SAN DIEGO — City officials of San Diego announced their plan to replace historical street lamps in the Kensignton neighborhood - and some residents aren't too happy about the plan to replace instead of restore.
Kensington Heights was first developed in 1926, and many of the homes in the area have a historical designation, and like the homes, the lights in the area are from that era.
The city said it wants to replace the street lamps with replicas, but locals say don't replace them - restore them.
Jim Kelley-Markham is a resident and a retired historic preservation Architect, all for improving the electrical.
"The problem we have is that the city never considered restoring the streetlights. The city wants to upgrade the wiring that goes to those streetlights; nobody anywhere has a problem with that," Kelley-Markham said.
"They can be restored for half the price the cities proposing for the new decorative streetlight the cities proposing."
Each light condition would determine those costs and could be much higher. There's also the concern about lead paint, officials said.
"Having a crew come out and put plastic around the base, catch any loose flakes that fall off, take them to a hazardous waste facility, and paint the pole with a new epoxy paint."
The City agreed but said it could not assume that all flakes and some poles would need to be taken off-site for work.
The contractor obtained a price to restore the poles; his total price is just over $5,000."
The City believes that the cost could be much higher because of the condition of each pole, the scope of work needed, and the contract terms. They also want to switch to LED bulbs.
"They keep bringing up that issue; it can be easily solved. Unscrew the light bulb that's there now, screw in an LED fixture, and you're done. What's the problem?
The project has moved into the construction phase, and the City states if it were to stop now, "There is also a high probability of the contractor submitting a claim against the project for lost profit."
Kelley-Markham and his neighbors, along with help from SOHO, are ready to take legal action to protect the streetlights.
"These historic streetlights are unique to this part of San Diego and should be preserved."
WATCH RELATED: Neighbors in Kensington push to keep historical buildings intact after the property goes up for sale