The Hotel Del Monte will be saved!

-

Last year the US Navy presented plans to demolish two wings of the historic Hotel Del Monte, which is now part of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey.

For those not familiar, The Hotel Del Monte is a prominent Monterey landmark with a massive red tiled roof which can be seen from miles away. The original hotel was first built in 1880. It burned down in 1887 and was rebuilt in 1888. The center section of the hotel burned down again in 1924 and was rebuilt in 1926, leaving the 1888 wings intact. It is these 1888 wings the Navy wanted to demolish and rebuild, a process which they said would save $13 million dollars over retrofitting the existing buildings.

But the hotel is tied to many significant developments in Monterey's history. Among these were the introduction of the railroad to Monterey, the development of Pebble Beach, and it started the local tourism industry. Over the years, the hotel hosted numerous dignitaries and celebrities before being sold to the Navy during WWII. It also played a role, albeit an indirect one, in saving the Carmel Mission from oblivion. It is as important to local history as Colton Hall or the Royal Presidio Chapel.

I posted an emergency alert on my website providing contact information to protest the demolition. I know that at least a few of my visitors made the effort. Unfortunately, the Monterey City Council was less helpful. They were more worried that the Navy might close the school if they didn't get their way, so the council sheepishly voted to endorse the demolition plan. Shame on them!

But good sense has prevailed. A few days ago I received an official (and somewhat cryptic) notification that renovation was now the preferred plan, and that demolition was no longer being considered, due to the public opposition and the building's eligibility for registration on the National Register of Historic Places. Today's Monterey Herald confirmed this.

Thanks go to the United States Navy for seeing the light, and to the people who contacted the Navy brass and stood up to protect an irreplaceable historic treasure. Hizzonor the Mayor, Dan Albert, on the other hand, should receive a chorus of Bronx Cheers and a boot out the door at the next election.

-----------------------------------


Tags:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The problem with Car Week

-
Image
So another Car Week has come to and gone from the Monterey Peninsula. And as usual the community is divided into two camps. On one side we have people who are frustrated with the traffic, crowds, and noise. The other side is telling these folks to stop whining because "it's good for the economy." The second group has no sympathy for the first, and often goes as far as telling them to move away if they don't like special events and the tourists that come along with them. How did this come about? Car week evolved slowly over several decades. The core event is known as the Concours d'Elegance (which is pronounced properly by maybe half of the local population). The Concours began in 1950 as a single Sunday display of classic automobiles. I remember going there as a kid once, after Sunday School. I watched my dad run his hand over a smoothly polished fender, so I did the same. Suddenly a very cranky man came up behind me saying "NO, NO! FINGERPRINTS!" as...
Read more

Calling the police has gotten harder

-
Image
It has gotten harder to call the police. The last few weeks I have made several attempts to report illegal fireworks to Seaside PD. We've always used the non-emergency number 831-394-6811 to do this, and our call would be promptly answered by a dispatcher who would take the information and immediately enter it into the system. Now one must jump through several hoops with no guarantee the system won't disconnect you before the report is made. And I'm getting fed up. Instead of having our calls answered by a human, a machine will answer, much as it does for every business you call these days. First it tells you that this number is not for emergencies, and if you have an emergency you must hang up and call 911. Then they say it again in Spanish.  Next, you are instructed to choose English or Spanish. Next it tells you that they're busy answering emergency 911 calls and implies that your non-emergency concern is an imposition on their important work. Then the voice asks...
Read more

Oh, Nikki, you're better at math than that.

-
Image
And then there were two. Earlier tonight I watched part of the debate between Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis. DeSantis is a jerk, and I can't take him seriously. Haley, on the other hand is a smart gal, and offers some hope for bringing some level of sanity back to the Republican party. But she often dumbs things down to appeal to the simple-minded (mostly Trumpers), and that drives me nuts. Case on point: Haley promised that if elected she would eliminate the federal gasoline tax to reduce the tax burden on working class Americans. Moderator Dana Bash pointed out that the federal gas tax raises over $50 billion annually and is used build and maintain highways and bridges. She then asked Haley how she would pay for those things without it. Haley responded first by evading the question and talking about taxes in general. But eventually she got back around to the gas tax. She employed a classic Republican talking point saying the states collect the...
Read more