Historic Otay City Threatened with Destruction
History to be lost, forgotten and erased from the map
Bruce Coons
The last vestiges of this once proud western boomtown, which boasted the most modern watch factory in the West, the Otay Watch Works, the famous Daneri winery, Wells Fargo Office, a terminal on the National City and Otay Railroad and a street of western false front buildings surrounded by Victorian homes and farmsteads, is being threatened by a scheme to create a false sense of history in nearby Chula Vista.
Chula Vista has been famous for the demolition of historic sites without following CEQA. And since destroying so much of their own history apparently wasn't enough, now some want to move on and obliterate the heritage of a neighboring town.
Two citizens of Chula Vista have been promoting and are asking the City of Chula Vista to move the buildings to Memorial Park to serve as a site for the Chula Vista Heritage Museum. The city is studying the proposal within the "broadest possible context" to see if it will fit in their arts program as a performance facility or museum. What the 1916 flood and insensitive development did not destroy, people who are supposed to be interested in preserving history and an unrelated new development may finish off.
All that remains to remind us of this important San Diego community are four Victorian houses, the brick Wells Fargo/Post Office and the two Churches that they want to move to Chula Vista. Two of the four homes are currently threatened with demolition for a new industrial development. The most visible landmarks that remind us that there once was a place called Otay City are the two churches. The largest and most prominent is on its original site with its original bell tower. The other church was moved from directly across the street and now stands next to the larger church. The congregation has maintained these buildings in good condition and continue to use them.
If these two projects are allowed to proceed we would lose all sense of place and the knowledge of this important part of San Diego County's history will fade from memory and be lost forever. An entire town will be gone, extinct.
The National Register of Historic Places rarely allows buildings that have been moved from their original setting to be designated historic because the historic value of such a structure is directly related to where and why a structure was built. The very fact that it is a landmark means that it marks the land and serves as a physical link with a particular location's history and recognition. Also important is the related archeological deposits, hardscapes, foundations and other artifacts at the site. These projects would create an unmitigable environmental impact and cannot even be attempted without a full Environmental Impact Report completed in advance. Obviously if there is a museum to be housed in these two structures it should be in its historic location. This is where history actually occurred and the only place it can be experienced. False history is not history at all; it’s Hollywood.
