April Fool! Some
folks were pretty upset about my April 1 post this morning, until they figured out
it was satire. The point of the article was that historically important sites
are CONSTANTLY being destroyed in Southern California.
Even as we
speak, there are very real plans to build large blocks of modern housing in charming
little Los Rios – the oldest neighborhood in California. Even now, the remains
of the early 1900s Japantown at Wintersburg are slated to be scraped clean and replaced
with a Public Storage facility. At this moment, one of the best bits of Googie architecture remaining in O.C. – the Beach-Lin Car Wash – is facing its doom. And by
the end of today, the former Sam’s Seafood building (preserved and restored for some years as
Don the Beachcomber) will serve its last meal and its last drink. And that’s
just the tip of the iceberg.
We SHOULD be
outraged, not just when something as OBVIOUS as the Mission is threatened (which
it isn’t), but also when OTHER important historic sites are threatened. Righteous
indignation and hard work have saved a few important sites in O.C. over the
years, including the Old Orange County Courthouse, which was once slated to
become a parking lot.
If you’d
like to learn more about preservation efforts and REAL threats, follow Preserve O.C. on their Facebook page.
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