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May 4, 2021 <br />Re: Private Session - Cypress Fire Station Sale <br />Honorable Mayor and Councilmembers, <br />I am writing to urge reconsideration on the sale of our historic Cypress Street Fire Station. <br />As a lifelong resident and current leader in Eastside, now Pacific Park, it's been heartbreaking seeing our <br />neighborhood continue to be so underserved. The Roosevelt Center was open very limited hours, mainly <br />for classes pre-COVID. There is no place here for our youth and elders to go for safe access to our <br />collective history and the wealth of knowledge available online. <br />Tapping into our City's historical narrative, library offerings & wifi access is important for working class <br />neighborhoods like Eastside/Pacific Park. Keeping historic structures open and available to the public <br />give neighborhoods like ours a sense of identity and hope. <br />Please don't sell our history. Please invest in our long-suffering neighborhood and help us transform one <br />of the most blighted corners on the Eastside into a beautiful resource for local history and access to <br />technology for our residents. Paired with the South Main Corridor revitalization, a restoration of the <br />Cypress Firehouse to public service would be a game -changing venture! <br />Attached is a proposal for transforming the Cypress Fire Station into a public resource that would <br />transform the whole area. Decades of neglect and blight would be solved with an investment in our <br />underserved community. We are one of the densest residential districts in the entire district and greatly <br />need the Cypress Fire Station restored to public service, to inspire and inform our residents. <br />The Cypress Fire Station is a one -of -a -kind Key Historic Property in our City and has the potential to <br />uplift an entire neighborhood. Please help us retain and transform it. <br />Sincerely, <br />-- Sandra "Pocha" Pena Sarmiento <br />Pacific Park/Eastside Neighborhood Leader <br />