Editor,
What does it say about a town when its greatest cultural landmark is a former gas station tower?
Local historian Andy Alison compared our Main Beach lifeguard tower to the Orange Circle and the San Juan Mission in last week’s story (“Restoring the Town’s Sentimental Sentinel,” April 26 edition).
If we really want something as community and tourist serving as the Circle or Mission, how about a town center promenade on Forest Avenue? Or we can start with Roger Kempler’s idea of closing lower Park Avenue, another superfluous street for motorists. With the cool brick facade backing the White House, the canopy of trees providing natural shade, and the lack of storefronts to complain, we could create a great urban community gathering place with occasional live music from local bands. And the best part is we’ve already created enough new parking spots on lower Cliff Drive to easily meet the Coastal Commission mandate of replacing the eight spots we would lose in the bargain.
This would be a far more memorable takeaway of Laguna Beach than a lifeguard tower that was once a beacon for gas.
Billy Fried, Laguna Beach
