North Park Festival of the Arts
A photo of the historic mural by Dan Soderberg The historic Agua Caliente Racetrack mural painted on the California Theatre, Downtown, could be in danger.
Dan Soderberg, vice president of the Save Our Heritage Organization and chair of the Neighborhood Historic Preservation Coalition, says he's heard from the city that the mural on the historic building at 1122 Fourth Ave. at C St. will be painted over with a beer advertisement. The mural is an ad from the 1960s depicting horse racing at Tijuana's Agua Caliente Racetrack, which was destroyed in a fire in 1971 and was eventually rebuilt.
"The main issue is that historical resources are supposed to be evaluated through a process," Soderberg said. "We call it the 45-year review. City staff is supposed to send out notices when anything happens on property that's 45 years or older."
Soderberg has started a campaign to save the mural.
"It's from the 1960s," he said. "And there's very little left in Downtown San Diego that speaks to that period of time. The mural is one of the last, if not the last representation of that period.... I've put out the battle cry, so let's see what happens."
*Click here for an update on Angela Carone's Culture Lust blog on KPBS.org.
*Click here to sign Art Fist Collective's Save the historic Caliente mural petition.
