Community Service / Sponsorships
As a growing part of Portico's interest in education and community awareness, we are committed to the built environment.
Immediately below, Portico and its members, illustrate an example of our committment to the public domain. It has
used its own resources and channeled thousands of pro-bono hours into re-shaping the streetscape. Two examples of this are
found below. Recently, we began sponsoring interns who are attending graduate level programs in real estate, preservation,
planning and architecture.
On location: Pole-free NYC
Before The Royal Tenenbaums debuted (starring Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow,
Bill Murray) the street in New York where 90% of the filming took place had wrongly placed overhead wires on century-old townhouses.
In 1999, led by Hamilton Terrace Block Association resident Roy Pachecano, who formed a special utility committee with
then-block president Christina Burke-Lee, eradicated miles of wires that feestooned the tree-lined street.
In 2005, a privately funded pilot utility conversion project was successfully completed which eliminated 12 poles and
bury several thousand feet of overhead wires in the King William Historic District in downtown San Antonio. Portico worked
closely with residents, King William Association, City's historic commission, San Antonio Conservation Society and CPS. Awareness
of the pilot project brought Portico together with other residents to form a Utility Conversion Committee. With the political
support of Mary Alice Cisneros (District 1) and City Council, funding for Phase 1 was approved by the city in 2009 where
residents will enjoy a pole-free environment in the King William pocket park. Construction on the pocket park conversion
is expected to commence summer 2010.
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Images at left: Before and after poles.
Click here to read article published in the San Antonio Express News.
