The Demolition of the Rizal Social Club
It is with extreme heartbreak that we announce the demolition of the Rizal Social Club. As an organization, we are devastated but resolute to the long-term solutions necessary to truly save Little Manila. Please read on…
What happened?
In February 2020, city staff noticed a dip in the roof of the Rizal Social Club building, which prompted an inspection.
City inspectors entered the property and found that the ceiling had collapsed in the rear of the building.
The owner notified the city that the building would be fixed.
In March 2020, the owner passed away.
The city consults with an independent engineer to create a report on the status of the structural integrity of the building.
The report was completed in May 2020 and found that the East wall of the building was in danger of collapse, possibly by the next storm. Also, the independent engineer noted that the building was historic and a key building of the Little Manila Historic Site. Prior to this report, city staff was unaware of its historic nature.
Prompted by the independent engineer’s note on the historic nature of the building, city staff contacted Little Manila Rising (LMR) on July 23 (two months after the report was finished) to notify us about the collapsed ceiling. This was a complete surprise to us, as the former owner always told us that the building was in “great shape.” We were always more concerned about the status of the neighboring Filipino Recreational Hall (the former Emerald Restaurant) and the Mariposa Hotel.
On July 24, LMR meets with city staff and is told that in order to save the building, LMR would have to take ownership of the building and create an engineering plan to save the building by July 29. Otherwise the city would have to have the building demolished as soon as possible because the collapse of the building could severely damaging the neighboring buildings.
This began a frantic search by LMR for resources including finding the support of a structural engineer, architect, lawyer, and possible financiers.
On July 26, an email was sent to Mayor Michael Tubbs voicing the frustration of LMR with city staff, their lack of notification to us, and only allowing for three work days to save the building. Mayor Tubbs forwarded the email to the city manager and asked if something could be done to support us.
On July 27, an assistant city manager was assigned to investigate what had happened and an extension until the end of August was granted to see if we could save the building.
On August 1, LMR, a pro-bono architect, and a member of Stockton’s Cultural Heritage Board were allowed to assess the damage inside the Rizal Social Club. Documentation of the damage was taken and shared with a structural engineer.
This is what we found upon entering the Rizal Social Club.
On August 2, the structural engineer and architect concluded that the walls of the building could be shored up and saved, but to do so meant clearing the huge pieces of debris from the collapsed ceiling which called for heavy equipment to be moved into the space. Unfortunately, there was no access route for heavy machinery to enter the building because other properties wedged the Rizal Social Club from all sides except the front. To get the heavy machinery into the space meant the demolition of the front facade of the building.
On the evening of August 2, the LMR board met to discuss what actions to take regarding the Rizal Social Club. We were left with the unusual circumstance that in order to “save” the building we had to demolish the front of the building, which was not saving the building. We considered purchasing the property for $1 and then paying for the demolition which would allow us to own the empty lot, but found that the cost of demolition would be too high since there was asbestos in the building and because of its direct proximity to the neighboring buildings would be an intricate demolition. This unexpected project would have taken away from our already existing plans to purchase the Legionaries Del Trabajo building where our current offices are. With heavy hearts and tears shed, the LMR board voted to not pursue the purchase of the Rizal Social Club.
On October 22, the Rizal Social Club was demolished.
A huge disadvantage
When Little Manila Rising first began advocating for the preservation of the buildings in the historic site, one of the things opponents would ask was “what right do you have to advocate for these buildings when you do not own any property in this area?” Many people do not understand that with the Alien Land Laws that were already enacted before the arrival of the Manang/Manong Generation, Filipinos could not legally own land in America. The lack of our community to have the ability to advocate from a landowner position has severely crippled our ability to save buildings and neighborhoods deemed historic by Filipino Americans.
The issue is further compounded in the Filipino American community in that without the ability to own property for the Manang/Manong Generation, there was no generational wealth created. Generational wealth and access to “old money” is key to philanthropy which continues to hinder the development of Filipino American nonprofit organizations today. Historically, philanthropy has severely underfunded BIPOC run nonprofits. This is also further exacerbated locally because statewide and national philanthropy has not focused on Stockton. Furthermore, most of the very wealthy in Stockton became rich by marginalizing South Stockton and shepherding White flight to North Stockton.
Saving Little Manila is more than a financial transaction
Oftentimes people have expressed, “well how much money do you need to purchase the buildings?” thinking ownership will solve everything. The truth is, ownership is easy; but sustainability is extremely difficult. All of the historic buildings are in need of costly repair and upgrading to current building code standards before activity can even take place in those buildings.
Even if we owned the buildings and brought everything up to code, the entire neighborhood has been disinvested by the City of Stockton since the building of the Crosstown Freeway in the 1960s. The sidewalks are in disrepair and curb cuts have not been installed. Neglect by the city has led the neighborhood to problems that cannot be solved by just owning a couple buildings.
From the environmental justice and public health perspective, even if we own the buildings and brought our youth programs to them, we would be asking parents to bring their children to a place that is in the 100th percentile in asthma related issues in all of the State of California. These are the present effects of building a busy freeway through the homes and businesses of a community. It is an issue we are extremely sensitive to since we lost our cofounder, Dr. Dawn Mabalon, at the young age of 46 to an asthma attack.
The Little Manila Historic Site is in the 100 percentile in asthma related issues in the entire state of California.
This is the reason Little Manila Rising is involved in so many issues. From establishing Ethnic Studies at all SUSD high schools: how could we ask people to save Little Manila when our entire community does not understand their own ethnic histories and stories of marginalization? To youth advocacy and changing a culture of historical disempowerment: how can we convince our youth that they have the power to shape our community? To environmental justice and public health issues: why can’t people from South Stockton have as long life expectancies as people from North Stockton? To immigrant rights: how can we tell the story of our immigrant ancestors while present day immigrants face many of the same issues of the past? To mental health: BIPOC communities face layers upon layers of trauma brought on by institutionalized racism, how can we heal?
2020 marks Little Manila Rising’s 20th anniversary as an organization, yet we do not feel like celebrating. We feel like fighting and striving for the only way we can truly “save Little Manila” - by confronting the issues that have created marginalization in our community and allowing us to THRIVE.