I write about the issue of the sewage digester building, constructed in the 1930s as a New Deal project, in the guise of one who grew up in Laguna and who currently lives here. But I also write as one who did a doctoral dissertation at Stanford about the Great Depression in the Santa Clara Valley. Since then, I’ve taught urban history and have published in the Journal of Urban History and other venues about issues of redevelopment, downtown vitality, and the impact of diversifying demography in what’s now Silicon Valley. Thus, I’ve had a great deal of both personal and professional experience in assessing the impact of the choice between preserving and destroying historic structures.
I’m very proud of our downtown. When I was a child, my father (then editor of the South Coast News), worked in the marvelous Eschbach building on Forest Avenue. The sewer digester building announces to those coming into our town from the canyon that they will encounter a built environment with many surprises in store for them. They probably have never seen anything quite like it. Destroying it would be both mistaken and tragic.
I also want to point out that the digester is listed in many catalogs of New Deal art. A number of cities are now investing in protecting and preserving the New Deal legacy, born in a time of terrible economic hardship, which was also a time when our government understood the value of art. Thus, this legacy is an unparalleled testament to the strength of the human spirit.
Glenna Matthews, Laguna Beach
