La Mesa Downtown Village Streetscape Improvement Project

        Above we are on Allison Ave. facing east, in La Mesa, CA, during the La Mesa Downtown Village Streetscape Improvement Project. With almost every street in La Mesa between University and 4th Ave being torn up for the next year and a half, it will be very easy to photograph and document the progress.

The Trolley Runs Through La Mesa

        The entire downtown La Mesa, CA area is being improved, and what you see above are the first steps towards that improvement.

Rain Does Not Help Construction

        Right now, it’s a game of patience and tolerance. Wider sidewalks and shady trees are in the future for La Mesa, but until then we have to be patient, tolerate the noisy construction and put up with the traffic delays.

All That Remains Of La Mesa’s Old Post Office

        Once the new post office opened up in La Mesa last year, the old building was slowly phased out and has now been torn down. No word of what will be constructed in it’s place or what is to become of the soon to be abandoned La Mesa police department building across the street. In the background is the city hall building for La Mesa.

Demolishing La Mesa’s Old Post Office

        There is a lot of construction going on in la Mesa right now, and most of the downtown area streets will be receiving face lifts over the next year or so. It will be nice to have another opportunity to document, photographically, the process of raising a building.

Along University Ave & La Mesa Blvd

        Just down the street and around the corner from the La Mesa post office, University Ave, has been dug into regularly over the last month or so. It seems that most of the work is cable/phone line related, with most of the in charge looking people having the AT&T logo on their hardhats.

Construction Can Be Chaotic

        The La Mesa Downtown Village Streetscape Improvement Project will widen sidewalks, install new lamp posts with unique night-lighting, plant new trees, flowers and shrubs and many other things in the downtown area of La Mesa, CA.

Allison Avenue Being Improved

        This is an ambitious project, with one of the goals being to solidify the downtown area’s identity as La Mesa’s city center. As we can see on this map, most of the streets and sidewalks that go through and around downtown La Mesa will be receiving a face-lift.

Intersection Of Palm Ave. And Allison Ave.

        The entire project is called the “La Mesa Downtown Village Streetscape Improvement Project,” but there was a sign in the area these photos were taken that read, “Allison Avenue Streetscape Project,” so I’m guessing that each leg of the project will have it’s own designation like this one. That makes sense to me and will avoid confusion, no doubt.

Guarding The Open Trench

Digging Up The Street In La Mesa

        Over the last few months, crews have been tearing up streets in my neighborhood. They have slowly migrated their way down the street and around the corner. At one point they accidentally knocked over a fire hydrant, which created a great firefighter and water filled photo-op for me.

Worker Emerges From The Street

        When I capture images of people, I prefer the subject not be posed, just captured. I like natural looking, spontaneous images and if the subject happens to be smiling that’s just fine, as long as they aren’t told to, “look at the camera and smile.” As I snapped photos of the work area, the man above emerged from the giant hole in the street and happened to look at the camera.

General Labor In La Mesa, CA

        These guys have been digging, drilling and filling for a few days now and even though I have no idea what the Hell they are doing, it is still interesting to watch.

Using A Jackhammer

Whew! The Ball Is Safe

        Across the street from the construction is the Christ Lutheran Church, which also contains a school. A rubber ball made it over the security fence of the school and rolled down the street where it came to rest at the entrance to a storm drain. Luckily for the students, the ball is slightly larger than the drain, so this good Samaritan lady was able to retrieve the ball for the children.

Jackhammer Through Concrete

        The ground level of this gas station is no match for the relentless beat of a jackhammer. One man with a jackhammer and another with a heavy steel bar equals one hole in the ground. The short video below helps to illustrate this point.

Construction And New Street Lights

        Above we have a new building, hidden under a veil going up at the intersection of Park Blvd. & Island Ave. in downtown San Diego. I’m sure it won’t be long until the veil is lifted and we will see San Diego’s newest condo high-rise. The photo above shows the entire building including workers at the bottom installing a brand new traffic light. Below is a close up of the light installation, and below that is the street corner as viewed with google maps, when construction first began. Once construction is completed, I’ll take another photo. I like those before and after photos, so I think it’s neat when I get to do one of my own.

View Larger Map

La Mesa Police Station Construction Nears Completion – March 2010

        It’s been over two months since my last post with photos of the new La Mesa police station being constructed. During that interim, proper walls have been fabricated and windows have been installed. For this post I will be recycling photos I have taken during construction.

La Mesa Police Station – January 2010

La Mesa Police Station – October 2009

La Mesa Police Station – July 2009

Chop Chop Dig Dig

        As you see at the lower right of the photo above, terra cotta pipe is being dug up for something a little more 21st century. This area of La Mesa, CA was constructed in the 1950′s, and is very hilly and densely populated.

Just A Random Group Of Men In The Desert North Of Tijuana

        I have no idea what these men, dressed in HAZMAT attire were doing out here. My companion at the time remarked that it was like a scene from the end of the movie “E.T.” We were just wandering around the desert when these guys showed up. What the hell are they doing?

Still Chopping Still Digging

        Out of a 24 hour day, 13 of those hours have me dealing with my job as a photographer. Incredibly enough, this timetable is hindering my personal photography. I am starting to realize that being paid to partake in photography for 9 hours per day is 9 hours LESS that I have for UNPAID, personal photography per day. Couple this statistic with an UPSTAIRS manager that knows nothing about what I do or the business that I’m in, and a DOWNSTAIRS manager that for some reason, despite being the REAL boss doesn’t do what is best, I am dying.

Palm Trees Placed Under Arrest For Unknown Reasons

        My last post ended with this quote, from Albert Swearengen; “Announcing your plans is a great way to hear God laugh.” So true. You, as the reader can interpret the word “God” however you like, but for the purposes of this post, I will interpret it as the being that controls the strings of humans on planet Earth. The only thing the San Diego Chargers had to do today, January 17, 2010 was win. Since they managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, I had to nullify a contract that would have put me on Easy Street for at least 30 calender days. I really hate professional sports. Not a single one of those bitchy millionaire athletes has given up anything during this recession, but the fans, the people that pay to make them rich have lost more than any other single group in history. This, coupled with the immanent arrival of a storm that will bring Southern California 6 inches of rain over the next five days equals a very, very gray Sunday in San Diego. Rather than make money by photographing the inebriated smiles of 75,000 Charger fans, I have been reduced to posting some lame, boring photos taken in the wake of the Chargers loss.

Qualcomm Stadium In Vibrant Gray

        This has nothing to do with the San Diego Chargers pissing away a 7 point lead or me having to cancel a celebratory photo shoot due to the loss, but Qualcomm Stadium is a dump. Maybe I’m spoiled because I was in on the ground floor when the Denver Broncos christened their new stadium around the turn of the century, but my God… Qualcomm Stadium is a depressing place to be around, victorious or not. Concrete and gray would best describe it. I’m not kidding when I say that ANY college stadium in the country would be a better venue to host a football game.

La Mesa Police Station In January 2010

        Since it was a gray day in just about every capacity, I figured some shots of the La Mesa police station, currently under construction would fit in well.

La Mesa Police Station In January 2010

        This is the entrance to the underground parking area for the new La Mesa police station. Even though it is still under construction, there is an ominous feel to it. Why, one is disposed to ask, do La Mesa police have to unload prisoners underground, out of view from the public?

Labor For La Mesa’s New Police Station

        When a new police station is being built, right around from your house, and you are a photographer, you make plans to take pictures of the construction progress on an almost daily basis, right? Right. After over a year of construction, I have visited the construction site a a total of 6 times, and didn’t even take photos on each trip. As a 19th century saloon owner once said, “Announcing your plans is a great way to hear God laugh.”

La Mesa Police Station – July 2009

La Mesa Police Station – October 2009

La Mesa Police Station – January 2010