SOUNDING OFF:District made wrong choice for Robins Hall, clock tower

What have we done?

We have precious few historic landmarks in Newport Beach that are still standing. Certainly the Pavilion building and historic Balboa Ferries come to mind.

The Newport Harbor High clock tower is arguably ranked among the top three landmarks in the city. How did we get to the point where we allowed the clock tower, and the adjacent historic Robins Hall and Loats Auditorium, to be demolished?

Several years ago, it was determined by a state official (we think, but no one can produce his name) that the Newport Harbor High campus was not up to current earthquake codes. Since then, a major retrofit was done of Beek Hall and Dodge Hall to bring them up to code and wired for the 21st century. Robins Hall, the Loats Auditorium, the theater and the clock tower were the last buildings to be addressed. But instead of retrofitting, the decision was made to demolish and rebuild.

But several important questions remain unanswered. For starters, well-meaning as they may be, who made the decision to rebuild instead of retrofitting and what are their professional qualifications to make such a decision? And what was the decision based on?

Apparently it was based on the assumption, but not hard bids, that new construction would be less expensive than retrofitting because the school district made the decision for new construction prior to putting the job out for bid.

How can we be sure new construction will be less expensive than retrofitting? What if, when the bids come in, we discover that new construction will be twice what the retrofitting would have been and much worse, we have already demolished these historic buildings?

Let’s take the issue of safety. Everyone, including this author, wants the school structures safe. But there are lots of campuses in California that have old buildings, much older than the clock tower and Robins Hall, that still serve as classrooms. A stroll through the USC campus or Santa Barbara High School will confirm this.

Nonetheless, I can see the dilemma an engineering firm would have in saying the structures could be retrofitted, only to have them crumble should a really “big one” hit.

From a liability perspective, it is “safer” to say they need to be demolished instead of retrofitted. But we don’t even know for sure what the engineering report did say because thus far, it has not been made public.

Well, it’s a moot point now.

If there is any saving grace to this loss, it’s that the Newport-Mesa School District says they are committed to rebuilding exact scale replicas of the clock tower and the accompanying auditorium. Let’s hope they make good — 100% good — on their promise. For this reason, this last phase of construction should start with the tower and auditorium.

The Newport-Mesa School District has destroyed our most endearing, historic landmark. Let each of us hold the administration and the school board members accountable to their promise to rebuild an exact replica.