The City Attorney’s Office is seeking to have the dilapidated California Theatre building in downtown San Diego declared a public nuisance and levy fines against its owners for alleged violations of the municipal code, it was announced Thursday.
The 96-year-old blighted theater on C Street has been shuttered for more than three decades, and according to the City Attorney’s Office, has “fallen even further into disrepair” in the years since its 2019 purchase by Australia-based Caydon Property Group. Caydon had originally planned for a hotel and condominium project at the site, but the building was put up for sale last year, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Representatives for the owners could not be reached for immediate comment.
In recent years, the abandoned building has been breached by trespassers, some of whom have set fires inside the structure. According to the City Attorney’s Office, police have been called to the building 68 times since 2019 for various crimes and the building itself is a hazard which city staff declared last year was too dangerous for people to enter.
A civil enforcement action filed by the City Attorney’s Office seeks a court order allowing the city to abate the property and would seek civil penalties of $2,500 a day per violation of the San Diego Municipal Code.
“This blighted theater has been an eyesore for years, as well as a potential death trap to those who are entering it unlawfully,” San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott said in a statement. “The owner’s failure to take action harms neighboring businesses, drains police resources, and poses an ongoing danger.”
–City News Service
