Carl

Beth El Temple and Neighbors:

Let the Healing Begin

By Carl Anthony and Karl Linn

April 15, 2001

BACKGROUND

For many months the public and the City's Boards and Commissions have been debating a plan for a new Beth El Synagogue on the site at 1301 Oxford Street. There is considerable support for this plan in its present form. However, two large and important constituencies believe that the plan can be improved. Advocates of urban creek restoration see the site as an irreplaceable resource in the city's efforts to re-envision patterns of development in greater balance with a larger ecological context, including its watersheds and the diversity of species with whom we share this place. A second constituency, advocates of historic preservation, reminds us that even as we plan for innovation and change, we must honor from whence we came. This constituency urges us not to be cavalier with the legacy of the past. It asks us to celebrate the remaining artifacts and significance of the site as the founding location of the City's African American community. These are worthy constituencies and worthy public objectives.

We share with these constituencies the belief that the current plan for the Beth El Synagogue can be improved. We urge City Council to give approval to a plan that can be supported by a unanimous decision rather than a divisive plurality of the Council.

ASSUMPTIONS

We base our recommendation on the following assumptions:

1. The Beth El Synagogue is an appropriate use for the site.

2. Protection and restoration of the Codornices Creek corridor and acknowledgement of the historical significance of the site are urgent and important public objectives of the City.

3. Meeting the needs of the Synagogue and protecting Codornices Creek and the historic significance of the site are not mutually exclusive. A good building development plan and site design can accomplish both of these goals.

4. Such a plan would bring together most of the constituencies who have an important and legitimate stake in the site.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE IS AN APPROPRIATE USE FOR THE SITE

As Reverend Dr. Marvis V. Peebles of Liberty Hill Baptist Church pointed out in a letter to the Berkeley Voice on January 19, 2001, "Beth El is one of the religious institutions in this city that quietly helps the needy, educates children and adults and provides a spiritual home for people of all ages. These services provided by the synagogue are a critical part of what makes Berkeley a moral, compassionate city; a city that raises responsible children and that encourages all of us to care for one another."

Reverend Peebles applauded and recognized "Beth El's role in helping to set up a multi-faith clergy coalition that has brought together Berkeley's many faith communities to promote mutual understanding and collaboration."

He pointed out that a large cross section of clergy and congregations in Berkeley "are enthusiastic about Beth El's plans to build on the site where Berkeley's first free African American citizens lived and worked on the estate of Napoleon Bonaparte Byrne. It seems very appropriate to us that this land should house an institution that supports the aspirations of all people to become everything their creator intended them to be. That feels to us like the highest, and most fitting use imaginable for this beautiful and historic piece of property." We concur with Reverend Peebles.

CREEK RESTORATION AND LANDMARKS PRESERVATION ARE IMPORTANT CITY OBJECTIVES

The northern section of the site is part of the continuous green riparian corridor of Berkeley's strongest and most daylighted creek, Codornices. Though only a small section of the creek is visible, the sight and sound of its flowing water is delightful and soothing. Unfortunately, the largest stretch of the creek on this property is culverted. Daylighting of the culverted section is mandated by the Joint Watershed Goals passed by Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito, Richmond, the East Bay Regional Park District, and the University of California on 25 July, 1995. The Joint Watershed Goals call for creeks to be restored by removing culverts, underground pipes, and obstructions to fish and animal migration.

Many neighbors and highly respected landscape architects and planners, and members of Berkeley Design Advocates (BDA), have come up with various schematic plans that would restore the creek. Dr. Ann Riley, a nationally known creek restorer, initially hired by the Temple, suggested that the most vital biological corridor of Codornices Creek should be restored, and that the creek could be daylighted. She suggested that the restoration and maintenance of the creek should be an ongoing public responsibility, relieving the Temple of this burden.

Money is available from the State to pursue this objective, including sources such as CALFED funds, Proposition 13 Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB)ÑWatershed grants, Fisheries Restoration grants administered by Department of Fish and Game, Bay Area Conservancy Program Grants administered by Coastal Conservancy, Wetlands Riparian Funding (Proposition 12) by Wildlife Conservation Board, Park Bond (Proposition 12), and National Marine Fisheries Service support.

The City of Berkeley has taken great pride in its unique and vibrant history. It has acknowledged many sites of local, national, and international significance. Should the site of the City's first African American residences be treated with less dignity and respect than the sites of other important occurrences? Documentation and acknowledgement of this significance is an important public objective that need not be an impediment to a speedy redevelopment of the site.

THE INSTITUTIONAL NEEDS OF THE SYNAGOGUE AND COMMUNITY INTERESTS IN RESTORATION AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE

A strong urban design, architectural plan and landscape treatment can meet all the following criteria:

1. Cost of the proposed development should reflect the resources now available to the Synagogue. Additional expenses required to meet the public interest should be secured in a timely fashion.

2. Both Beth El and the City should take steps to protect Codornices Creek corridor, including the potential for daylighting Codornices Creek and restoring the spawning grounds of steelhead trout. The City should seek state and other funding sources to offset the costs associated with any creek restoration effort, including relocation of parking, since these improvements would be intended to benefit all the citizens of Berkeley.

3. There should be thorough documentation of the history of the site as the location of the first farm in Berkeley, and the site where Berkeley's first free African American citizens lived and worked. The older structures can be removed. But these early uses of the site should be appropriately memorialized in the new building design. A publication describing this important history can be developed, and made available for sale at cost.

CONCLUSION

We, as citizens of Berkeley, and advocates for its diverse communities join with Reverend Peebles and others in supporting Beth El Temple in developing this important site. We are friends and colleagues who have known each other and worked together for over 40 years. Our respective communities, African-American and Jewish-American, have contributed much to the strength, vitality, and diversity of American life and Berkeley's civic culture. As environmental design professionals, we know that the needs of the Temple can be accommodated without compromising public interest in protecting the Codornices Creek Watershed, and acknowledging and celebrating the unique history of the site.

The eventual daylighting of Codornices Creek would not only imbue the site with a most inspiring ambiance, but also add significantly to its value. The soothing sound and visibility of cascading water amidst lush native California vegetation will create a natural sanctuary for young and old. The restoration of the Codornices biological corridor would serve the Temple and the neighboring community as a wonder-full, spiritual, educational, and recreational resource. The restoration of natural systems is not only the most profound act of historic preservation possible, but as sacred a consecration as a Jewish place of worship could take on and cherish.

We ask the City Council in its deliberation over the future of this project to seek the highest rather than the lowest common denominator. A viable plan would bring all of the stakeholders together, a plan for which the Council can grant unanimous support. Creative and constructive resolution of conflict over the site would be a tremendous victory, not only for the congregation of Beth El Synagogue, but the city as a whole. Let the healing begin.

About the authors:

Carl Anthony is an architect and urban planner, former chair of Berkeley City Planning Commission. He is co-convener of the Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Development and former Executive Director of the Urban Habitat Program. For six years he was President of Earth Island Institute. Carl Anthony is African American.

Karl Linn is a landscape architect and psychologist. Now retired, he has taught at prestigious universities in the U.S. and abroad. In Berkeley, he serves as president of Berkeley Eco-house, and initiated the development of the Peralta, Northside and Karl Linn Community Art Gardens. Karl Linn is Jewish American, a survivor of Nazi persecution.