Family behind Golden Star Cafe sues San Antonio over historic Whitt building

"That's not what we had intended, but present it's due to the fact that we person nary different choice," says the Lims' lawyer Peter J. Stanton. "We've worked with them and exhausted each our remedies with the city. We can't entreaty anymore."

The 90-year-old Whitt gathering sits connected the aforesaid batch arsenic the Lim's longtime edifice Golden Star Cafe, 821 W Commerce. Although the gathering was designated historical by the City of San Antonio, the Lim household worked with the improvement services section aft the Historic and Design Review Commission approved a partial exigency demolition successful June. Over the summer, the gathering was deemed a information hazard.

The family's unit worked nether the absorption of the DSD connected the partial demolition of the two-story information of the Whitt gathering until a beam meant to beryllium preserved collapsed and halted work.

Now the Lim household says the metropolis has forced work of this unsafe gathering onto their hands.

"And since that time, we've been incapable to scope immoderate decision oregon immoderate statement astatine each astir what tin beryllium done," says Stanton. "They said that we needed to instrumentality enactment if we wanted to get something. And we did."

Stanton says the Lim household wants the ordinance protecting the gathering from demolition declared invalid. The household besides wants an injunction against possible fines of $2,000 per time for immoderate violations stemming from the dilapidated building and monetary alleviation successful an magnitude that hasn't been disclosed. 

Stanton says the Lim household has spent $100,000 connected the demolition of the gathering truthful far. He believes the lawsuit could spell to the Texas Supreme Court and situation historical preservation laws. 

Here's however the Whitt gathering stands today, a overmuch little recognizable operation and, arsenic the Lims' lawyer claims, a information hazard.

Steven Santana | MySA

A connection from the metropolis attorney's bureau says the metropolis has been successful interaction with the Lim household and their attorneys to sphere the building's humanities value arsenic an aged printing property that produced Spanish text, and woody with the structural integrity of the building.

"We are hopeful that an due program tin beryllium worked retired successful lieu of prolonged litigation," the connection says.

Where it each started

The Lim household has been trying to get this gathering demolished since February erstwhile the extortion of the Whitt collapsed, according to the petition.

"For those of america connected the spot connected a regular basis, we tin spot that the information of the gathering is highly unstable is successful contiguous information of collapsing each day. Which gives america interest regarding the information of our customers, our employees and the wide public," says Bo Jean Lim, 1 of the edifice owners, astatine today's property conference. 

The Conservation Society and activistic groups similar the Historic Westside Residents Association opposed the demolition request. In May, the HDRC denied the Lim family's archetypal petition to demolish the property, lone for that exigency demolition bid to beryllium approved successful June aft a "heated meeting" that led the household wherever they are today. 

The Historic and Design Review Commission denied requests to region historical landmark designation of the Whitt Printing Co. gathering and to demolish it.

Madison Iszler / San Antonio Express-News staff

When the Lim household sought demolition successful May, it was to marque the spot much appealing to developers successful the Cattleman Square area. They said successful May that immoderate efforts to repair and revitalize the Whitt were excessively expensive. Stanton says that Lim household hasn't explored selling the spot due to the fact that of the authorities of the Whitt building. 

Bo Lim speaks during a property league extracurricular City Hall connected Tuesday.

Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News

"Where does the metropolis gully the enactment betwixt nationalist information and preservation?" asks Lim at the property conference. "Working with the metropolis connected this has gotten america nowhere. We are stuck successful limbo."

The Lim household came to this state 118 years agone and established the archetypal Golden Star Cafe successful 1932 successful Market Square earlier moving to its existent determination successful 1983. Now they consciousness the metropolis has near them nary prime erstwhile it comes to the historically designated Whitt gathering connected their spot that they person deemed dangerous. 

"My gramps would beryllium devastated to spot the presumption his household is enactment successful by the metropolis government," Bo Jean says.