Newport Harbor High School - Bell Tower Tour - Construction
Splash | Preface | First Floor | Second Floor | Theater | Tower | Basement | Construction
Click on images and links for a bigger view.
 "The Tower")
Post-Graduation
After graduating on June 18th, 2004, I stook around in Orange County for the next few years while I was in college. Having to go row at 6:30am, 6 days a week, with Coast Crew, I would pass by the corner of Irvine Avenue and 15th Street. There that tower stood. I could see it when I'd come back on Cliff Drive, even in the morning passing 17th Street on the way there. It was definitely an iconic figure for not just the school, but the city as well. Newport Beach, now past its 100-year anniversary, has very few figures dating back to its roots, such as the Pavilion on the Balboa Peninsula. The bell tower definitely served as an icon for so many years, and it will continue to do so. As time went on, you no longer heard a chime on the hour and then the hands on the clock stopped moving. It was clear depiction that something was going to happen.
Vandalism & Break-ins
Sadly, for the 4 years that the building was closed, numerous attempts of breaking in and vandalizing the place occurred. Just looking around the building you could see windows and doors boarded up that were torn off. Looking through windows you could see broken glass and leftover items that didn't go into storage thrown all over the place. Robins Hall had many valuable and historical pieces that were either stolen or thrashed. I have in no doubt that some tried to get into the tower to sign their names and who knows what. One notable insident was dated on January 4th, 2007, by the Daily Pilot. Over $50,000 worth of lighting and sound equipment was stolen from Loats Theater. The district's reaction to this was pretty disappointing to me. "The theater was going to be replaced anyways." Come on, the equipment wasn't that old! I guess everyone's attitude was to let the place get ripped apart anyways since it was going to be replaced.
Demolition: August 9, 2007
During the Summer of 2007, signs that things were beginning to be town apart started with the removal of the adobe brick rooftop around the entire building. At 8:00am on August 9th, about a group of 3 dozen people stood around 15th street to watch the claw of the McCarthy demolition crew make the first strike. Ironically, the first room to go down was Schutz's. I could easily agree with many that "I used to have a class right there," indeed.
The Day of Reckoning: August 30, 2007
At approximately 8:28am on August 30th, 2007, the final strike of the wrecking ball hit the southwest corner of the tower. Over 400 people showed up just through word-of-mouth that morning to watch 77 years of history come to a close. Most were saddened by the event. Personally, I am happy to see that things are moving forward and am happy about the future of the school and what is to come with the replica of the building.
To be Politically Correct...
Running up to these events, I have to say the community was very divided when it came to supporting the Robins/Loats Reconstruction Project. The Measure F bond measure barely passed back in 2005 by the voters of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. Robins/Loats was the project on the top of the list. Unfortunately, many people felt that it was tax money being thrown out the door because it was benefiting certain schools and not throughout the district. "Why does Newport Habor get to look all spiffy with their campus and we get to look like a boot camp?" This is our world and I guess life's never fair. It's even more harder for people to understand what it's like to loose an icon, especially not being part of it for so many years. Here's what I think is a good solution. Get involved with what you do or support, whether it's where you live, work, go to school, wherever, and support it. It doesn't have to be monetarily. The crowd of people that showed up to see that last strike to the tower definitely tells us that there are people that support these efforts and the roots of their past. Make something happen. If you don't get involved, you have no right to complain.
Some other comments that went around was how bad of a decision it was to have the tower town down. It's important to understand that no matter how much it was dearly loved, we could not keep it. It could have surely passed to be preserved as a California historical monument, but here's the catch. It sits on a public school and the higher priority is to protect the people that occupy the building. Sure, it probably would have remained up for many more years and we could have simply renovated the building. It withstood so much over the years as it was. But to retrofit the place would have made the building look very ugly, make some areas dysfunctional, and probably still not safe. It exceeded the benchmark for a retrofit anyways since the building was not made of a steel frame, except for parts of the theater as we are finding out. Because Robins was built right before the adoption of the 1933 Field Act, such reinforcement wasn't regarded and emotion to keep the budget small was followed. I commend and support the new members of the Board of Education for their efforts during this movement.
I try to remain fairly moderate when it comes to politics. Your comments are greatly appreciated. Feel free to contact me on these matters.
Moving Onward...
At this day in time, I'm very excited to see the building being replicated for the future of the school and I can't wait to come see it for the first time. I follow a quote that was said by Principal, Michael Vossen. "It's important to realize that you will always continue to represent this school and its heritage, no matter who you become or where you live." It's strange going by there and not seeing that tall structure dominate the neighborhood anymore. May the next tower become the home to many more elite and adventurous students. Never forget your roots.
 "New Quad")
More to come as history unfolds!
All content on this page is Copyright 2003-2007, Brandin Grams, other than content obtained by the Newport Mesa Unified School District and Newport Harbor High School. Videos Copyright 2007, Daily Pilot/LATimes.