The Auditorium at Ella Austin

The Ella Austin Community Center occupies an entire city block in Dignowity Hill.  The center is named after Ella Austin an African American woman who founded an orphanage in 1897 and cared for homeless children until 1940. In 1968 the children's home was converted to a multi purpose community center and continues to serve as a neighborhood based social service agency for the Eastside and beyond.

Ella, as the community center is affectionately called, is housed in what used to be Ralph Waldo Emerson Junior High School, which was closed as a school in the mid 1960's.  The main building dates back to 1921 and is located in the middle of the Dignowity Hill Historic District.  The building is a historic preservation project waiting to happen. The structure, while in relative good shape, is in need of on going maintenance.  The exterior of the main building still retains much of it's architectural interest with it's oversize windows and doors.  Over the years much of the interior space and old classrooms have been carved out for office space, conference rooms and space for programs such as the day care and after school program.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Inscription

Gated Entrance to Ella

The one interior space that has remained relatively untouched by remodeling efforts is the old school auditorium.  This is a beautiful space with old hardwood flooring, a large stage, high ceilings and amphitheater type seating that slopes down towards the stage. The windows are floor to ceiling with multi pane glass or lites. The seats appear to be the original wooded fold up types no longer seen in schools.   

Entrance to Auditorium off of Pine Street

Auditorium Seating and Windows

Stairway to Balcony

Stage

Old Wooden Seats

Ella is seeing a resurgence in utilization as staff from the Eastside Promise Neighborhood and Choice Grants along with the Urban Strategies Group have recently moved into office space at Ella giving the community center higher visibility.  With this newly generated visibility discussion has turned to the possibility of updating and enhancing the auditorium for use by the community for events like movies, stage plays and gatherings. New lighting, new seating and audio visual equipment could help bring this beautiful space back to life.  However, funding is needed to rehab the auditorium space for community events. Keep Ella in mind, it could use your generosity. 

Antique Piano 

The Vision Thing

One of my neighbors recently posed a great question. He wanted to know what is the vision for the neighborhood moving forward. The question seems straightforward but perhaps not as easy to answer as you may think. It's a good question to ask at this juncture in the life of the neighborhood. The vision question indicates that folks are sensing an emerging healthy tension as the neighborhood continues to progress and are beginning to wonder which way to go next.  So how is vision for a changing neighborhood like Dignowity created?

Perhaps we can start by re-visiting the neighborhood plan that was developed by neighborhood residents and approved by city council in 2009. You can find the complete Dignowity Hill Neighborhood Plan at:
http://www.sanantonio.gov/planning/neighborhoods/dignowityHillNP_dec2009.asp 

The stated purpose of the neighborhood plan is to provide a guide for future action, growth and development. The plan provides a ready made list of improvements and steps that residents want to see in the neighborhood. In turn city staff can use the plan to prioritize capital improvement projects and most importantly identify and prioritize funding mechanisms for those projects. 

There are 22 goals under four major headings that are part of neighborhood plan. The headings and their descriptions are listed below: 

Community Facilities and Public Health

Maintain and enhance the neighborhood parks, community centers, and cultural events that promote healthy lifestyles and highlight the historic character of the Dignowity Hill neighborhood

Crime and Public Safety

Improve the well being of the community by eliminating criminal activity through improved public safety measures to ensure that all community members especially children are able to work and play without fear in a safe environment

Housing and Economic Development
Coordinate and integrate development of a mix of neighborhood businesses that serve the immediate residents in the vicinity and establish housing options with diverse age and density that are walkable and secure  

Transportation, Infrastructure and Drainage

Work with partners and neighbors to enhance the aesthetics of the area by improving sidewalks and road infrastructure to create a safe and friendly environment for pedes­trians, motorists, and bicyclists

Taking Action

Work toward achieving the goals and objectives that are laid out in the Dignowity Hill Neighborhood Plan

In the past five years the neighborhood in partnership with city and elected officials has made significant strides in addressing some of the goals of the neighborhood plan with some success in pushing crime out and improving public safety. The economic piece is starting to gain some traction with the coming of Alamo Brewery and other business ventures in and around the neighborhood. Housing, especially large infill housing has yet to get any significant footing in the neighborhood although that may be changing soon as demand for housing close to downtown is gaining momentum and developers are eyeing larger tracts within the neighborhood.  The one area where there is dire need of improvement is infrastructure and drainage improvements.

View from Lockwood Park

It's also helpful to understand that the Dignowity Hill neighborhood plan was developed and approved before there was an Easpoint, before the Promise Zone, before there was the Eastside Promise Neighborhood Grant, and before there was the Choice Grant, which by the way does not include or affect Dignowity Hill. The grant initiatives are all good in and of themselves because they address specific challenges associated with improving educational outcomes, addressing an extremely economically distressed area of the Eastside and bring much needed public investment.  The reality, however, is that Dignowity as a neighborhood has been working on the vision thing way before any of these initiatives existed. 

The interesting thing about the vision question is that all of us in the neighborhood most likely have an image of what the neighborhood can become or even what it should become. That is why visioning ought to be an exercise in collective thoughtful expression. I also believe that the neighborhood is reaching a tipping point that was set in motion in the mid 2000's by private investors who saw the potential of the neighborhood. They were willing to take a financial risk on the Eastside and in Dignowity. That wave of newcomers also brought along the notion of building community and finding ways to sustain the character and social fabric of the neighborhood.  The question now is where do we want to go from here?

Ella Austin Community Center-Auditorium Entrance

The elements found in the neighborhood plan are good starting points to jump start a conversation about the neighborhood vision question. As I mentioned previously some healthy tensions are developing as the neighborhood continues to progress and they are not clearly addressed by the neighborhood plan. Some examples: the neighborhood is attracting young professionals that are investing in the neighborhood but we are also attracting investors and developers who do not necessarily care about building community. We find our selves layered by federal grants that for a number of reasons, neither good or bad, are not part of the vision of the neighborhood because of the prescriptive and focused nature of the grants. The question of gentrification has popped up as newcomers accelerate investment in the neighborhood yet I also feel a strong sense of community of making sure we do not displace our long time residents.  Our historic district puts the neighborhood in the middle of historic preservation issues but often times those issues collide with economic development initiatives or public safety concerns around older or abandoned structures. Do we envision better schools? Do we want streets with sidewalks and curbs that actually drain off after a rain? Do we allow developers do in fill housing without regard to historic architectural guidelines? Do we allow concerns regarding density for the sake of having a new housing development in the neighborhood be discounted or worse yet disregarded?

The vision question is important. It's time that we as a neighborhood pause a bit and do some reflecting on what next.  

Cherry Modern On Cherry Street

Catching Up!

Good Lord!....it's already mid February! I need to catch on things since it's been awhile that I've written anything of note.  The neighborhood seems pretty quite lately, although we've had some activity with the sale of some of the restored houses in the neighborhood.  The community garden is flourishing and the Kaboom playground is getting some use from the neighborhood kids.  The new year brought in some good news.  The Eastside Promise Neighborhood Grant was awarded to United Way and San Antonio. This is a huge deal for our neighborhoods and represents $24.6 million investment over 5 years to address education improvements in our public schools within the Eastside Promise Neighborhood footprint as well as addressing quality of life issues.  Henrietta Munoz is the project director and those of us that live within the Promise Neighborhood footprint need to support her work.   For more information on this exciting initiative go to http://www.eastsidepromise.org/

Bill Ross

Our dear friend Bill Ross passed away at the end of December. Bill was in his mid 70's when he moved into Dignowity several years ago. He and his good friend Byron Sherouse we're one of the first pioneers to buy some of the the old houses in Dignowity and restore them. Bill lived on N Pine St and was well known for his generosity and engaging personality.  Bill is one of my heroes.  At an age when most folks have retired and are done with work, Bill was changing the world, well, our neighborhood anyway! He'll be greatly missed!





The plans for the brewery near the Hays Street Bridge are coming together. Last I heard is that ground will be breaking sometime in this summer!  Can't wait!