FROM THE DOWNTOWN BEAT
East Village mural would send signal

By Jonathan Heller
STAFF WRITER

January 19, 2005

A downtown San Diego community group is trying to raise $10,000 to paint a mural on the side of a building in a depressed area of the East Village.

The mural would adorn the Aztec Appliance building at 17th and K streets, said Brenda Kayzar, a volunteer with the East Village Community Action Network.

"Much of downtown San Diego is experiencing revitalization. Pockets of the East Village neighborhood have benefited from this renewed investment, but the area surrounding the Aztec Appliance warehouse remains in decline," Kayzar said.

Police Capt. Joel Bryden said recently that the area has recorded more drug activity and arrests than any other part of the city. It's on the extreme eastern fringe of downtown near Interstate 5, several blocks east of Petco Park.

The hope is that the mural, which would be illuminated at night, would send a signal to drug dealers and other criminals that residents are trying to take back the neighborhood.

Although the area around the ballpark has new condominiums, apartments and hotels, the landscape farther east is dominated by industrial properties and social-service agencies. Residents of two older apartment buildings complain that criminals prey on the homeless visiting the nearby Neil Good Day Center.

The community group has retained artist Mario Torero, who painted the "Eyes of Picasso" mural on the Reincarnation Building next to the ballpark, to oversee the painting of the new mural. The "Eyes" mural has since been removed by a developer who plans to build condominiums there.

Once a date has been set for the painting, the public will be invited to help, Kayzar said. Special lower sections will be reserved for children.

To date, the group is about halfway toward its fund-raising goal, Kayzar said.

For more information, or to contribute, e-mail Kayzar at Kayzar@sbcglobal.net.