Tower Records Falling Down, Falling Down...

PROGRESS?
Time for many of you old time Costa Mesan's to shed a tear or two.  The old Tower Records store (and before that the Harbor Roller Rink), was demolished today.  You can read Bradley Zint's July 5th  Daily Pilot piece about the proposed demolition and building a Walgreen's Drug Store in its place HERE.  Zint tells us that the owner paid almost $10 million for this site in 2007, just before the economy went into free fall.

PEEKING THROUGH THE FENCE
This morning I drove over to watch the demolition, but arrived well after it had begun.  I stood outside the green protective fence for awhile, then decided to sneak inside for better shots.  Nobody challenged me - or the real media photographers who were also there.

CHOREOGRAPHY
It was fascinating to watch the equipment grab  big mouthfuls of debris, then spin and deposit it so the smaller tractor could snatch up the recyclables and place them is stacks for later distribution.  They could have had ballet music playing...

 

OPEN WIDE!
Sometimes it was much like watching a mother bird feeding a chick.

A PAUSE...
I took a little break at the Del Taco store next door and visited with one of the homeless folks while I ate a snack, then returned to see what progress had been made.

IT'S PROBABLY A LEVEL SITE NOW
I suspect it didn't take more than an hour or so after I left to completely level the site and await the trucks to haul the debris away.  Soon that Walgreen's store will be erected on the site and provide much-needed pharmacy service to the Westside.

SO IT GOES...

So, we have this image of "progress" in our city to consider - an iconic site, where thousands of folks from the region would congregate to roller skate from the time the rink was built in 1950, through the other uses - a gas station and Tower Records - to now, where the purveyor of pills, Depends, shampoos, beach chairs, greeting cards, condoms and other necessities of life will do business for another decade or so.

Busy Planning Commission Meeting Tonight

BUSY AGENDA TONIGHT
Tonight, Monday, June 11, 2012, the Costa Mesa Planning Commission, led by presumed council candidate Colin McCarthy,  will meet at 6:00 in City Council Chambers at City Hall to dispense with some pressing matters.  You can read the full agenda HERE.  This commission meets only once a month, so the agendas have been full for the past few months.  This may be a good sign - one that indicates that developers are finally finding funding for projects.
 
MUSIC
The agenda includes a performance by the Costa Mesa High School Madrigal Choir in celebration of the City's upcoming anniversary.

FITZY GETS A HUG
It also includes "Proclamation for Jim Fitzpatrick, Planning Commissioner".  I guess that should actually be FORMER planning commissioner, since he recently resigned.  We're still waiting to hear how the City Council plans to replace Fitzpatrick... maybe they'll just hold his seat open, so to speak, to see if he gets tossed from the Costa Mesa Sanitary District Board or not.  If he does, they could re-appoint him to his old seat on the Planning Commission.  His old term expires in January of 2015.  I guess if they did they'd have to take back the proclamation.

NEIGHBORHOOD ENHANCEMENT
There will be Public Hearings for several items, including the proposed Third Residential Neighborhood Enhancement Program, this one set for a neighborhood in the Shalimar/Wallace area of the Westside.

GOOD-BYE TOWER RECORDS, HELLO WALGREEN'S
There is also a public hearing for the proposed demolition of the existing Tower Records Store and the placement of a Walgreen's Store near the intersection of Superior and 17th Street.  This rendering shows 17th Street at the top, with Newport Blvd. and Superior Avenue at the left and right, respectively.

 I-405 PROJECT STATEMENT
The Planning Commission will apparently take a specific stand on the proposed I-405 Improvement Project - most likely a negative position, which will be forwarded to the City Council.  Mayor Bever has already sent a strong letter to the Orange County Transportation Authority denouncing the planned Alternative #3 plan, shown below.