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HISTORY
HISTORY IN CITY HALL 4 '
By Joseph A.Carotenuti mJ
OR AFICIONADOS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT,A f~ rr ��+ 'f
atisfying evening begins on most Tuesday evenings with the t F televised San Leis Obispo City Counul meeting. gq M Camel( �
While City Hall has now turned 60(completed in 1952),few remem- demons and dreams.In a quiet celebration of history and heritage,
ber the pride and loy of the dedication.Four years after the sale oftke interior images expand the sense of place.The present has not forgot-
first City Hall and site and 14 years after a debilitating fire,an elated ten its past.
community celebrated the new heart of municipal governance.The
square-cornered two-story building exuded an air of permanence. Here's the story.
Anticipating growth,the 10,000 square foot basement was used for
storage and a rifle club.Former Mayor Dave Romero,a new staff Behind the dais to the left,television viewers see the Crocker Broth-
member at the time,remembers City Council meetings punctuated ers store filled with the necessities for a growing population.To tran-
by gunfire.The dub soon moved. sition from a rural settlement to a progressive community,the City
most often evaluated itself by the yardstick of commerce.
Along with the droll and drama of issues,the Council Chambers
pr vide an informative link between today's residents and yesterday's Next is an image of the City's center and Mission(citra 1880)viewed
from the corner of Chorro and Monterey Streets.The famous(and
to some infamous)jog in the street will generate considerable civic
debate with theconstnrction of the Mission Plaza...but that is truly
r another story.
4• .
To the right is the Commercial Hotel(1894).From mission days,San
r _ ; Luis Obispo was a place to stop on the way north or south.Located
across fmm the County Courthouse,the Fremont Theater occupies
'f, the former hotel site.
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/yy/ I Unfortunately,sofa citizens miss even more images on the back wall.
•
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; j 1 From bankers to bars,farriers to fireman,commerce to car
s l racing.the wall is a visual history lesson of the former pueblo.
• While legislated as a community of the"sixth class"(under 3000
I residents),the Nation's Bicentennial was also the birth of the City.
�-- - . - - By then,the narrow-gauge railroad—a key missing image—con-
nected the city with the wharf in Avila and future.lust who were the local volunteers ions.transportation,tools.and architecture
then south toward Santa Barbara.While standing before the first City Hall(built in are a few other attractions for those who look
not vet linked with the nationwide web of 1878)or posing with a chemical and hose for history inside City Hall.
trade controlled by the railroads,San Luis truck?We may wonder how these men
Obispo was eager to expand beyond its could possibly defend the town from a total A new display of City Hall memorabilia
parochial reach. conflagration.nonetheless.they knew is in the building's rotunda.Rarely seen
they were the only hope.The responsibility documents will be displayed in a program
By design or accident,the center of the wall came without compensation but offered an on May 8 beginning at 1 1:30 am in the
features a large picture of the community's exquisite reward of saving some structures Council Chambers.
core—its downtown.A business center was from ashes.
much more than shops to stroll by or places
to purchase goods or services as captured More is learned as details emerge from the
by the photos of Sinsheimer Brothers or Ah selected insights into the community.Fash-
I.ouis stores or stables.Commerce meant
progress not only as sources of(always)
badly needed revenue—but also as a sign of
population growth and affluence.
Indeed,the image of the 1894 1.P.Andrews
Banking Company building not only
commemorated the arrival of the railroad
connecting the town to points north and
beyond(1894),but was also the site of the
first community library.While one requir-
ing membership and dues.a public place
dedicated to learning and the refinements of
life was another indication that any west that
was"wild"was something of the past
It is no wonder that the only portrait on the
wall is of Andrews(also seen inside his(rank)
as the entrepreneur established a bank with
space for the first library but also suffered
the loss of an early(and the grandest)hotel
ever operating in town.There is a message
that those who are willing to invest in the
community—to pay homage to progress—are
worthy of recognition.
The emerging metropolis was not free
from the ills—both natural and societal—
endemic with progress.None.however.
was as terrifying as captured by an image
of the Andrews Hotel fire.Consumed after
only eight months from opening.the image
highlights the gravest of municipal night-
mares.Local histories before and after
this image are filled with the horrendous
descriptions of tires dancing their pur-
poseful way across a community's annals.
devouring in an unappeasable appetite
buildings,homes.people.and.often most
lasting.dreams.
More than any other word."EIRE'casts
incalculable dread and terror!
Defenses were weak but considered a com-
munal responsibility as volunteers pulled
wagons and hoses.shuttled buckets of water
from creek to chaos in—often futile—at-
tempts to kill the fiery dragon intent on
tli+ietwhelruing both the present and the