April Fool Addendum

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.