City Cataloguing Googie Art in Anaheim

Anaheim Bulletin, November 21, 1996

A souvenir postcard snapshot of Katella Avenue in the 1960s - a chaotic, yet energetic hodgepodge of Googie scenery - may be just a faded memory.

But, city officials - who want to bring visual order to the resort boulevard - have been working to preserve the city's essential Googieness.

City staffers have been cataloging the remaining Googie architecture in the city and storing the photographs and histories in the Anaheim History Room at the Main Library downtown.

"The biggest interest was seeing if we could save the Satellite sign," said Julie Mayer, a Planning Commissioner who served on the Googie Art subcommittee. "That one is quite unique. Most of the other signs have fallen into such disrepair that structurally they couldn't be saved anyway. "

The Satellite Shopland sign is scheduled to come down soon because of the widening of the Santa Ana (I-5) Freeway, Mayer said.

Mayer said many older signs still standing have been altered - removing their essential Googie-ness.

"We discovered that many signs had been updated and would not qualify as 'Historical Googie Architecture,' " Mayer said.

Disneyland-area businesses - by city mandate - must remove their old "pole" signs and replace them with "monument" signs as part of the Anaheim Resort makeover project.

Property owners have the option of keeping the old signs or asking the city to dispose of them.

The Googie subcommittee recommended in February that some signs - such as those at the Satellite Shopland and Eden Roc Motel - should be removed and preserved.

Possible future locations for the Googie signs include the proposed Sportstown project at Anaheim Stadium and the Anaheim Plaza shopping center.

But Mary McCloskey, a deputy city planning director, said the city has no plans to preserve any of the nostalgic signs. Preserving the signs, she said, is up to the property owners.

The city's Googie Art subcommittee used a loose definition of Googie: a futuristic and outlandish architectural style of the 1950s.

The subcommittee selected 18 sites to be documented.

They are:

Al's Party Pantry liquor store, 2021 E. Lincoln Ave.
Angelo's Hamburgers, 511 S. State College Blvd.
Anchor Motel, 1538 E. Lincoln Ave.
Brookhurst Theaters, 2299 W. Ball Road
Doll Hut, Manchester Avenue at Adams Street
Flamingo Motel, 1212 S. West St.
The former 4 Seasons restaurant, South Anaheim Boulevard
Kona Kai Motel, 1830 S. West St.
La Palma Chicken Pie Shop, 928 N. Euclid St.
Linbrook Bowl, 201 S. Brookhurst St.
Lindy's Restaurant, Beach Boulevard and Ball Road
Magic Carpet Motel, 1016 W. Katella Ave.
Magic Lamp Motel, 1016 W. Katella Ave.
Original Pancake House, 1418 E. Lincoln Ave.
Polynesian Motel, 641 S. Brookhurst Blvd.
Samoa Motel, 425 W. Katella Ave.
Sandman Inn, 1248 E. Lincoln Ave.
Stovall's Inn, 1110 W. Katella Ave.