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"Historic Preservation is about managing change, not preventing it." ~ – Linda Dishman, L.A. Conservancy, quoted from L.A. Times, 07.10.10

 

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All images on this website are © 2012 San Buenaventura Conservancy except as noted and may not be used or reproduced in any way without express written permission of the San Buenaventura Conservancy Board of Directors.

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Welcome to the San Buenaventura Conservancy website. Please enjoy the histories, photos, landmarks and historic preservation tools we have gathered in our pages.

We look forward to your participation in our programs and events, and hope you become a member to help support the valuable historic and pre-historic landmarks in our area.


A MISSION STATEMENT! Historic San Buenaventura Mission District Architectural Tour

National Organization Announces 2011 Ten Most Endangered Roadside Places

Society for Commercial Archeology

National Organization Announces 10 Most Endangered Roadside Places                     

From a huge fiberglass Santa statue in Haubstadt, Indiana; to a neon diving lady in Mesa, Arizona; to perhaps the largest collection of mid-century motels in Wildwoods, New Jersey; to a sprawling Western-themed motel in Oxnard, California, bulldozed a month before being listed, many of America’s iconic roadside places are threatened.

The Society for Commercial Archeology announces its 2011 Falling by the Wayside, a list of the ten most endangered roadside places in the United States 

1.     Airplane Filling Station, Knoxville, Tennessee

2.     Bartles-Maguire/Wadhams Service Station, Waukesha, Wisconsin

3.     Boots Motel, Carthage, Missouri

4.     Buckhorn Baths, Mesa, Arizona

5.     Diving Lady, Mesa, Arizona

6.     Doo Wop Motels, the Wildwoods, New Jersey

7.     Giant Santa, Haubstadt, Indiana

8.     Premiere Lanes Sign, Santa Fe Springs, California

9.     Roundtop Filling Station, Sherwood, Arkansas

10.  Wagon Wheel Motel, Oxnard, California (destroyed)

These places are all marked by threats which can include natural weathering, economic hardship, neglect, abandonment, inappropriate zoning, lack of maintenance, demolition and even a setback to preserve a historic roadside place. The list showcases the diversity of roadside places and highlights the issues and challenges facing the preservation of these important resources.

The Society for Commercial Archeology (SCA) established the Falling by the Wayside program in 2010 to raise awareness of the importance of roadside places throughout the United States.

"Our goal is to focus public attention on the unique character and historical importance of our nation's roadside commercial architecture—and the factors that challenge their long-term preservation,” says Nancy Sturm, co-president of the organization. Along with the attention, SCA will help property owners connect with local, state and federal preservation programs. And for one place, the Diving Lady of Mesa, Arizona, SCA is making a $250 contribution to the help the sign’s restoration.

Established in 1977, the SCA is the oldest national organization devoted to the buildings, artifacts, structures, signs, and symbols of the 20th-century commercial landscape. The SCA offers publications, conferences, and tours to help preserve, document, and celebrate the structures and architecture of the 20th century: diners, highways, gas stations, drive-in theaters, bus stations, tourist courts, neon signs, and more.

For more information http://www.sca-roadside.org/

Wagon Wheel Motel, 2751-2755 Wagon Wheel Road (U.S. 101), Oxnard, California

 

The Wagon Wheel Motel, a ranch house-like motel of turquoise board and batten board buildings and decorative wagon wheels, once sprawled across its site. The motel came about when Oxnard booster and real estate developer, Martin "Bud" Smith, bought an old hog farm and moved in surplus Seabee barracks from nearby Port Hueneme, arranging them in a “U” shape to create a motel court. To give the place a ranch look, Smith reportedly hired Roy Beatty, a Hollywood set designer to design the wrought-iron lamp fixtures and the decorative rustic furniture once found in each room. During its heyday, the Wagon Wheel was a local fixture and prominent stop on U.S. 101. But over the years it lost its customers, closed and became a boarded up eyesore. When word got out that the motel could be demolished for a mixed-use commercial project, local preservation groups rallied to save the property. The San Buenaventura Conservancy filed an appeal to stop demolition under the California Environmental Quality Act, arguing that preservation of a small two acre portion of the motel and restaurant was feasible, given the size of the 64-acre project. But on March 17, an appellate court upheld a lower-court ruling permitting demolition. The Wagon Wheel Motel and associated buildings were demolished a week later. There is no foreseeable date as to when redevelopment will start, as the project sponsor is waiting for the economy to recover.

Ventura County Star article on the issue

Click here for the VC Star article

The preservation of a resource as young as the Wagon Wheel was a challenge from the onset; because structures forty to fifty years old are still considered current – but out of fashion. Structures like the Mission San Buenaventura and the Carnegie Library that have endured at least a century without being demolished take on a universal value to the public with time and perspective.

Historic buildings give us a glimpse into the past and further our understanding of our forefathers; people like Martin V. (Bud) Smith. It may be too soon for many to imagine him as a forefather or a pioneer, but the San Buenaventura Conservancy believes he will be remembered as the most prominent developer, most enthusiastic booster and the most generous philanthropist in the history of Oxnard, though it may take decades for that to become self-evident. For this reason the Conservancy believes it was worthwhile to attempt to save the Wagon Wheel as a truly unique and historic piece of Smith's pioneering legacy. Unlike the substantial challenges associated with the restoration of elaborate churches, crumbling adobes, and multi-story buildings in earthquake zones all over California, and despite all the broken windows, weeds and neglect, the simple, wooden structures on two of the 64 acres would have been straightforward and relatively economical to rehabilitate and reuse as a community center, farmers market, or anything the community imagined.

The Wagon Wheel Motel and Junction was Smith's first real estate investment and development. Indeed, this fact alone should be reason enough for the preservation of a small part of the Restaurant and Motel. Most of Smith's other early ventures are already gone or forever changed: the Colonial House Restaurant, the Esplanade Mall, the Carriage Square Shopping Center, the Lobster Trap, the Casa Sirena Marina Hotel, and so on. For over fifty years the Wagon Wheel gave the junction of the 101 Freeway and Highway 1 an authentic landmark and identity writ large in ranch-style western architecture and neon.

After the real estate market recovers, the Oxnard Village Specific Plan approved by the City of Oxnard calls for an 18-foot-tall cinderblock sound-wall surrounding 1500 residential units and a commercial/retail center. The opportunity for a unique, authentic, historic landmark for this Oxnard gateway is lost.

Many thanks to the supporters and fans of the Wagon Wheel from all over America who donated to the preservation fund, spoke, and wrote comment letters to the Oxnard City Council. The Conservancy would not have been able to fight for restoration of the Wagon Wheel without your support. The stories you shared about the site and its personal and cultural significance kept us going. Undeterred, we will continue to raise awareness and advocate for the protection of historic resources that are threatened and support developments that adapt to preserve our cultural history.

Despite the outcome, it was truly a fight worth fighting.


All images on this website are © 2012 San Buenaventura Conservancy except as noted and may not be used or reproduced in any way without express written permission of the San Buenaventura Conservancy Board of Directors. Please note that we make every attempt at determining the accuracy of the information contained in this website. Though every attempt has been made to verify the information, errors and omissions can occur. If you find information on our website in error, or you have concerns about the information on this website, please contact us here. We would be happy to respond to you in a timely manner and make any necessary changes, based on research and confirmation.