Future bright for vets hall

By John McReynolds/Record Correspondent         

 “At night when the lights are lit the building can be seen from any spot on H Street, gleaming with a myriad of lights and appearing to be set out in the very middle of the street.”

Such were the lyrics from a bedazzled Record writer in 1937 about a “mammoth” addition to Lompoc - the new 20,000-square-foot Veterans Memorial and Community Center Building.

Today, 70 years later, it is difficult to see the same gleam in the bedraggled structure. But there are some who believe that, maybe, it still has the potential to recapture that earlier majesty.

The laying of the building's cornerstone in November 1936 brought the closure of Lompoc's business district and a parade to the site from H and Ocean led by the municipal band. Residents, apparently nearly all 3,000 of them, went to great lengths to make the grand opening three months later an even bigger event. The Record devoted no less than four stories on Feb. 5, 1937, to the affair taking place the next day.

Sure enough, visitors from three counties made their way to Lompoc despite the biggest rainstorm of the winter. The public got its first look inside while entertainment from a dozen singers and dancers proceeded through the afternoon. A barbecue for dignitaries followed and dancing to an 11-piece orchestra under the direction of Garwood Van, imported from the El Mirador Club in Hollywood, wrapped up the day.

The building “not only won the approval of the crowds of visitors ... but demonstrated that it is a great community asset,” editorialized Ronald M. Adam, publisher of the Record.

The new showplace was erected after five years of lobbying and arm-twisting by American Legion Post 211 and by Adam, who besides running the newspaper was Lompoc's county supervisor. The path to success encountered multiple detours and apparent dead ends. In 1931, Adam got the county to purchase six acres for the building, but the project stalled when the nation's economy went into a tailspin. Four years later, with the prospect of $14 billion in federal funds allocated to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration (WPA), local wheels began to turn once again.

In 1935, the county submitted requests to WPA for five veterans buildings in the county but WPA chief Harry Hopkins vetoed it. Local hopes sank. But Congressman Henry E. Stubbs, from Santa Maria, who swept into office in the Democratic landslide of 1932, refused to give up and in November Stubbs' office telegraphed Lompoc with good news. Hopkins had reconsidered.

Bids went out in December but they came in $20,000 too high. Hopes stuttered again. By April a new, revised bid using stucco instead of reinforced concrete was approved at $63,996 and work finally began. Construction of Lompoc Elementary School auditorium on Chestnut Street and restoration of La Purisima Mission went on at the same time.

The Vets' building held county offices in the east wing and room for veterans groups in the west wing, but the two-story 56-by-80-foot auditorium in the middle was the center of attention in the small town. The Alpha Club's flower show was the first to book space and it was followed by hundreds of wedding receptions and public and high school dances. Camp Cooke held events there.

In 1946, the Cotillion Club and the Aloha Club began to stage dances there. In 1954, the first Flower Queen, Donnie Grossi, was crowned there. The Portuguese Celebration was held there as were Christmas celebrations in the 1940s and 1950s.

But in the late '50s, other large venues began to give competition - the old USO on Walnut with its big gym came available to the public when it became City Hall after the Korean War. The gym at Lompoc High (now Lompoc Valley Middle School) was built in 1958. Churches built modern new facilities away from downtown with spacious social halls replacing dank basements.

The Vets building's decline began slowly as evenings and weekends saw fewer rentals and by the 1960s the building was showing wear. By the time the final county offices departed more than 10 years ago, the building was deserted in the daytime, a recipe for vandalism.

“The county neglected it completely,” said Kathy McCullough, of American Legion Post 125. “It's just sad. I had a mother come and look at it for her daughter's wedding reception. She took one look and said, ‘Oh, no, not for my daughter.' ”

By last year the vets had seen enough. They went to the Board of Supervisors and demanded action.

As a result, the county appropriated $100,000 for repairs. Last month, painting, sanding and refinishing the floor began. New restroom partitions have already been installed. But at the same time auditorium rent was upped to $870, which does not include security or kitchen or tables. Rentals have slowed to a trickle.

But riding to the rescue may be the city of Lompoc, which wrote to the county late last year expressing interest in taking over the building if repairs were made.

“My position for years has been, ‘You fix it. We'll take it,'” Mayor Dick DeWees said last week. “The county sees it as a white elephant. In my opinion the county has neglected the building for nigh onto 30 years.”

DeWees sees the building as part of the city's commitment to revitalizing downtown, just two blocks north. “It's a great building. It's part of Lompoc's history,” he said.

City Administrator Gary Keefe imagines the building as a conference center that could bring business to downtown.

“We'll be glad to take it. It could become an important centerpiece for community activity. It was used for dances and could still be. It could be a wonderful parks and recreation site.”

Along with the county's cosmetic repairs, an engineer is evaluating the building to determine how much of an investment would be needed to bring it back to modern standards. A report is expected by the end of April. Off-hand guesstimates range from $2 million to $5 million.

“I presume there would be a meeting after the assessment between the city and county,” said Keefe.

“It will be interesting to see what they propose,” DeWees added, with a cautionary note. “I don't see how we're going to pay for it.”

Correspondent John McReynolds can be reached at 736-6352 or johnny544@verizon.net

April 16, 2006