EDITORIAL:It’s scary to lose a piece of city history

Possibly for the first time ever, adults last week had reason to be frightened by the Balboa Fun Zone’s Scary Dark Ride.

Relatively notorious for not being terribly scary, although certainly dark, the ride — as well as the Drummer Boy ride and the bumper cars — were removed from the Fun Zone to make way for the new Newport Harbor Nautical Museum, which is in the process of moving into the space.

The museum’s addition to the peninsula is sure to provide a revitalization to the area, which slowly has been undergoing cosmetic improvements during the past few years.

The museum will have much to offer residents and visitors — officials say the new, multi-million-dollar museum could include a virtual sailing machine to let users pretend to pilot a boat; an electronic description of the model ship displays; even a tiny camera inside models to show what it’s like to stand at the helm — and is a good fit in the harbor, the history of which it will celebrate.

But.

Well, the Balboa Fun Zone is a piece of Newport Beach’s past that, now gone, seemingly can never be replaced. Can anyone imagine carnival rides someday being added back to a place along the waterfront? While the Ferris wheel and the carousel will remain, the larger feeling of a “zone of fun” will be gone.

It is another bit of slipping away from the past. Anyone remember Bal Week much anymore? The city, as part of its centennial celebrations, honored what is thought to be one of the town’s oldest homes — a tiny beach cottage, the type of which is almost on the verge of being extinct.

So if these days there’s a list wistfulness in the air — heck, even a little fear that what has passed is passed away — it’s understandable.

Then again, a virtual sailing machine? That sounds kind of fun too.