Route 66 in the News
Colton to Preserve 50s Heritage
2005-07-24 11:06:12
COLTON, Calif. - All pillars and pediment, Colton's old Carnegie Library sits downtown as the obvious symbol of one of the region's older cities.
But just blocks from this signature architectural achievement -- the star of the city seal -- lie Colton's unpolished relics.
The gas station island with its upswept roof and triangular beams, like a spaceship landing pad seen through a 1950s lens.
The buzzing, neon cursive that spells out the welcome for Linko's Bar on Valley Boulevard.
The old Colton Radiator Co. sign that darts a bright red arrow through an art deco abstraction.
None are from the Classic Revival period or have any roots to the city's rich frontier-land early history, but they fit into an oft-overlooked and misunderstood period of American architecture that's only starting to be realized as culturally relevant. One that city officials are unsure how to deal with as they proceed with stepped-up efforts to beautify and modernize Colton's long-neglected downtown.
"Googie" architecture, the sometimes flamboyant design style that became popular in post-war Southern California, abounds in Colton -- but it wasn't planned that way. As the city endured years of financial difficulties and decaying infrastructure in recent decades, much of downtown Colton was frozen in time.
"Like a time warp," said Eufemia Reyes, the Chamber of Commerce executive director who is working on replacing a decades-old, brown-and-yellow "Welcome to Colton" sign off of Interstate-10. "It's like, 'Do we really want to admit this is Colton?' "
But with the dated comes the daring. Blighted signs and boarded-up buildings have long been targets of Colton's beautification campaigns, but some officials are also becoming keener on preserving the more unique, "Googie" mid-20th-century architecture.
"In the past, they've actually demolished most of the historical stuff," said Don Earp, chairman of Colton's Historic Preservation Commission. "So since most of the older signs and buildings are gone, I guess we should do whatever we can to keep what's left."
Architecture experts and modern preservation advocates say that's a smart move, though, admittedly, one that requires some courage.
"It broke all the rules, it's extreme, and a lot of it is humorous," said Adriene Biondo, chairwoman of the Los Angeles Conservancy's Modern Committee, a group aimed at saving some of the less-obvious architectural treasures throughout the Southland. "But it was indicative of the country's optimistic post-war attitudes."
From Disneyland's original, colorful, geometric sign to gravity-defying coffee shops throughout Los Angeles County, Googie architecture boomed in the 1950s, a byproduct of not just post-war hope but also the increasingly car-based culture, according to the chair of UC Riverside's Art History department.
Patricia Morton, who teaches a class in architecture and urbanism at the college, said that much of the original Route 66, which runs through San Bernardino County, became a magnet for Googie architecture like the types that remain in Colton. The fact that the city's buildings and signage have fallen through the modernization cracks "is actually an advantage."
"What looks like modernization from one point of view," Morton said, "is destruction of historical details and structures from another."
In Colton, however, some officials say there has to be a fine line when it comes to cherishing '50s-era structures that have been left to rot for years.
"If it's something where the letters are cracked and falling off, the lights haven't worked in 10 years and the pole looks like if you blew hard enough, it would fall over, it's something we have to look at," said Councilman John Mitchell, leader of an ad-hoc committee focused on city signage. "Those are things that we can start instilling pride of ownership in."
That pride already exists at Linko's, where even the inside -- exemplified by the 50-year-old vinyl coated bar -- revels in retro. The bar's neon script sign is the ultimate representation of that, said manager Art Eeckie.
"That's about the only unique sign left," he said. "They don't make them like that anymore."
The latter may be true, but as a quick drive down Valley Boulevard will tell you, he's only half right.
~Paul LaRocco, Press-Enterprise
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