GOOD OLD DAYS:Metro Car Wash owner also a history buff

Waiting for your car at Metro Car Wash in Costa Mesa is not such a bore these days. In fact, it’s a lesson in local history.

Owner Frank Bianchini and his father worked with the Costa Mesa Historical Society for six months. Together, they assembled a large collection of historical black-and-white photographs to hang in the walkway of their newly remodeled Harbor Boulevard business.

“We’ve been here for more than 40 years, so we wanted to share some of the city’s rich history with our guests,” Bianchini said.

“Looking at these pictures is like taking a step back in time for people, and if it puts a smile on someone’s face, that’s pretty cool,” he said.

The collection includes early family photos of the Segerstroms, aerial shots of the Santa Ana Army Air Base circa 1945 and images of May Co. when it opened as South Coast Plaza’s first store.

The car wash serves as a suitable place for the historical display because it is one of the oldest carwashes around, Bianchini said.

The site’s age is confirmed by the line of railroad tracks that runs through the parking area out front.

“We used to have to shut the carwash down when the train came by,” he said. “It’s the only spot left in the city that’s got tracks, and we’d like to have them preserved.”

When Bianchini’s father opened the business in 1965, Bianchini was barely a teen; but he remembers working at the cash register, washing cars and manning the vending area.

At that time, a carwash cost $1.99.

“1965 — that’s not that long ago, but look how much has changed in this city,” he said, perusing the photos.

As their cars get cleaned, carwash visitors can enjoy viewing the 1928 construction of Costa Mesa Methodist Church at 19th Street and Harbor Boulevard, the beginning of the Mesa Verde neighborhood and the San Diego Freeway when it extended no farther than Harbor Boulevard.

There are also photographs of disaster — the Santa Ana River overflowing when a torrential storm hit in March 1938, flooding the lowlands between Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach, and a devastated business district after an earthquake in March 1933.

“Every time you come through, you notice something different,” Bianchini said.

Check out the display at Metro Car Wash, 2950 Harbor Blvd. For more information, call (714) 546-8191.