in this neighborhood, too,” Villa-Lobos said. “We have a civic duty to enhance the city and community in which we have a stake.”
Veasna Chea feels differently. It’s not that he’s not concerned about the appearance or historical significance of the neighborhood he has spent his entire life in. It’s just that in a place like this, one has to choose his or her own battles, and for him, it starts with the people. On an average day, the kids in Chea’s class have recess on the playground, much like any other school. But kids at this school have to walk at least two blocks to get to the nearest playground because their school doesn’t have one.
On one particularly frigid San Francisco day, Chea leads his class to the playground around the corner, watching closely and with a protective eye as they step over homeless people on the street. When they finally get to the playground, the fence around it is locked. One little boy asks Chea where they will go now. He answers that they will have to go back to the school, but he’ll let them have some free time in the classroom.
“If we wanted to build a playground for our children, how would we do it if we’re limited by these restrictions?” he asked as he herded his kids back into the school. “It makes me ask what does the Tenderloin need? A historical building or a place for youth?”