C Street Inn

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C Street Inn
The building in 2013
Interactive map of the C Street Inn area
Former names
  • Hotel Polhemus (1913–31)
  • Cecil Hotel (1931–90s)
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeApartment hotel (SRO)[1]
Architectural style
Edwardian Commercial
LocationCore, 630–636 C St, San Diego, California, 92101, United States, San Diego, United States of America
Coordinates32°43′01.1″N 117°09′31.6″W / 32.716972°N 117.158778°W / 32.716972; -117.158778
Completed1913
Opened1914 (1914)
Cost$75,000
OwnerJax Properties LLC
LandlordJack Shah Rafiq
Height
Top floor6
Technical details
Structural systemConcrete and brick
Floor count6 above ground; 1 basement level
Design and construction
Architects
  • Arthur J. Hamilton
  • Hamilton & Smith Brothers
DeveloperChaffey Concrete Construction Company
Known for
  • Class A
  • fireproof
Other information
Number of rooms100[2]

The C Street Inn, formerly known as the Hotel Polhemus and Cecil Hotel, is an affordable housing complex in downtown San Diego's Core district that was vacated in 2022 due to egregious conditions. It was built in 1912, and opened in 1913 with a capacity of 100 rooms.

Starting in the 2010s, the basement was utilized as a film studio and theater performance venue called Gray Area Multimedia. In 2022, the city began the process of relocating all of the hotel's residents, after the building was vacated for its awful living environment.

Throughout the hotel's history, several minor fires have caused damage, triggering temporary evacuations. The building has also been the location of numerous criminal incidents.

History

The building's architect, Arthur J. Hamilton, had also designed the nearby Robert E. Lee Hotel.[3] The concrete building was erected in 1912 at a cost of $75,000. Hamilton & Smith Brothers planned for the first floor to be occupied by stores. Chaffey Concrete Construction Company was assigned to construct the building[4] located at 630–636 C Street[5][6][7] in Core, San Diego.[8]

1913–1930: Hotel Polhemus

Artwork of the building in 1914

In 1913, Willis P. Polhemus owned the new building and the land it occupied.[9][10] R.B. Thorbus was the proprietor and manager in 1914.[9][11] Florence C. Thorbus ran the La Mesa School of Expression for Motion Pictures out of the hotel.[12]

In January 1920, the Industrial Welfare Commission held a meeting at the hotel, focusing on minimum wages for employed women in San Diego.[13] That same month, librarian Mary Elizabeth Downey stayed at the Polhemus while in town to speak at the San Diego Public Library.[14] In 1921, A.P. Wilkinson sold the hotel to George A. Brown and J. H. Sprague.[15] In 1929, Hotel del Coronado room clerk Edgar P. Schiller was hired as manager after the Polhemus was leased to George W. Wood.[16]

1931–1990: Cecil Hotel

The building in the 1930s

In 1931, the Cecil was relocated to the Polhemus building that was refurnished, redecorated, and expanded to 100 rooms from its former location.[2] Roland Schneider was elected secretary and former secretary Whitten was elected treasurer.[17] In 1934, Polhemus sold the property to an undisclosed buyer for $75,000.[10]

In 1990, a fire started on the third floor, and 25 tenants were evacuated. The blaze was caused by a new tenant whose lit cigarette ignited his mattress, and resulted in $2,500 in property damages.[18]

1991–2022: C Street Inn

In the 1990s, Hotel Cecil became known as the C Street Inn.[18][19] In 1998, the inn was damaged from a fire and 40 people were evacuated due to a cigarette igniting a mattress on the fourth floor.[20][21] In 1999, another fire broke out causing evacuation of the building. Police safely helped a man who jumped out of his hotel window to avoid smoke inhalation.[19][22]

In 2009, the hotel faced a default.[23] In 2014, a body was found in one of the hotel rooms by a maintenance worker after a guest complained of an odor. Police said it was not a suspicious death.[24]

Vacation of property

In 2022, residents of the hotel were forced to vacate the building due to multiple infestations of mold, rodents, fire hazards and horrid living conditions.[25][26] The city of San Diego and attorney Mara Elliott later claimed that owner Jack Shah Rafiq and his company Jax Properties LLC[5][27][28] would be held responsible for covering the occupants' collective relocation costs of $339,840.[25][29] Rafiq appealed the decision and claimed the city was motivated by a desire to pressure low-income residents to leave the area.[1][30]

In April of that year, local police and fire marshals unsuccessfully attempted to evacuate the building following the discovery of "multiple health and safety violations", leaving the premises after meeting with Rafiq. Tenants of the hotel later received a 10-day eviction notice in May that was not followed up on.[31] Elliott announced in July that the building was a public nuisance and that residents would be relocated.[27][32] Spanish-American poet Neil Rico, a resident of the hotel at the time, claimed the situation was unfair to tenants who relied on the living quarters to meet their fixed and limited incomes.[25] In August, a local Superior Court judge appointed a receiver to take control of the property.[27]

Basement

The basement of the building has entrances from the main lobby of the hotel and a stairway from a business entrance on Seventh Ave.[33] Rafiq rented rooms to tenants in the basement that were not eligible for a relocation claim once the building was vacated.[33] Much of the hotel's basement is directly below multiple other businesses that are not part of the property.[33]

In the mid 2010s, the basement space was used as a performance venue and film studio called Gray Area Multimedia,[34][35] formerly known as Rosewood Five Studios at 1150 Seventh Ave.[36][37][38] The space housed performances of Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia, Dr. Svetlana's Public & Private Health Lecture Demonstration, and Belief No Repeat for the San Diego International Fringe Festival.[36][37][39]

Notable films

The basement was a filming location for multiple independent films.[35][40]

Criminal incidents

In April 1916, Los Angeles resident William Haupt was arrested outside the building by police officer Tim Holcomb after kicking several trash cans.[46] Later that year, a man was arrested for attempting to steal a tire from the building clerk's automobile.[47][48] In 1918, fifteen-year old William Dowlar, a bellboy at the hotel, was arrested for stealing a $150 diamond ring, a Kodak camera, and a fountain pen from a hotel guest.[49]

In 1921, 29-year old Franklin McGuire was arrested for burglary shortly after stealing $125 worth of clothes from a room in the building.[50] In 1922, two armed men were arrested in downtown San Diego after briefly being pursued by police.[51] They were wanted for holding up the building's hotel clerk R. W. Smith. During the attempted robbery, there was a scuffle and a gun was discharged but no one was injured. The thieves had previously made off with a suitcase with $150 in clothes from the nearby Panama Hotel,[52] and were already wanted by police in Long Beach, California[53] after robbing an apartment clerk of $45,[54] and stealing a car in Sacramento.[51][55] They were held in local jail on a bail of $1,000 each[56] and were suspected to have committed other recent thefts.[57]

In November 1924, four inmates awaiting trial for robbery charges in Oklahoma were staying in the building. Detectives were alerted and questioned them in their room, but the men were able to mislead law enforcement by claiming that they were ranch owners traveling across the country. On January 16, 1925, they robbed over $3,000 from the nearby San Diego Pantages Theatre.[58]

In 1931, night clerk P. W. Price was robbed at gunpoint on the second floor of the building.[59] The following year, on-duty night clerks at the Cecil Hotel and the nearby Churchill Hotel were robbed within an hour of each other.[6]

In 1958, clerk Charles Sutter was robbed of $150 by the "Elevator Bandit" who forced him into the building's elevator and escaped while the elevator ascended.[60]

In September 1978, the building was one of ten hotels in the downtown area raided by the San Diego Police Department. Policewomen went undercover as prostitutes, rented rooms, and made 15 arrests.[61][62] Later that same month, Moses Franklin was arrested for assault in a room he shared with a teenage runaway from Tucson, Arizona.[63]

In 1992, William Dean Short, a prison escapee from Muskogee, Oklahoma, was caught and arrested in the building.[64] In 1999, Lt. Ray Sigwalt said San Diego police homicide was called after a 66-year old man died from a sixth-floor fall into the building's air shaft.[65]

In 2022, the city alleges that excessive criminal activity was reported in the building. Police had responded to emergency calls from the hotel 190 times over a three-year period since May 2019, spending a total of 465 hours to address burglaries, public intoxication charges, and other nuisances.[66][67][32]

References

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  3. "Local Architect Dies Suddenly: A. J. Hamilton, Designer of Polhemus Hotel, Succumbs to Heart Disease". San Diego Union. February 22, 1930.
  4. "Contract Let For Six-Story Hotel". San Diego Union and Daily Bee. July 14, 1912. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
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  6. "Hotels Lose $60 To Bandit: Robber Carefully Wipes Away Fingerprints". The San Diego Sun. April 2, 1932. p. 1. Retrieved October 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO Historical Resources Board" (PDF). California Historical Resources Inventory Database. November 7, 2003. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
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