Newport Beach and Capistrano

Today's photo shows a bathing beach on Newport Harbor. I'm not sure of the date, but look at how empty the hills are! I'm sure the water was a lot cleaner too.
.
The old buildings at Newport Harbor High School -- including the tower -- are now demolished. They claimed it would cost too much to bring everything up to earthquake code. I'm a bit confused by this, since the place held up nicely during the big quake in 1933. For that matter, so did the similar Huntington Beach High School, which was also designed by the noted architecture firm of Allison & Allison. It's hard to believe that a little retrofitting wouldn't have allowed NHHS to hold up to the next big quake. Ah, well,... It's a done deal now. At least the new buildings are supposed to look like replicas of the old ones. (For a Register article about one teacher's memories of the old Robins-Loats Hall, click here.)

.

It looks like at least the facade of the old Port Theatre in Corona del Mar may be spared after all. Not because it's the right thing to do, of course -- but because the developer can get away with providing less parking that way.

.

Also in Newport's news, the Lido 14 National Championship sailboat race is celebrating its 50th Anniversary.

And finally, down the road in San Juan Capistrano, the City Council has approved plans for a new park in the old Los Rios District. Some locals are very concerned about how well the park will blend into its surroundings.

I've slowly been adding links to local history websites from this blog since the beginning. Recently, I was amazed to realize there are now almost 80 such links lined up over there in the right-hand column! Maybe there's something to this history stuff after all.