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Mid City shines anew; holiday lights on I-805 bridges express area's pride
The San Diego Union - Tribune; San Diego, Calif.; Dec 22, 1999; Ronald W. Powell

They adorn bridges full-span -- like strands of twinkling jewels against the night. For motorists traveling across or beneath San Diego's Mid-City bridges, the shining Christmas lights are a tradition dating back more than a decade and a visual cue that the holiday season has arrived. It is all that and more for the men and women of the Mid City who started the tradition to bring attention to their communities. They continue it to lure drivers to take the offramp and see the improvements that are under way. And there is a smaller tale behind the lights, the redemption story of Joe Kahue, a once-violent alcoholic who did time behind bars.

Since 1994, Kahue has hung the lights. And each year as they flicker to life, Kahue is warmed by the thought that he is another 12 months removed from the darkness that once enveloped him.

"I love when I'm putting them up and people toot their horns and say `that's beautiful,' " said Kahue, 52, an employee of the Alpha Project work program for the homeless and the poor. "It's beautiful. They show me that there's love out there." The seasonal display began in 1988 with lights strung across the Adams Avenue bridge over Interstate 805. Over the years, it spread to six other bridges spanning I-805 as a driver heads south: Meade Avenue, El Cajon Boulevard, Orange Avenue, Lincoln Avenue, University Avenue and Swift Avenue. An eighth was added this year on El Cajon Boulevard over Interstate 15.

San Diego businessman Marco Li Mandri was president of the Adams Avenue Business Association when the initial decision was made to light up the season.

"The idea was to do something highly visible in the spirit of the season, to make people recognize the area and wonder, `What's going on up there?' " Li Mandri said. "The business association received approval from Caltrans to wire the bridges for the lights. Wiring and setup for that first surge of candlepower cost the association between $1,500 and $2,000," Li Mandri said.

The lights received rave reviews. In the intervening years, more bridges were added with the aid of business improvement groups in the Mid-City area. And following the lead of the Mid-City communities, lights began showing up in recent years along the bridges over the Martin Luther King Jr. freeway in Chollas View and Emerald Hills. This year, as in recent yuletides, the Mid-City project included the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association, with assistance from the City Heights Business Improvement Association. The cost was more than $7,500 in grants and contributions from organization members. The process began in early fall with applications to Caltrans requesting to light up the bridges, and ordering new batches of bulbs. Then the hands of the community were put to work.

A changing-of-the-light-bulbs party was in early November at the offices of the El Cajon Boulevard association. For about three hours, 24 student volunteers from Crawford High School inspected strands of 3,600 bulbs, weeding out the broken or the spent.

"We fed them pizza, soda pop and cookies," said Steve Russell, executive director of the business improvement association. "They were in heaven."

Shortly after Thanksgiving, Kahue began installing the lights. It is a job the well-practiced Kahue has down pat. It takes him about 45 minutes per bridge.

"I used to have a helper with me; now I do it by myself. It's easier," Kahue said.

Businesswoman Jackie O'Connor said the lighting of the El Cajon Boulevard bridge over Interstate 15 signals the near completion of the freeway expansion project through City Heights that has been promised for nearly 30 years. The lights also are a sign of a community coming of age, O'Connor said. She said prostitutes, abandoned buildings and crime once plagued El Cajon Boulevard. Now, businesses are coming into the area and there are revitalization projects on the drawing board. Standing near the bridge where Kahue was stringing the latest addition to the illuminated bridges, O'Connor said, "I feel that we are a community that is coming together."

[Illustration]
2 PICS; Caption: 1. Shining bright: Lights strung across the bridges on Interstate 805 in the Mid-City area have been a holiday tradition for a decade. 2. Hang time: Joe Kahue strung lights on the El Cajon Boulevard bridge.; Credit: 1,2. DON KOHLBAUER/ Union-Tribune photos
Credit: STAFF WRITER

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