San Diego’s North Park is looking better these days, but if you ask Jay Turner, the director for the neighborhood’s Main Street Program, there’s still a long way to go.
“We’ve gone about 10 percent of the way toward its revitalization,” says Turner, who has headed the state-funded urban revival program for North Park since its inception in 1996.
“I have some pretty high standards. We now have a restaurant district, but I won’t feel like things have really turned around until we have some sort of gem where people say, ‘Hey, I want to go there.'”
That gem might be the vacant North Park Theater on University Avenue, slated to be returned to its art deco elegance sometime in the future, now that the area’s redevelopment agency has signed an agreement with a local developer.
Along with several new restaurants that have sprung up along University and 30th Street, the older neighborhood now features a Thursday evening farmer’s market, fa & #231;ade improvements for several businesses and some public art as evidence of progress.
Earlier this month, North Park’s revival and Turner were recognized by the California Trade and Commerce Agency at a joint gathering of the state’s 35 Main Street Programs and the many Downtown Associations, held in Sacramento.
Turner said the award for excellence as director of the year was nice, but more important was the opportunity it provided to let more people know things are changing in the residential area nestled between Interstate 805 and Park Boulevard south of El Cajon Boulevard.
Also receiving an award at the conference was Downtown El Cajon Inc., which was recognized for its innovative use of funds in setting up an international women’s kitchen. The kitchen is used to prepare meals for that city’s farmers market and other special events.
Other San Diego cities and neighborhoods participating in the state-supported Main Street Program are Coronado, El Cajon, Encinitas, Escondido, Ocean Beach and Oceanside.
