The Historical Resources Board granted a continuance on June 24 for a motion to designate the Fat City building, located at 2137 Pacific Coast Highway, as a historical building — a step away from the development of a $90 million, 237-unit apartment complex project proposed by architect-developer Jonathan Segal. The peach-colored building enhanced with neon lights on the northeast corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Hawthorn Street was built in 1941 in the Streamline Moderne style. It has since undergone numerous reconstructions — the dividing factor among the board members’ decision to designate the building. “Over the past 70 years, the destruction and remodeling has resulted in only 32 percent of the prominent façade remaining,” Segal said, arguing that it does not have sufficient original properties to be designated as historical. “The soul of that building no longer exists. It is no longer recognizable,” he said. Collin Fat spoke on behalf of Tom Fat, who owned the building from 1978 until his death in 2007. He said the integrity of the building has been lost and should not be considered historical. “When we took over the building, we removed all existing buildings on the site that were unusable and unsuitable for the purposes of operating a restaurant, and we demolished the interior and street facades of the restaurant-building, essentially retaining only part of its shell,” he said. “It is very different today than when we took it over in 1978. There are a lot of personal feelings about our building, but I can tell you that we did not buy the building because of its historical significance.” In a video presentation, Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) argued that Tom Fat did in fact salvage original Streamline Moderne characteristics of the building, including horizontal raking, the streamline curved linear design, stacked Art Deco glass cubes and the shape of the building’s original iconic tower. According to the SOHO?video, “Tom Fat implemented a plan for the adaptive reuse and rehabilitation to an existing structure long before such standards existed. Clearly, the idea was not to damage the character of the building. In fact, he installed nearly a mile of neon to accentuate the building’s streamline character.” According to the Historical Resources Board guidelines, three criteria are used when determining whether or not a site should be deemed historic. The property must embody characteristics that are significant to the city or neighborhood’s development, are associated with persons of significance or that exemplify a distinctive style of architectural construction. Despite the city staff’s recommendation that the building fails to meet all criteria and should not be designated, some board members thought the building did meet one or more of the criteria. Others — including Board Chairman John Lemmo — admitted to “sitting on the fence” with the decision. In the 1940s, the building housed Top’s Nightclub, an entertainment venue that featured artists such as Nat King Cole, Shelly Winters and Nelson Eddy. Community members attested to the building’s significance for a variety of reasons. “Top’s/Fat City is one of the most important and probably one of the very, very best Art Deco buildings that we have left,” said Bruce Kuhns. “This particular building is instantly recognizable when you see the old photographs and now. Eighty percent, we believe, of the character-defining features are still present,” he said. Resident Jim Bigante said he met his wife at Top’s Nightclub many years ago. “Claims that the building lacks historical integrity is a misnomer. Historical integrity is in the hearts, minds and experiences,” he said. “Top’s is a historical place for me, for the neighborhood, for all the good people who grew up in my family’s era and for the city of San Diego.” Following resident testimonies, board member Priscilla Ann Berge motioned that the building embodies distinctive characteristics of the Streamline Moderne architectural style with modified Art Deco stylistic enhancements and should be designated as historical under the third criterion exemplifying distinctive architectural style. Maria Lia, Segal’s historical consultant and attorney, argued that despite sentiment attached to the building, it only passes one of the seven universally recognized integrity tests used to designate historical buildings. She requested a continuance of the decision until the board’s next meeting. The Historical Resources Board will revisit the motion at their next meeting on Thursday, July 28 in the Council Committee Room, 12th floor, City Hall.