Boyle Heights Case Study 

The  Boyle Heights Art Conservatory, located in just south of Downtown Los Angeles, has a rich history of collaborative spirit and energy, starting with its original construction as a multicultural gathering place in 1925.  Today, as climate change continues to disproportionately affect communities, the staff and youth at the conservatory is tasked with expanding their endurance. 

Climate Resolve is a non-profit organization that works with predominantly Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to achieve a “just and resilient future” through equitable climate solutions. In partnership with Climate Resolve, the Boyle Heights Art Conservatory serves as a model example of a Resilience Hub: a trusted space that displays both their deep-rooted culture and disaster preparedness.   

Building Resilience 

As of 2021, the conservatory includes cooling and heating facilities. The building has been retrofitted for earthquakes, water filtration systems have been set in place, and the landscaping is drought tolerant. Back-up power is also available in case of a disaster. 

Climate Resolve and the Boyle Heights Art Conservatory regularly communicate with their community members in order to keep up with their needs. Because of their diverse environment, this resilience hub is able to translate their information in languages in English and Spanish. Their strong connections to the Indigenous community in the area allows them to understand and learn about native edibles and medicinal plants. Role models such as Tochtli Orozco have paved the way for environmental activism and awareness within the resilience hub. In fact, Tochtli lives in a tree!   

Throughout the pandemic, staff members like ​​Joey Rodriguez (a Youth Coordinator) volunteered at vaccination sites to help distribute vaccines and guide people in both Spanish and English. Throughout his teen years, Joey learned to “keep an ear open and listen to community members.” The conservatory plays an important role in Joey’s perception of the community: “Do not treat your neighbors like a business.” Instead, Joey is a firm believer in fruitful and long-lasting work that benefits the whole community. 

Similarly, Chase Engelhardt, a Policy Analyst & Organizer at Climate Resolve, has learned to engage with people at their comfort levels: “People can feel overwhelmed by not being able to accomplish their goals. But the important thing is: do something.”

A Rich History: Setting a Precedent  

In the early 1920s, members of the Cooperative Consumers League, a Jewish Socialist group, commssioned the construction of a building that would serve as a gathering place for Mexicans, Japanese and African Americans. At the corner of North Mott Street and East Cesar Chavez Avenue, the building provided a bakery and café on the first floor, a large ballroom in the middle, and meeting rooms on the top floor. The Jewish Bakers Union 453, who ran the bakery, played a valuable role in distributing low-cost bread. During the Great Depression, the café served as a soup kitchen. 

During the 1930s, The Cooperative Center was pivotal in organizing marches, rallies, and protests against police harassment during the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Red Squad’s persecution of communists. In 1931, fellow community members were arrested for helping Mexican and Filipino farmworkers strike against hazardous and inadequate work conditions.

Later in the 1940s and into the 1960s, this site continued to embrace its multi-ethnic community. The Paramount Ballroom hosted Latinx and African American musicians such as Tito Puente, Arsenio Rodríguez, and The Six Teens. The ballroom welcomed all kinds of music such as punk, ska, goth, reggae, hip-hop, doo-wop and oldies. Flamenco, tap, ballet and boogie-woogie dancing decorated the ballroom floors every weekend.  

Modern Day: Continuing Community Building 

The long history of arts and activism function as the foundations of the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory, which began in 2011. The Boyle Heights community is marked by their ability to continuously provide vulnerable members with a safe space rich with culture, education, and opportunities. 

Now, celebrating almost 100 years since the building’s opening, the Boyle Heights Art Conservatory “provides a focus on career development for historically disenfranchised and impacted youth who are interested in pursuing careers in film, television, broadcasting, music and digital content creation.”  The conservatory hosts 101.5 FM KQBH L.A., which is a community radio station run by local youth. In addition to the radio station, classes for their community range from stop motion animation to introduction to DJing, to YouTube/acting. 

Looking Ahead

The Boyle Heights Resilience Hub has come a long way in building resilient structures, and are now turning their focus to broadening their conservation efforts. The staff is eager to incorporate potential programs that further educate community members in native plants and gardening. The staff also learned that the hub will need more space and supplies like masks and air filters. They have recognized the need to start implementing more programs that allow community members to be trained in CERT and/or First Aid. Nonetheless, the Boyle Heights Art Conservatory will continue to serve its community members with labor, time, and money. The strong relationships they fostered with their culture and environment will aid Boyle Heights on their journey towards resilience.  

You can learn more about the Boyle Heights Art Conservatory and how to support them through their website and this video:   

Project Overview                          

This project, which is coordinated by the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, seeks to adapt existing West Oakland community spaces at 18th and Adeline Streets into the West Oakland Resiliency Hub. Working closely with the community of West Oakland and the City of Oakland, the West Oakland Resiliency Hub aims to connect with, support, and strengthen existing networks of neighborhood churches, schools, parks, community organizations, and crisis responders. 

Existing buildings and outdoor spaces to be incorporated into the program include: the West Oakland Senior Center, West Oakland Branch of the Oakland Public Library, and the DeFremery Recreation Center and Park – all of which are owned and operated by the City of Oakland. This hub would offer regular programming to increase neighborhood resilience every day and provide vital community services during environmental crises, while serving as a Cooling Center during high heat days and as a Warming Center during cold days. Other proposed infrastructure includes but is not limited to: 

• Sanitation: sufficient on-site sanitation facilities for large scale disaster us
• Energy: renewable, non-polluting energy sources and back-up power to run critical operations when the power grid is down
• Communications: access to information, cell phone and computer charging, communications systems not reliant on cell or wifi infrastructure
• Shelter: emergency, temporary shelter managed through the Red Cross or a similar organization 
• Clean Air: reduced neighborhood pollution and access to clean air spaces; filtered indoor spaces during forest fires and high air pollution times
• Transportation: shared community bikes, electric vehicles, and ADA accessible vans or buses for regular use; vehicles to transport or evacuate people and resources as needed in a disaster\
• Medical care: access to acute medical care and mental health care in the wake of a natural disaster, public health, or other emergency
• Ongoing resiliency efforts: education courses, tool library, expert advising, community meetings, peaceful protests, and other vital environmental and social services. 

Feasibility Phase: Completed in Summer 2020

The feasibility phase identified the physical infrastructure upgrades that are needed to retrofit the centers into a resilience hub and worked with technical experts to assess feasibility and costs. This phase began with a series of community and stakeholder engagement events to define resilience for West Oakland and identify relevant infrastructure. We then worked with a cohort of urban design and planning students from UC Berkeley to explore additional infrastructure options. The team then brought in a solar energy and HVAC consultant, mechanical air filtration company, and structural engineer to assess the feasibility and cost of making the necessary upgrades. This phase was completed in close collaboration with Center Directors and stakeholders across the City of Oakland. 

The feasibility phase thus identified broad areas and types of resilience and explored how the areas of resilience can be manifested and/or supported with physical infrastructure. Project consultants then helped to identify cost-effective measures to increase resilience at a reasonable cost. And, over the course of this phase, we also considered the possibility of a more substantial upgrade and revisioning of the site into a modern resiliency hub that can truly be a city wide and regional model.

Project Stakeholders

This project has strong support and involvement from center staff and directors at all three centers; city staff across departments; and community members and organizations connected to the three centers. City department involvement includes: Office of Aging and Adult Services, Oakland Public Libraries, Parks and Recreation, Public Works, Environmental Services, Emergency Services, Chief Resilience Officer, District 3 Councilmember. PG&E and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District are also involved and supportive. PG&E funded the initial feasibility phase. Community networks include: St. Mary’s Center, Friendship Christian Church, Oak Center Neighbors Group, West Oakland Library Friends, West Oakland Neighbors, NCPC Beat 2X & 5X, and West Oakland Senior Center Community.

Resilience and West Oakland

West Oakland is a socioeconomically vulnerable, historically marginalized, and disenfranchised community, yet it is also and a community with a strong social network that has survived numerous historical crises, including decades of systemic racism and industrial dumping, and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and subsequent Cypress Freeway collapse. West Oakland is a majority community of color (76%) and working-class community overburdened by poverty, underemployment and low education (median household income of $38,169). People of Color disproportionately experience poverty and other indicators of negative well being as indicated in the Oakland Equity Indicators Report.

West Oakland is also a low-lying neighborhood with significant infilled land from the San Francisco Bay which puts residents at high risk for flooding and significant earthquake damage, both of which could lead to sewage overflows, toxic soil from contaminated industrial sites spreading, and road and transportation infrastructure damages. Adjacent to the Port of Oakland, national rail yard, and bounded by freeway, West Oakland also experiences disproportionately high levels of air pollution which will likely be exacerbated by increasing ground level ozone production with rising global temperatures and intensified wildfire seasons.

Current Disaster Response 

Baseline disaster response in West Oakland is largely reactive and insufficient to fully meet the community needs in the event of a significant disaster. Response only happens once a disaster has occurred and is often centralized and militarized, failing to meet the needs of people of color and poor communities. Oakland Fire Department has publicly said that they will take from 72 hours up to one week to respond in the aftermath of a major disaster. And while there are community organizations and large national organizations (such as the Red Cross) that are experts in providing disaster support and temporary, setting up and running shelters, many Oakland city buildings do not meet Red Cross requirements, particularly because they do not have backup power.

Next Steps: 2021 and Beyond

• Design Phase: The next phase is to build off of the feasibility assessments with more detailed design. This phase may include a design competition with design professionals and will conclude with permit ready drawings for building and site upgrades. This phase will require hiring consultants from various disciplines. 
• Implementation: After the conclusion of the design phase and procurement of permits and funding, project implementation will begin. Implementation will likely happen in tiers and phases as funding becomes available and permitting progresses for various sections of the project. While the immediate need is for funding for the design phase, we are also starting to explore funding options for implementation. 
• Social Infrastructure: The social infrastructure of resilience and the West Oakland Resiliency Hub is equally critical. Next steps include finalizing the core team of individuals and organizations, then acquiring funding for the organizing and programming to build the Hub’s social infrastructure.

• Scaling: This project phase has been completed in coordination with various City of Oakland staff and departments who are using this project as a model for future replication in other parts of the City. Oakland’s Equity and Climate Action Plan includes the implementation of three additional Resiliency Hubs across the City. 

Estimated Implementation Budget

Note that there is potential funding for mechanical and air filtration through a pending Supplemental Environmental Project through the California Air Resources Board. This project has also been submitted through the City of Oakland’s 2020 to 2022 Capital Improvement Program. Both the West Oakland Library and the West Oakland Senior Center are also currently being prioritized for needed building repairs to maintain basic safety and functioning. 

• Design phase: $500,000
• Initial known implementation estimates 
  • Library: $245,120
  • Senior Center: $177,291
  • DeFremery Recreation Center (Gymnasium Roof): $130,220
  • Library: $216,000 to $696,000
  • Senior Center: $72,000 to $132,000
  • DeFremery Recreation Center: $36,000 to $96,000
  • Library: $25,873
  • Senior Center: $18,466
  • DeFremery Recreation Center: $18,194
  • Library: $31,395
  • Senior Center: $38,860
  • DeFremery Recreation Center: $46,104 
• Rooftop Solar 
• Solar Battery System (with and without air conditioning capacity): 
• High-efficiency HVAC Systems with new or repaired air conditioning
• Energy efficiency lighting and other upgrades: paid through PG&E’s On-Bill Financing
• Air filters added to new HVAC with 5-year initial maintenance contract
• Additional implementation needs without cost estimates
• Seismic structural upgrades
• EV charging stations 
• Additional refrigeration and cold storage
• Potable water harvesting and storage
• Not-potable water system

West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP)

WOEIP is the Project Lead and is a resident-led, community based organization with over twenty years of experience and national recognition as an expert in collaborative problem-solving and policymaking that centers residents’ voices and leadership. WOEIP’s work centers on air pollution in West Oakland, community resilience to climate change, and renewable energy production and energy efficiency. 

For further information, please contact: 

• Brian Beveridge, Co-Founder and Co-Director, at brian.woeip@gmail.com or 510-282-2565