On the surface this sounds like a silly question. No one is proposing tearing down Independence
Hall, the Old North Church, the California Missions or Casa Grande. Where I live in the Mother Lode, everyone
would be appalled if historic Jackson or Sutter Creek were threatened. Nationally, there has been recent vandalism of
statues of those judged politically incorrect by some. And, of course, the
historic preservation movement has its lunatic fringe. But that’s human nature
and says nothing substantive about historic preservation.
This article is not about political vandalism or the
antics of fringe folks. But it is about soliciting opinion on an issue that has
troubled me for years. Several decades
ago, I was a consultant to the [then] Santa Monica Mountains Comprehensive
Planning Commission. Governor Ronald Reagan approved the sale of the 20th Century Fox property, turning it into Malibu Creek State Park. This was to be
the genesis of the much larger Santa Monica National Recreation Area which is
now a national park service facility. While my consulting was limited to public
transit, I did observe the facility’s evolution and have been troubled ever
since.
It was decided to preserve remnants of Native American
villages without, to my knowledge, any opposition. But the remains of movie
sets, including a Chinese village from Steve McQueen’s The Sand Pebbles were destroyed. Certainly some would argue that these were
temporary structures prone to quick decay. That danger is real, but how is this different from many other protected
ruins? And perhaps the studio didn’t want us to see how they fake things. But I
believe that movie making is part of our heritage just like Native American
settlements and that the movie sets should have also been preserved. What do
others think?
Endnote: The park’s website states under Historic
Archeological Materials that their museum includes “…historic archeological
material from historic sites related to ranching, homesteading, agriculture,
space technology, filming and recreation.”
To what extent and with what commentary the movie sets are documented I
have no idea.
Copyright 2019, Mark L. Bennett
