My co-blogger, Thomas Gordon, previously wrote about the fact that developer Mike Harrah is allowing the historic Twist-Basler home to fall apart in the elements, and today the O.C. Register picked up on the story.
Here are a few excerpts from the Register article:
The old house sits, broken and abandoned, on a dusty lot where a developer plans to build the tallest tower Orange County has ever seen.
It was a landmark once, a stately mansion built with an eye toward the architectural details of an earlier age. But now it waits in four huge pieces for a moving truck, its rooms and rafters protected by little more than a leaky roof and plastic tarps.
Preservationists have been pleading with the developer and with the city to do something with the old house, soon. Their concerns have only sharpened this week, as a surprise storm barrels down the coast toward Southern California.
To make way for his tower, Harrah agreed to move the old house to Cabrillo Park, where the city wants to renovate it for use as a fitness center and tennis clubhouse. Harrah even had the house cut into four sections earlier this year, in preparation for the move.
But city officials say they’re still not sure when that move will happen. The city has approved a route for the move, but there’s still no foundation at the house’s future site in Cabrillo Park. Harrah is still working to line up tenants for his tower before he can start building.
The black sheets of plastic that were stretched across the house’s cut-open sides to protect its interior have torn loose in some places. The roof is missing some of its tiles, and taggers have gotten into the site and left their mark on some of its walls.
Inside, chunks of plaster have shaken loose, and the floors are littered with debris. But a panel of honey-colored stained glass, propped against a bare wall in one of the sections, appeared to be in good condition.
A wall circles the dusty lot where the pieces of the house sit, its sides decorated with an artist’s soaring vision of the proposed One Broadway Plaza tower. A sign at one corner advertises Harrah’s Caribou Industries: “Preserving the past,” it says, “ensuring the future.”
The state recently turned down the agency’s request for a $1.25 million grant to refurbish the Twist-Basler House. That means the city may have to use park fees paid by developers or hope for future grants to offset the costs of fixing up the house — even without any storm damage.
The house’s protection against the storm “makes me concerned,” said Gerardo Mouet, the executive director of the city’s Parks, Recreation and Community Services Agency.
Yesterday a Santa Ana city hall insider called me and told me that Harrah has told city officials essentially to “go take a leap off a cliff.” He is not going to do anything about the Twist-Basler house. He intends to let it rot and then say it is not his problem. And most likely city officials will let him do it.
Last year they let him get away with demolishing a building with vast amounts of asbestos, without properly abating the asbestos. Thomas Gordon called in the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) which has oversight on asbestos abatement, and they too let Harrah slip away. Remember that Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido, a major supporter of Harrah, is on the SCAQMD Board.
And remember that Pulido is rumored to have either been given or sold at a cut rate a Harrah condo in Hawaii. Santa Ana Planning Commissioner Victoria Betancourt got one too, and so did failed City Council candidate Tino Rivera. Who knows how many city leaders got paid off this way?
And we are to believe that they will now do something about the Twist-Basler house? I think not.
This tragedy in the making won’t have a happy ending.
That photo, and the fate of that house, really saddens me.
Let’s hope One Broadway Plaza experiences a similar fate. That will turn my frown upside down…lol.
From the outside this old house has character and charm.
From the inside, it is a piece of crap. Converted to
This whole thing reminds me of a TJ “development”. A big hole in the ground. Signs all around. A rotting structure in the middle.
All it needs is the official “Arch” in the front.
With the tightening credit crunch, Mike just might be on the wrong side of this deal.
In the paper is an article on that old house, the “Twist-Basler House” and its lack of protection from the elements.
Currently a work crew is working to apply fresh plastic covering to the quartered house.
Just it time to beat a fall storm.
way to keep up the pressure.
The plastic going up is merely a placebo. After leaving the house open to the elements for a long time, Harrah was instructed to cover it up, so he’s doing the bare minimum.
The damage has already been done. This is a historic structure that has been butchered. The way it was quarted leaves no doubt the structural integrity has been compromised. If it is actually moved and put together, it will be a huge undertaking to make the structure safe to inhabit.
This is an example of Mr. Harrah’s abilities and the quality of work we can expect from him.
His work in Santa Ana is limited to remodeling buildings, not actually building them. He has had tens of thousands of dollars in fines levied against him as a slumlord landlord, and some of his buildings were in such disrepair that they had to be demolished.
Every project he has had his hands in has cut corners, and on some of those projects he did not file plans and pay fees to the city prior to beginning work. He regularly violates the city codes and building ordinances regarding signage, landscaping, and operations.
This is the master of the keystone project for Santa Ana’s downtown redevelopment.
Based on the examples of his work and his callous disregard for anything but money, I’m not convinced it is a good idea to let him build a skyscraper.
If the Broadway project is ever built, we should all fear for the safety and well being of those people who live near it.
#4
Why must the residents keep the pressure turned up to get city officials to enforce what they’re supposed to?
Pulido, Bist, Clownia, Bustamante and Ream made a pack with the devil – Harrah – and the Santa Ana taxpayer is footing the bill.
Someone told me the historical society recognized both Harrah and Ream for their work in preservation
Is that true? If so, they are all whacked out.