LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor,
History can be a fragile thing in San Marcos. This is something we learned not so long ago when the historic Old Telephone Company building on San Antonio Street was demolished without so much as a “Howdy do!” One day it was there. Then it was gone. A handsome example of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture – a building listed on the National Register of Historic Places – was reduced to a pile of dusty rubble. Only then did we realize what was lost and act to prevent future erasure of our local historic and cultural legacy.
We are at another historic crossroads today. A historic parcel in the East Guadalupe neighborhood, which, for more than a century, has stood as a testament to the area’s rich cultural heritage, is being sold by the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District. While the ordinance that resulted from the regrettable Telephone Building incident creates a delay and review period before the demolition of potentially historic structures, it does not appear to cover this situation.
In a development-happy city that seems enthralled by high-rise after highrise, we risk losing one of the few remaining undeveloped properties in the area. And that risk includes completely changing the character of a cherished neighborhood. This parcel, immediately adjacent to the busy Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos – the former Mexican School – on the block bounded by Lee Street, E. Grove Street, McKie Street, and S. LBJ Drive, is in one of the three neighborhoods designated as Mexican American and Indigenous Heritage and Culture Districts just a few short years ago.
How quickly we forget! A property that once held earlier versions of the Mexican School, a Mexican Baptist Church, and historic homes, is at the heart of a neighborhood that includes small homes and businesses, long-established family restaurants, three Mexican churches, and the Los Angeles Funeral Home, once the site of a Mexican Lodge Hall. The question is, “What comes next? And how does that affect the ability of residents, homeowners, and businesses to maintain their presence in what could become a speculative realestate market, increasing assessments and property tax burdens?
I’m reminded of the Joni Mitchell song, the one that asks, “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”
Haven’t we’ve come far enough to avoid falling into another situation that will result in loss and regret the morning after? Perhaps we need a new ordinance to address this type of situation and others that may not have been anticipated after the remains of the Telephone Building were carted away. But until then, it’s important to let local government, civic groups, historical societies and, of course, the SMCISD, know that this site should be retained and preserved – used to commemorate and honor the history, vibrancy, and culture of the San Marcos Mexican American community. And the time to do that is now, before it’s too late.
Sincerely, Jon Leonard San Marcos
