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58
winter
|
spr ing
and several representatives from various women’s organizations in
town sprang into action. Appearing before the city council, she begged
Mayor Finley to veto the action.
“Councilmen are supposed to represent the city,” admonished
Mrs. Schott. “They should have known that nearly everyone is against
any business development on the east beach.”
Mayor Finley, in the face of this prodigious disapproval and
upon further consideration, agreed that the rezoning would leave the
beachfront property vulnerable to the development of boiler shops,
dog pounds, and coal yards and incinerators. Such development would
undo all the beautification efforts made so far, so he vetoed the city
council decision.
Next, a local syndicate represented by the H.G. Chase Real Estate
Company offered to purchase the lumberyard tract and hold it for
the city. The attorney for the lumber company said, “In 1914, we
offered the property to the city for $35,000; it was refused. Later, we
offered it for $112,000 and were turned down. It is now offered to the
city through this option. The city should either buy it, or show some
intention of doing so, or rezone it so that its natural development will
not be hindered.”
The new syndicate, which was composed of 28 civic-minded
citizens, including Dwight Murphy, Harold S. Chase, CKG Billings,
Max Fleischmann, George S. Edwards, Clara H. Gould, Lora J.
Knight, George F. Steedman, and Thomas M. Storke, purchased the
property for $175,000. They held it for two years until a bond election
in December 1930 overwhelmingly gave the city permission and funds
to purchase the land.
THE BOULEVARD
T
hroughout the summer of 1927, newly elected Mayor Finley had
tried to fulfill the city’s promise to David Gray to move Cabrillo
Boulevard northward. “Unbelievable,” he had said before the election,
“that the donor is not given full support!”
The days grew ever shorter while the city sloughed through a
variety of legal obstacles that included questions regarding the legality
of the bond issue, a mandamus suit, clarity of title to certain lands, and
disagreements about cost and routing and degree of widening.
(top) 1928 aerial shows the newly completed boulevard and the Southern
Pacific Railroad complex. The Mar Monte Hotel is not yet built, and in
the distance, the white area of the Citizen’s Park, created from the old salt
pond, awaits renovation. (bottom) Looking west along the new boulevard
in 1928. (Courtesy John Woodward)
MOGULS
&
MANSIONS