SOUNDING OFF:Robins Hall the latest casualty in lost local heritage

Sentimental me can’t help but feel saddened by the upcoming demise of Newport Harbor High School’s Robins Hall.

It will soon fall victim to the wrecker’s ball, it having been determined that the venerable old building is not seismically safe — never mind that it survived the 1933 quake.

They say it’s cheaper to tear it down and rebuild a replica than it would be to make the building meet current codes. I guess they could say that about the Coliseum in Rome or the Great Wall of China.

OK, so Harbor High isn’t on a par with the wonders of the world. I’m grudgingly grateful that they are at least dusting off the original plans to inspire the newer, bigger, better, more efficient, modern replacement. But it just won’t be the same.

Forty years ago this September, I first entered those doors as a freshman. The building had just undergone extensive remodeling and would so again during my senior year. Not all of the improvements were improvements. In 1967, Robins Hall was 37 years old, newer than Estancia’s campus is today. Back then, unwary freshman bought elevator tickets to the tower. That was before they actually did build an elevator.

A while back, there was a pancake breakfast and tour. I walked about the campus and saw the “temporary” bungalows that have replaced the grand old building which is fenced off and abandoned.

A generation of Sailors will never know the thrill of investigating the mysterious corridors of the old building. They will never buy a ticket for the elevator and soon won’t even see the familiar clock tower.

And so goes the city of Newport Beach. Few people remember the Rendezvous Ball Room. Almost no one is aware of the palace that once graced Collins Island, now subdivided into a handful of commonplace bayfront mansions. I still feel wistful about the tower houses on Lido. Built before the war by Joe E. Brown, the last of the three came down a couple of years ago. A four-story structure with a stunning rooftop view, it could never be rebuilt under existing codes.

They want to scrap the old city hall, which was once a gleaming new city hall and the pride of the city when built in the late ‘40s. The Reuben E. Lee riverboat will soon be gone as well; I guess it’s worth mentioning the old China Cove House, too. The Arches Restaurant soon won’t be the Arches anymore, and does anyone recall the neat-looking old gas station that used to be next to it? They did save a chunk of the old bridge and stuck it in a tiny park. And with all the talk about revamping the Fun Zone area, I’m half surprised that someone hasn’t suggested ripping down the Pavilion, too.

Time marches on. One can’t hang on to everything that is old. There must be a few things in this town worth preserving, whatever the cost.

I’m afraid that by the time people start to appreciate Newport’s heritage, there won’t be much of anything left.