Been to the one in Sunnyvale before, it's huge. Lived in Milpitas in 74/75 as a teenager, that's the California I chose to remember. I look at it now and it's sad.
I live here. This is an absolute travesty what has happened with the blimp base and, much more, El Toro Marine base. There needs to be a full blown investigation into the way the developers STOLE all this property from what was VOTED to be parkland. I know there won't be because here in S. CA and especially, Orange County the developers have all the politicos in their back pocket. In a nutshell: About 3 decades ago they closed El Toro Marine Airbase. It was a HUGE base with airstrips large enough for the biggest planes. Much discussion on what to do with this huge piece of real estate smack in the middle of one of the most expensive places to live in the USA. It was PRIME real estate! The voters voted for a "Great Park" multi-use, extremely large park with wild, undeveloped areas, and all sorts of different things to do. UPDATE: 2022: All that has happened is we have a big hot air balloon (tethered), a tiny grass area and that's it for our "park" What the developers got (They formed a group called "5 Points". Formed exclusively to screw over the residents and give the land to the developers) was a steady revenue of parcels of land given to them piecemeal over the years so as not to get noticed. Every couple of years another few hundred acres are "sold" to the developers for yet another cookie cutter "neighborhood" of million dollar condos. This is on the down low, they do not want press when this happens, you have to search it. This has gone on and continues without ANY question from ANY government watchdog group.....they are all on the take! UPDATE: 2023. The pillage continues for the "Villages of Irvine"! Mysteriously, one of the Tustin blimp hangers burned and of course, the remnants quickly cleared for grading of the next "Village of Irvine" (aka another billion dollars for Donald Bren). Watch, on the DL, the Navy will do a "no bid" sale to the Irvine Company and the capitalists gluttony continues! ADDENDUM: Irvine Amphitheater (last name was Verizon) is it's own story. It was humming along for decades providing 1st class entertainment for the likes of us who refuse to go up into LA. Once land prices reached a certain profit point, The Irvine Company suddenly announced that it was NEVER intended to be an amphitheater that long, it was ALWAYS earmarked for high density apartments!..SO, Poof..those beautiful grassy slopes where such good music was heard are now very expensive tiny apartments.
Well Kendall you and I know what is going on, the entire US has basically just ignored the citizens for big corporate ventures. But what most people don't know is when the Great Reset happens and they make it illegal to own land and all these fools that are paying millions for condo will lose it all and lose all their money 💰
So glad they are keeping one as this is important HISTORY that we should all be aware of WHY they were built and those that protected our country... (There WAS a few Japanese Sub attacks off San Diego and Santa Barbara).
My Dad was stationed there! I’ve been to many Military Family Christmas parties in them. I also had the pleasure of watching the movie “The Hindenburg” with George C. Scott filmed there! Many memories!
Sad, I went to my A school there. I remember working at the hangars, they are awe inspiring. The aerial photos don't do justice. So much for protected landmarks. Go Go groundhogs.
i was stationed there from 1977 thru 1981 with HMM-163. Amazing buildings. Standing and looking up at all the wood trusses from one end to the other is mesmerizing. I have recently been by that area and except for those hangers, didn't recognize anything. For me, very sad. At night the owls would come out and screech at you while out on the flight line. Sunsets were spectacular looking out of the barracks. But really, the sight of a squadron of CH-46's all taking off at once with those hangers as a backdrop is something I will always remember.
Semper Fi. It is sad. Right before leaving the Marine Corps. the squadrons were making transition plans to move everything north because the base was closing as well as El Toro. I was there from 92-95 and the Goodyear was stored and maintained in Hangar 2 a few times. There were strawberry patches around the Compass Rows then. My father was also stationed there in the late fifties.
I worked in the south one for 3 1/2 years from 1988 to 1991 and they are both protected. As a matter of fact, before the base closed, every 6 months the Goodyear blimp would come in for repairs in the South one. They could hold 4 or more entire helo squadrons in each one. they are 300 ft long, 100 ft tall and 150 ft wide. Lots of room for basketball!
It's California, of course they are going to tear it down. If it's not new in the last 5 years it must be replaced. Then lecture the country on going green.
1966-1971 we were dependent youth living at L.T.A.,M.C.A.F. yes helicopter base ( lots of childhood memories 😢, space ghost, Johnny quest, Scooby-Doo, Brady bunch and more ect... oh yes a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts $1.00 when the donut truck 🚚 drove in base housing those days 😊😊.
Orange County does not need to develop every square inch of land. I grew up here as did both my parents and my grandparents and all the development has not been an improvement. This used to be farm country on the coast and it was laid back. Hard to get super stressed with the smell of orange blossoms hitting you while you stare at cows while you're driving. I feel like it tipped in the late 90s. Funny how prices started skyrocketing soon after. 😔
I was stationed there in the 80s with HMM-268, and yes, the Goodyear blimp used hangar space for their overhaul maintenance. I almost got a ride in the blimp, but weather canceled it. Now, the North Hangar has burned to the ground. Apparently some “homeless people” built a fire for warmth and engulfed a fire-retardant treated structure and burned to the ground. I guess that was cheaper than paying some demolition company millions to do it.
It was also at hangar 1 during the mid 80's. I was with HMM-161. We were at the northwest corner of hangar 1. HMM-764 which was a reserve CH-46 squadron and next door to us was moved to El Toro I think in 1984. So with the northeast corner now empty that was where all the blimp construction and overhauls were done
Only the North Hangar was on the historic registry and could not be touched by developers. The South Hangar had no such protection. Now that the North Hangar burned to the ground developers will be salivating to raze the South hangar. Arson?
@@beatjunkienyc Yep he was in the cube next to mine in the barracks next to the Chow Hall. (Barracks 132?) He was best friends with a guy named Don Eldred from upstate New York. He's a great guy. New Yorker through and through. There was an article about him a couple of years ago in a local paper (might have been Santa Anna) saying after he got out of the Corps he worked a long time as a security guard in the area and was getting ready to retire. Did you know him too? Your name isn't familiar but then again not a lot is familiar from 40+ years ago.
Why do you have to do anything with that land but restore it, make it into a national monument where people could come & visit & enjoy the things that were used to protect this country & the veterans who gave it all so the people of today can trash it, abuse it & throw it away like yesterdays garbage like they have done in the recent past. PATHETIC, keep it as it is & memorialize it so others can see what others have done. Usn disabled vet.
Got to build more homes for refugees the U.S. ships in from the middle east. Don't mean to sound like an asshole but that's all that's there now crazy rich Asians, and middle eastern and Afhgan refugees that were brought in. Add that on the growing warehouse and track homes and we wonder why we are in a drought to.
Why is it so hard for people to understand that its " Corps" and not Corp? A Corps ( pronounced " core") is a military formation, and a " Corp" is an abbreviation for "corporation". We are the United States Marine Corps......Corps...Corps...
Terrible that they burnt down history. Instead of burning down these historical landmarks, couldn’t the developers be creative and reuse them in a respectful way? Museum, refurbish with restaurants/shops inside but keep the exterior the same?
It's sad to see that they just destroy any land marks not even caring about anything else except making money. If there is a little piece of land somebody wants to build an apartment on it. Just cram it in there, that's how they think.
