Houses evacuated

Feelings were mixed Wednesday as residents gathered to watch the long-awaited demolition of El Camino plaza in Costa Mesa, which began and then was soon halted because of a gas leak that threatened area homes.

A live gas line ruptured, causing police and fire crews to evacuate eight to 10 neighbors because of the risk of an explosion.

A worker with the construction company Alta Contracting reportedly dragged debris from the wrecked building across the three-quarter-inch pipe with a back hoe he was driving, puncturing the gas main, which the company failed to shut off.

Gas Company employees drilled 40 to 50 feet under the asphalt to pinch the pipe and stop the loud, high-pitched rush of gas that could have caused an explosion, said fire department Battalion Chief Scott Brousard.

“Very seldom would that ever happen, but we don’t want to take a chance, so we do all that we can to make sure we evacuate [the area],” Brousard said.

As the first buildings in the long-blighted center were reduced to rubble earlier that morning, neighbors breathed sighs of relief and old-timers reminisced about the center’s heyday.

Councilwoman Katrina Foley, who lives in the neighborhood, stood at the gate of the complex with a few homeowners, watching with unabashed glee as a single back hoe rolled over piles of splintered lumber and crushed the roof and walls of the easternmost building. She and many other residents have lobbied for years to get the owner, Oxbow 101, to do something with the fenced-off complex that they said attracted transients, gang members and taggers.

“It’s been a long time waiting,” said Lisa Reedy, president of the neighborhood homeowners association, who salvaged a large plastic owl perched on a wooden stick to auction off in the neighborhood luau. “We’re excited to see it actually demolished.”

Some residents who have lived there long enough to remember the center’s glory years approach the demolition with both optimism and sadness.

Bill Kuhn, an octogenarian who has lived almost four decades in the Mesa Del Mar neighborhood, reminisced about the “vibrant shopping center” that occupied the land in the ’70s and ’80s.

“Years ago there used to be some of the best markets in Orange County right here,” Kuhn said, pointing to one of the vacant buildings that he said used to house a store where movie star John Wayne would frequently come to buy his meat.

John Rittenhouse, who grew up in the area in the ’60s, wandered around with a hand-held camera, snapping pictures of the beige and green buildings. He too remembers the Duke’s patronage of the market as well as the barber shop where he used to get his hair cut, the pharmacy, the gas station and the famous Mexican restaurant.

Both men said the businesses were very successful in previous decades, but started to leave as the neighborhood changed.

Residents will all have to wait at least one day longer to see the construction continue, though, as the construction company attempts to satisfy newly surfaced complaints.

While fire crews were inspecting the premises, they noticed possibly live wires, which code enforcement determined should have been removed before demolition. This second oversight will halt construction until the wires can be taken out.

No one was injured, and all evacuees were allowed to return to their homes by 2:30 p.m., Brousard said.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].