Greetings from Long Beach, California, USA!
Photo taken on Sunday, July 13, 2008.
This email marks anniversary #1 of the weekly missives. My first photo was taken on Friday, July 13, 2007, and by coincidence this week’s photo was taken exactly a year later on Sunday, July 13, 2008. The picture’s location is called Temple Lofts, a building converted from a masonic temple to apartments, and I was there for a barbecue hosted by an acquaintance. The shot is of the lobby where the orange dog-shaped tabletop pieces stood out against the decorated ceilings, ornate light fixtures, stoic pillars and polished tiled floors.
The highlight of my week was another trip to the Great Park & Balloon but first a little lesson in recent & local history. As a cost-cutting measure in the 1990s the United States federal government decommissioned several military bases, which included two Orange County facilities, the Marine Corps Air Stations (MCAS) Tustin and El Toro, just miles away from one another.
The bases’ fates went in opposite directions. MCAS Tustin had the two enormous air hangers - a past weekly photo showed one of those buildings - with one to be preserved, the other to be demolished. The surrounding land has already been turned over to both commercial and residential development. Meanwhile MCAS El Toro is being “undeveloped” into the Great Park, the west coast equivalent to New York City’s well-known Central Park.
Until recently the balloon ride was the only completed element in the conversion from MCAS El Toro to Great Park, less than 1% of the total work to be done after many years of paperwork. Then less than a year after its launch, flights were suspended due to alleged violations of operating procedures. While authorities conducted an investigation, the balloon was grounded for several months and stayed down a few more months after the violations were cleared as park planners completed the next phase of the makeover.
On Saturday the balloon was airborne again at the first Festival of Flight and I attended it. The event introduced the Preview Park and the name says it all. The land next to the balloon flight pad was redeveloped. Grass and other plant life replaced tarmac and concrete, an air hanger was converted into a café and a stage was added for the musical performances scheduled for weekend evenings now until the end of September. The huge crowd limited balloon rides but my disappointment faded fast as I learned that night flights begin the following week. With that news, I’m coming back again.
Angelo
Photo taken on Sunday, July 13, 2008.
This email marks anniversary #1 of the weekly missives. My first photo was taken on Friday, July 13, 2007, and by coincidence this week’s photo was taken exactly a year later on Sunday, July 13, 2008. The picture’s location is called Temple Lofts, a building converted from a masonic temple to apartments, and I was there for a barbecue hosted by an acquaintance. The shot is of the lobby where the orange dog-shaped tabletop pieces stood out against the decorated ceilings, ornate light fixtures, stoic pillars and polished tiled floors.
The highlight of my week was another trip to the Great Park & Balloon but first a little lesson in recent & local history. As a cost-cutting measure in the 1990s the United States federal government decommissioned several military bases, which included two Orange County facilities, the Marine Corps Air Stations (MCAS) Tustin and El Toro, just miles away from one another.
The bases’ fates went in opposite directions. MCAS Tustin had the two enormous air hangers - a past weekly photo showed one of those buildings - with one to be preserved, the other to be demolished. The surrounding land has already been turned over to both commercial and residential development. Meanwhile MCAS El Toro is being “undeveloped” into the Great Park, the west coast equivalent to New York City’s well-known Central Park.
Until recently the balloon ride was the only completed element in the conversion from MCAS El Toro to Great Park, less than 1% of the total work to be done after many years of paperwork. Then less than a year after its launch, flights were suspended due to alleged violations of operating procedures. While authorities conducted an investigation, the balloon was grounded for several months and stayed down a few more months after the violations were cleared as park planners completed the next phase of the makeover.
On Saturday the balloon was airborne again at the first Festival of Flight and I attended it. The event introduced the Preview Park and the name says it all. The land next to the balloon flight pad was redeveloped. Grass and other plant life replaced tarmac and concrete, an air hanger was converted into a café and a stage was added for the musical performances scheduled for weekend evenings now until the end of September. The huge crowd limited balloon rides but my disappointment faded fast as I learned that night flights begin the following week. With that news, I’m coming back again.
Angelo
