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Fir Street Undergoing Renaissance In Little Italy
Little Italy Association Newsletter; San Diego, Calif.: Spring, 1999; Marco LiMandri

We have mentioned many times throughout the last few issues of the Little Italy newsletter the importance of the new market housing projects and major new developments that have changed the face of Little Italy. Over the last few years, parking lots that generated little, it any economic activity, have been transformed into major, well designed market rate housing units in mixed use developments. This signal of private capital pouring into our neighborhood is a good sign that our revitalization efforts are moving in the right direction.

But what of the historic fabric of this community? What about the immigrant Italian families whose dream was realized when they purchased their first home in Little Italy in the first half of the 20th century? What about the immigrant fishermen who agreed to a self-imposed tax based upon each ton of tuna caught to pay off the debt of Our Lady of the Rosary Church? What about the tens of thousands of residents, Italian, Portuguese, Mexican alike, who went to Washington Elementary School, went to church at Our Lady of the Rosary, were married in the church and conducted funeral processsions of relatives taht passed away from this community?

We are lucky that with the major changes occurring in Little Italy, the heart and sole of this community still lives. This vibrant history is coming alive again on Fir Street. Based upon 5 generations of the Cresci/Giolzetti family that have worked their property, the changes occurring on the small cottages along Fir, east of India Street, are adding yet another dimension to this great neighborhood.

It is due to the vision and design skills of Dino Cresci, who runs the Gargoyle Cafe with his niece Jennifer Morrision, that Fir Street is undergoing a renaissance. Simply take a walk up the street from the corner of India and Fir and witness the renovation of the small cottages into live/work space. Besides the new Gargoyle Cafe, one can see the charming additions of Villani's Furnishings, La Bella Vita Hair Salon, and the newest addition Though the buildings are old, the colors and tenants are new and breathe a breath of fresh air into this Fir Street renaissance.

• The Dramatic Changes on Fir Street:
As residents and patrons of Little already know, the Fir Street corridor represents a strong service sector anchor to the overall business community. Services including Nelson Photo, Cecil's Photography, Chromacolor, Architectural Salvage, the Art Store, the Super 8 Motel, Metro Volkswagon, and K and S Tires, already provide shoppers in Little Italy a vast array of goods and services, many of which found nowhere else in the region. Contrary to what many say, Little Italy is not simply a accumulation of the finest and most authentic Italian restaurants in Southern California. The Fir Street business corridor proves that Little Italy is much much more.

The Fir Street Lofts, constructed by Jonathan Segal at the corner of Fir and Columbia in the early 1990s, represented the first new market rate housing in Little Italy in decades and kicked off this accelerated movement for new housing in Little Italy. Further changes are in store on Fir Street.

• Martin Schmidt, a landscape architect, recently purchased the office propertyy at the east side of Fir and State and is currently revenoting his building which will include a landscape entrance to the freeway;
• Ted Smith and Lloyd Russell, architect residents of Little Itlay, have recently purchased 15,000 square feet at the western corner of Fir and State and plan to develop new contemporary housing units on the property;
• David Shirazi, owner of the Super 8 Motel, has recently upgraded his facades and canopies to make his vibrant hotel even more desirable;
• The County Board of Supervisors, led by Supervisors Ron Roberts and Greg Cox, have committed to removing the four story "Askew Health Services Building" which currently sits squarely in the view corridor of Fir Street. Once demolished, the Fir Street Corridor will rival Hawthorne and Ash as one of the finest bay view corridors as they descend to the water.
• The small pocket park at the top of Fir Street, represents the traditional meeting site for Italian men playing their daily round of Bocce. One can see 5 - 15 men playing daily at Fir and State on the grassy area next to the school every day beginning about 4:00 p.m.
• The Little Italy Association has worked closely with Councilman Byron Wear's office as well as CCDC to increase the turnover of parking on Fir Street. The Council has already acted to approve 2 hour parking on Fir and diagonal parking, which will dramatically increase on-street parking for all of the businesses around Fir, will soon follow. This action should increase on street parking by almost 50%;
• Montioring many of these changes are the Fir Street Loft Homeowners Association, a corporation of condo owners managing the units at Fir and Columbia. An extremely active group, this group of residents of Little Italy are deepening the foundation of owner/occupied properties in Little Italy. Their concern to insure that new development is done tastefully and that the business community remains clean and safe, is an inspiration to all new housing developers in Little Italy.

Though taken alone, none of these efforts make a tremendous difference, taken together, they have made this street into one of the hottest pieces of real estate in Little Italy. Again, much of the igniting of this vision of Fir Street is due to the hard work of Dino Cresci and his mother Rose and father Sal Cresci. Throughout the 20th century, the Cresci/Giolzetti family live and worked at this property. As we enter the new century, it is reassuring to see that one of the orginal families of Little Italy continues to work their property and carry this community well into the 21st century.

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