The Places That Were Loved – Seaside

I was looking through old photos, and came across some photos that really jogged my memory of a previous trip to the Santa Cruz, CA area in 2003.   I was traveling through Monterey Bay on my way to the north, but stopped in to the City of Seaside (a very new municipality at the time, after the closing of Fort Ord) to see my friend Pat who was a city planner there.

Fort Ord was a US Army post that was decommissioned and closed in 1994.  Slowly, a town was formed and much residential and commercial development has occurred, replacing the layout and structure of the old base.  It seemed only figuratively that I was there shortly after the closing, not ten years later, as so many rows and rows of abandoned buildings were present for long distances.

Driving down the main drag, which I believe was Fremont Boulevard, I saw all of those abandoned rows of residence halls, and other buildings, but the theater was the most interesting.  Looking slightly worn, with some festive trim with white stars on it, and a graphic of a film camera on one side, it caught my eye.  Inscribed by one of the doors with care, were the words “I Was Loved”.  It touched my heart to see that.

As an urban planner, I love the feelings toward cities and structures that people develop over the years, the centers of our communities and the elements laid out along the common paths of the everyday.  Clearly, memories were made here either by the operators of the theater or the patrons, all military, so there was a common connection there as well.  A thoughtful and carefully inscribed tribute to one of the cultural centers of the base.  Going back to the photo brought back all the memories of seeing this.

I learned through Wikipedia when writing this that some historic buildings have been preserved, but the theater was likely torn down.  Still loved, however.