Posted on 11/11/2023 8:52:10 AM PST by Yogafist
The hangars were built in 1942, Fennessy said, and are two of the largest wooden structures ever constructed. They were named historic civil engineering landmarks in 1993.
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
Looks like someone has plans for the land...
Looks like it was built as a Blimp hanger. But the Marines didn’t have blimps in World War II - just the Navy.
I’m betting arson. Someone wats that land.
From the article:
“For some time, there were plans to raze the north hangar and use the space to construct homes and a regional park. But the plans were never realized, and in August 2021 the City Council voted to scrap the park and maintain the site.”
It was a blimp hangar. The base was a Naval Air Station before it was turned over to the Marines.
It looked to me like concrete and I wondered how it could burn, but it’s actually made of Douglas Fir.
Asbestos was used in the construction so the fire is a major health hazard for the surrounding community.
agree...
Agree...according to the article...one of the hangers was being held up with cranes...hangers were not up to “commercial” code so they had to go eventually as it costs too much to repair. The local government was just sitting on its thumbs...so maybe it was “torched” using non traceable techniques...they could build a mixed use shopping/business/light industry/condominium type gigososaurus complex...everyone will be happy...IMHO
What a shame. They ruined a similar vintage hanger at Moffett Field in Mountain View because of the "toxic" coverings over the metal framework.
There's a related follow-up article in the OC Register yesterday about the mess on peoples' yards. The typical hysteria about toxic materials, safety, etc are abundant as well as warnings "Wait for government help." Sheesh, it's SOLID waste and (IMHO) very low levels of toxicity. Asbestos exposure takes DECADES in mines or holds of ships to develop cancer. A single brief exposure outdoors won't harm you. I used asbestos blocks a lot during high school to solder hobby items. Just put on some rubber gloves and toss the crap on your lawn in a trash bag. If you're really worried, get a respirator from Ace Hardware or Home Depot.
(the link below uses "12ft.io" to bypass the paywall)
Hangar fire: Tustin to get $1 million from Navy to start cleaning up neighborhoods
make it a park and a veterans cemetery
Very early on, after the marines abandoned that base there was talk about turning one of them into a mall, but that probably wasn’t practical for a wood and asbestos structure.
The Irvine Company sold tis land and El Toro MCAS to the US Government in 1942 for $100k, a bargain even at that time. Looks like they’ll get that land back to develop.
One problem is the hangers and the immediate area around them were heavily polluted over the years. It’ll take a long time to clean it up.
That is one BIG meth lab!
They’ll turn the land into hundreds of condos and apartments for foreign nationals who’ve just about taken over S.CA. thanks to government’s never ending chain immigration...
You Philistine …. Developer….
Below is a link to a great video of the history of the hangars.
We lived in Irvine for 20 years and saw those hangars every day. When I got the news on Wednesday, I wanted to cry. Such history.
The Marines were moved out of the Tustin base in the mid ‘90’s, if I recall correctly and moved to the El Toro Marine base. We had helicopters on one side and military jets on the other for years...needless to say lots of noise but welcome noise as it sounded like FREEDOM! We moved out of the area and out of the state 17 years ago.
A FReeper suggested making a park out of the remaining land at the Tustin location. That was tried when the base at El Toro was closed down. Irvine wanted to make a “Great Park” out of it and they did but I read recently that their “Great Park” has met an end also...Never did see it after it became a park. I believe those planes were sent to Miramar.
That was the bright idea of Irvine’s mayor at the time - Larry Agran who was also a dem candidate for president years ago...I think he taught or teaches at UCI..
Fugly edifice.
In 96, I was working on the top floor of the Citicorp bldg next to John Wayne airport. They were flyting a Lochhead airborne radar out of Tustin. The blimp would pass right over us heading in to land. One day the red baron biplanes were in the area and they formed up on the blimp. I headed onto the roof as they passed about 500 ft overhead. I felt like it was the 30’s. Tustin was mainly a USMC helicopter base at the time. One other incident occurred when the gate guards asked some gang members to leave a young lady alone.( it was outside the base by a 100ft or so) The news reported that the gang vowed to get even with the marines. An un-named marine responded that they obviously had never seen the USMC version of a drive by. Happy Veterans Day and hoist one for the good old days.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.