Today's photos come from reader
Dave Mason and show the demolition of
Anaheim's
Fox Theater "around 1979." It stood on the north side of W. Lincoln Ave., near Lemon Street, in the area that was
Downtown Anaheim before the bulldozers arrived. The theater was opened in 1920 as part of the
West Coast Theatres chain, and included a backstage area and dressing rooms for vaudeville shows. It initially operated as the
California Theatre but soon became the Fox Theater.
A 1978
L.A. Times article about Downtown Anaheim began, "A move to get 24 downtown buildings listed in the
National Register of Historical (sic)
Places is politically motivated and aimed at hobbling downtown renewal, the
Community Redevelopment Commission said... Chairman
James Morris said the move to get the buildings listed for historical recognition is contrived solely to jeopardize or halt redevelopment.
Those 24 sites included
Martinet Hardware, the
SQR Store, the
Rosemarie Apartments, the
California Building, the
Marietta Court Apartments, the
Fox Theater block,
Zion Lutheran Church, the
Kraemer Garage, the
Carnegie Library, the
Pickwick Hotel, the
Masonic Temple, the
Angelina Kraemer Hotel,
City Hall, the
Samuel Kraemer Building, the
German Methodist Church, the
Church of His Holy Presence,
First Presbyterian Church, the
Ferdinand Baxhaus House, the
Richard Melrose House, the
Union Pacific Depot, and
Pearson Park. Essentially, it was the heart of historic Downtown Anaheim.
In the article, I'm particularly amused (in a "black humor" sort of way) by Morris' indignation that anyone would try to stand in the way of ripping out the heart of their town in order to replace it with soon-to-be-vacant office buildings and a Von's shopping center. It's like a tiger complaining that a mother is trying to prevent a child from becoming a snack. The impertinence!
I only wish that
Diann Marsh and her band of preservationists had prevailed. In fact, is there
anyone today who DOESN'T wish that Downtown Anaheim had been saved? Which would you prefer: A historic downtown like
Orange, or the mess that stands on the site of old Downtown Anaheim today?
Luckily, at least a few token bits of Downtown were saved, including the Carnegie Library (now part of the "
Muzeo") and the Kraemer Building. Also, the community's anger over the destruction lead to a movement that lashed out against the bureaucrats with PAC money and lawyers and succeeded in saving some of the city's historic neighborhoods. I know many people who live in those neighborhoods today, and the area is both unique and charming. Unfortunately, so much is already gone forever.
Let Downtown Anaheim's fate be a lesson to other communities that see wholesale destruction of their history as the path to glory. It isn't. You end up trading your soul for a strip mall and your individuality for a Jiffy Lube. And future generations will blame you for ripping their inheritance away from them.
Hopefully, the death of the redevelopment agencies will prevent this
from happening again, but I presume it will only be a matter of time
before the same old scam artists find a new scam.
13 comments:
Excellent post and very powerful photos. It saddens me greatly.
I never saw downtown Anaheim before its destruction but studying old photos and aerial shots presents an amazing contrast between what was and what is. Standing in the middle of the Vons parking lot, one would never imagine that they are right in the middle of what once was a very quaint and very cool historic business district. The Kraemer building now stands as a lonely monument to the past in the middle of what is essentially a boring office park.
A powerful presentation!
Those photos hurt. Ouch. The lack of taste in removing those historic buildings is appalling.
My Grandmother worked at SQR, and I first saw Bambe at the Fox. I remember walking from our house to the downtown area with my Mother to do her shopping. Miss it.
I don't plan on being anoymous My name is Diann Marsh and I LIVED THAT time--right in the middle of it! I was not an evil person, but an artist, wife, and mother of seven children. We lived north of redevopment, but I fell in love with the buildings downtown. Andy Deneau and I went to Norman Priest, Redevelopment Director and asked him how the buildings could be saved. He said that "if they were listed on the National Register of Historic Places, we would save them. We looked at each other and thought, We can do that."
And we did. We managed to get it through the State Historic Board, but when it went to Washington, Anaheim officials went to block it.
Bill Thom, Anaheim mayor said in a newspaper that they did not care how they got the area demolished, they wanted it destroyed. He was assisted by Richard O'Neill Chairman of the Democratic Central Committee, who went to Jerry Brown.
It was so sad to see the destruction. In the basement of the history room are hundreds of slides showing the destruction.
Thanks so much for this post, Chris. Not a day goes by that we don't lament the destruction of our Downtown. It's the city's greatest tragedy, and certainly one that we have never fully recovered from (in over 30 years!). You just have to shake your head when reading over the list of structures that were to have been destroyed, and thank our lucky stars that the Kraemer Building and Carnegie Library are still here, and treasured.
Diann Marsh, thank you so much for your comment. You and Andy Deneau are legends, and Anaheim would have lost EVERYTHING if it weren't for your efforts. For that we cannot thank you enough.
Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I will be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon. Thanks!
Orange county homes
Chris,
Excellent work on the backstory behind the images. The hometown of our youth is gone forever... but thankfully there are those who value those memories and help to share them with a new generation.
With gratitude,
Dave Mason
I always try to tell my children about downtown Anaheim. My mother bought my girl scout uniform at the SQR store. I watched Dumbo at the Fox theater. It has always saddened me that Anaheim doesn't have their historic downtown and it's hard to explain to my children what it looked like back then. Great article.
I too miss the old downtown Anaheim. It was a great place to grow up and be a part of. Its a shame that people back then really didn't under stand what they were doing to the future. I remember all the stores participating in Halloween and dressing up themselves as well as their stores. It was so much fun!! We should all take a lesson. Just because something is old doesn't necessaily mean it should be destroyed and replaced. I loved those old buildings they had so much character. Thanks for your posts and pictures. Brought back lots of fun memories of my childhool.
Yes, the demise of downtown Anaheim was a travesty. I'm 46 now, and remember roaming downtown like it was yesterday. Good times. My father was especially mad that this had happened. He grew up in downtown and eventually started a family there after returning from the service. After moving away years ago, I lived in a small town called Galion in Ohio where my mother-in-law lives and helped renovate their local theater. It reminded me of yesteryear every time I went downtown. Some things cannot be replaced. The new is not always better.
Every time I drive down Lincoln I get a depressed feeling because downtown Anaheim is gone. If my mother is with us (she is now 90) she always says, "This used to be such a nice place. Now it is all gone." I remember going shopping there as a kid with my mom. We went to the SQR, Penney's and the variety stroe (was it Kresses?). When I got older and could drive my mom ofter sent me on errands to get take-out Chinese food from the Chines restaurant near the east end . What was the name of that place? I did go to the FOX Anaheim and can recall that set of seats toward the rear of the theater. It was a sort of raised area and it may have had those seats called "lodges". Anaheim lost it's character when they destroyed that historic downtown area. A previous posting inferred that Jerry brown may have had a hand in the ultimate destruction of these buildings by helping to block the naming of these buildings as historic monuments/buildings. Now he is trying to destroy the whole state.
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