News from Ocean Beach and Point Loma – Late February 2017

Friends of the OB Library to Hold Booksale – Sat. Feb. 25th

From 930 am to 1230pm, the Friends of the OB Library will be holding their “almost spring” booksale, right there on the lawn in front of the library.

Kellogg Beach Developer’s Connections to OB

Julie Stalmer over at the San Diego Reader has discovered an interesting connection between the developer who wants to build a condo project with 9 nine units, two to three stories tall, over at Kellogg Beach in the La Playa area of Point Loma and the condo project on Abbott and Saratoga. Stalmer wrote:

On February 4, more than 50 people gathered to voice opposition to a proposed condo development on Kellogg Beach in La Playa, a bayside neighborhood in Point Loma.  After the meeting, Howard Haimsohn started the Save Kellogg Beach Facebook page.

And here’s where Stalmer makes the connection:

Another issue of concern to several residents is the planned subterranean parking. The architect designing the Kellogg Beach project (Marengo Morton Architects) seems to be the same one that was involved with the design of the million-dollar beachfront condos on Saratoga and Abbott in Ocean Beach. The Ocean Beach project has a subterranean garage that flooded in 2015 (and again in 2016), destroying a Lamborghini along with other cars. A permit search showed that Marengo Morton was indeed involved in the Ocean Beach project.

Surfer Rescued off Sunset Cliffs – Sat, Feb. 18th

A surfer was rescued from rocks beneath Sunset Cliffs Saturday morning, Feb. 18th. San Diego Fire-Rescue received the initial emergency call at 12:13 p.m. and responded to the 1100 block of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard. The man recovered in the rescue suffered a lower-leg fracture, according to SDFD Lt. Rick Romero. Ocean Beach resident Steven Farmer came to Sunset Cliffs to check out the waves and saw the surfer fighting to hold his own against the strong surf.

“I got out of my car because I saw him struggling,” Farmer said. “He seemed out of breath. He kept looking out to sea then back at the rocks behind him.”

Farmer says the surfer was forced into a cove and onto a rocky area by northward currents. He then handed his surfboard up to Farmer and other spectators and attempted to climb up a rock face to the surface of the cliff. The surfer was unable to negotiate the rock face and fell backwards onto the rocks below, which is when the leg injury occurred. NBC7

Almost a Million Bucks for That?

One observer told the OB Rag that the local real estate market is getting crazier and crazier. Look what’s being advertised for nearly a million bucks ($939,000) over at 1819 – 1821 Cable Street. The lot has 2 units, with the front house a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, and the back unit with 1 bedroom and 1 bath. The front house has a fireplace, built-ins, a “sun-room foyer”; there’s a private backyard (right off the alley); there’s also a detached 1 car garage and workshop space. And it’s historically designated, they say.

Starbucks Sign Routed Non-Customers to Other Businesses

Delinda Lombardo, who writes for the Reader, found that someone inside the Starbucks on Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach “recently posted a sign that directed non-customers to use restrooms at nearby businesses. When the sign was posted on the restroom door earlier this week, someone asked them to remove it; after they refused, someone took it down for them.”

The sign read:

“Public restrooms are for customers only. [In smaller letters:] Restrooms are available at: [then in handwritten letters] OBKabob Pizza Port”

“I didn’t even know about it,” Sal, the owner of OB Kabob, told me. “A customer told me about it and I said, ‘No, it’s not okay.’ I think he went and took it down, but that was not okay for them to post it.”

Point Loma Has a New Book Store

Along Rosecrans street, a bookstore in between Beach Community Acupuncture and Dick & Jane has taken over what used to be called Point Loma books. The rows of books that cover the walls have many genres such as travel, literature, or philosophy just to name a few. These books range from well-known authors to old books waiting to be rediscovered. The bookstore is called La Playa Books.  Amy Hesselink, manager of La Playa Books, has a long love for books that she has inherited from her father, who is now 83 years old. Her father is a Point Loma native who attended Point Loma High and lives just up the street from the bookstore. He always wanted a bookstore, so when the previous owner retired. He knew this was his chance.   loma beat

Voltaire and Chatsworth Changes?

The large commercial building at the corner of Voltaire and Chatsworth is apparently up for lease. For only $5,000 it could be yours. Does this mean the Tea Upon Chatsworth is closing?

Shuttered Hospital Lot Transformed into Outdoor Gathering and Green Space

KTUA, a San Diego-based planning and landscape architecture firm, has transformed the parking lot of the formerly shuttered Cabrillo Hospital into a gathering and green space for the many students who study at the new home of the EF International Language Center.  Sitting vacant for several years, the old Cabrillo Hospital in the Point Loma area of San Diego is now owned by EF, which has transformed the building into an international education mixed-use campus with classrooms, residences and community spaces.  SDMetro

Props for Dog Beach

“Dog Beach, in Ocean Beach (O.B. to locals), was established in 1972 and has become a required destination for any dog lover’s vacation or weekend getaway. When it was created, the park was hailed as the first off-leash park of its kind in the nation. Today, Dog Beach is open 24 hours a day and is one of the dog-friendliest places in San Diego.” San Diego Reader

Choral Group Performs “Slave Narratives”

In observance of Black History Month, choral group Sacra/Profana is presenting “Voyage: The Slave Journey,” with the first of two concerts scheduled Friday at Maritime Museum of San Diego. The other concert will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 at All Soul’s Episcopal Church in Point Loma. The choir, under the artistic direction of Juan Carlos Acosta, “will explore the slave narratives that helped shape this country’s diverse voices.” The concert will mark the San Diego premiere of composer Anthony Davis’ “Voyage Through Death to Life Upon These Shores,” with text by American poet and essayist Robert Hayden. The Martin Luther King Jr. Community Choir will be featured in this concert. Sacra/Profana presents “Voyage: The Slave Journey”: 7:30 p.m. Friday. Maritime Museum of San Diego, 1492 N. Harbor Drive, San Diego. $30 reserved seating, $20 general admission, $10 student and military with valid I.D. sacraprofana.org

Power Outages Hit Point Loma and OB

Power outages across San Diego left thousands of utility customers without power and forced Point Loma Nazarene University to cancel classes Friday, Feb. 17.  One power outage hit 1,463 customers around Point Loma and Ocean Beach about 3 p.m., according to San Diego Gas & Electric Co.  As a result, Point Loma Nazarene University sent an alert to students and staff to notify them classes were cancelled through the night.  Power in the area was restored to most customers by 6:30 p.m.