David Allen, Daily Bulletin columnist and friend of the blog, mentions two local heroes in his column today. These two guys took it upon themselves to save a controversial part of Pomona's history. Here's what David wrote:
"In more Second Street news, the Yesteryears fountain that caused such mixed reactions has been saved, in part.
The whole thing was far too large to move, but with the nightclub's roof gone and rubble heaped around the fountain, Mike Schowalter and Dave Armstrong acted at almost the last minute to grab what they could for posterity.
After signing waivers provided by the developer, Schowalter and Armstrong ventured into the half-destroyed building and, with hammers, pry bars and knives, pried off the sculpted faces of presidents Washington, Lincoln, Grant and Kennedy as well as those of Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., Charles Lindbergh and Geronimo.
The salvaged pieces are being stored at the Armstrong-owned American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona.
"The whole thing was kind of like a Grecian urn, supersized, telling a historic story," Schowalter said of the towering fountain. "Maybe the whole thing didn't work, but parts of it were pretty cool!"
Here's to folks taking it upon themselves to save something that was once a part of Pomona, tacky or not. I am thinking the heads will end up making a cool art display somewhere. Anyone know what will be done with the heads from here?
As for David Allen, he seems to have the blog thing down. He recently had a post that ellicited 78 comments (at last count) from readers, all reminiscing about places that aren't here anymore. I just wish we could turn that interest in the good ole days in Pomona, into excitement about the future.
THE END
6 comments:
Oh Goddess,
There is excitement about the future of Pomona. Last night there was a Historic Preservation Commission study session where there was discussion about making Pomona's version of the Mills act actually workable for owners of historic properties in our districts. They also discussed what criteria could be placed on fences within the district (I for one hate the incursion of plastic picket fences that I see going up in Lincoln Park.
Then this morning, Mike Schowalter and I collected some of the salvaged windows from the former Passion For Fashion (nee John P. Evans) building. Only one of the windows still retains all of its fabulous art deco glass, but there is enough in the others we got to create at least 3-4 full windows, and they haven't even taken out the ones that were one building to the east and still covered over.
So history is being saved, and the future is looking bright.
And if you really want to see some interesting archeology, go down to second street now where some of the buildings have been completely leveled and we don't know what was beneath these buildings that have been standing since the 1880s - 1920s. It should prove interesting once grading starts.
John-
As always, thank you for contributing to the board.
I didn't mean that there is NO excitement, I'm excited myself DESPITE initially being against the Great Wall of 2nd Street project and despite hearing from neighbors "they've been talking about the Pomona revitalization for 10 years." I do believe that they'll be a transformation down there in the next year.
I will indeed check out 2nd Street today while Big is at school. Maybe I will see you there! I'll be the one with the dust mask on and the missing sword.
G of P
Oh and I hear you on the fence issue. Having come from the WEst Adams district in Los Angeles, we know all too well what unregulated fencing can do to the aestetics and feeling of a neighborhood.
Does that mean they will be changing the Mills Act from how it was explained to me by the Planning Division in November? Is the deadline still March?
G of P
Down with cheap plastic fences around front yards. There is a house on Lincoln that recently put one up and it looks horribly out of place, and way too white to boot. Not to mention the elegant chain link fence that was put up on a particular house on Columbia
You mean the fence that is partly encroaching on the river rock of the house next door? It seems almost hostile.
Both of those fences are pretty unbelievable. The whole bungalow aesthetic is about nature and open unobstructed front yards. That is also part of the appeal of the neighborhood as well.
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