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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. |
