Countdown to 2000: Lifestyles

Alex Coolman

The year was 1971, and the old Newport Fun Zone was in the cross hairs of

the developers. A plan to tear down the structure and build a towering

condominium complex seemed certain to spell the end of old-time Newport

Beach.

“I fought that,” recalled longtime resident Allan Beek. “I went to court

over it. Fortunately, while we were in trial, a case came down that said

you had to have an environmental impact report for private projects as

well as public projects.”

That incarnation of the Fun Zone was saved -- for a while anyway.

“It ran for 10 years,” Beek said. “And for all those 10 years, I could

ride the bump cars for free.”

The ‘70s were a time that saw a lot of battles over the direction the

Newport-Mesa area should be moving. Residents were torn between a desire

to preserve the character of the area and a few more materialistic urges.

“In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, there was this huge interest in

environment, but a lot of the people down here were making money in real

estate,” said Judy Rosener, a Lido Isle resident who served on the

Coastal Commission from 1973 to 1981.

“What happened at that time was a lot of people in Newport became very

interested in protecting certain things. I don’t think people today

realize what got protected.”

The environmental vibe was very much in the air at the time. The energy

crisis had inventors delivering lectures on solar energy at OCC and a

Costa Mesa Chevron station manager wringing his hands over a proposal to

limit individual gas consumption to 35 gallons per month.

“It’ll kill us!” the manager lamented.

The Orange County Register ran an article to remind its readers of the

possible benefits of the crisis, quoting psychologist Chaytor Mason’s

opinion that “in deprivation, families generally pull together.”

The only exception to this homily, Mason noted, was the families that

“tend to have a lot of fights, even in affluent times.

“In their case,” Mason noted, “the crisis may just tend to make them have

more fights.”

Sources:

The Daily Pilot; “Newport Beach, the First Century: 1888-1988,” by James

P. Felton; Interviews with Allan Beek and Judy Rosener; The Orange County

Register.