•EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the debut of Chris Epting's weekly column, "In the Pipeline." Each week, Epting will write about a variety of issues concerning Huntington Beach.
Welcome to In the Pipeline. Each week, this column will reveal, illuminate or expose something interesting about Huntington Beach. Quirks, characters, issues, oddities and opinions that make up this city will all flow in the pipeline.
You may know that I write books about history and popular culture that dig deep, and I'll bring the same sensibility to this column. Online, I'll include video, photos and other elements to help bring "In the Pipeline" to life. Comments and ideas are welcomed. It's a big city, and any help documenting it is appreciated.
And now, a mystery …
Recently, I discovered a strange landmark: a black, granite tombstone at Springdale Street and Warner Avenue, in the bushes behind the Arco station. Its text reads: "In recognition of Lloyd Wright's 94-foot-high sign tower that was to have been erected on this spot. Its defeat is symbolic of the democratic process in which we live. The people did not wish this sign tower to be erected as they felt it was not needed and would blight their community. Their wishes were heard and adhered to by the developer, Stanley Fann. — 1970"
A sign tower? Lloyd Wright, (a.k.a. Frank Lloyd Wright Jr.), son of arguably our country's most famous architect, and designer of the Hollywood Bowl and Wayfarers Chapel in Palos Verdes, among other Southern California treasures — here?
I grilled many locals. Nothing. The gas station manager by the tombstone? Oblivious. Poring over spools of microfilm at Central Library? Zip. Then I posted a query on a website, which led another historian, Chris Jepsen, to uncover this bit from the June 8, 1969 Los Angeles Times: "A shopping center … will be constructed on the northwest corner of Springdale and Warner Sts., Huntington Beach, with completion scheduled for late 1969 … Designed by architect Lloyd Wright, son of the late Frank Lloyd Wright … Atlantic Richfield Co. will also build a service station, also designed by Wright, on a site at the apex of the center."
