More than 100 years ago the Rose Parade was started in Pasadena so developers could illustrate to people in Chicago how magnificent Pasadena weather is in January. More than 70 years ago the boosters of our city built the Rose Bowl, the largest stadium in the world when it was built, at great financial risk to garner national attention by promoting an intersectional year end football game. Why? To keep Pasadena in the headlines in the Midwest. Both of these ventures succeeded far beyond their founder’s dreams and are two of the big reasons that Pasadena today is differentiated from, and in my parochial view, far superior to other large suburban towns.
What we see now as great civic minded works of the past were in fact developers and boosters acting to further their own interests. That they furthered the future interests of the entire community while doing it was the result but not the intent of their actions. The city was an active participant in both of the above-mentioned projects as were the newspapers. The same was true again in the 1970’s when after the Parsons redevelopment project razed many of the historic buildings in what is now Old Pasadena the city funded and guided the development of what is one of the premier non-mall shopping districts in Southern California.
Today the spirit of boosterism and the willingness to embrace change that built these institutions has been replaced by a timid conservatism that disguised as preservation tries to keep everything the way it was in 1930. The balkanization of our city into neighborhood interest groups that oppose all change is causing us to lose some historic opportunities that will pay dividend far into the future.
Three examples come to mind. First: The preservationist approach to rebuilding City Hall kept us from celebrating the architecture of our times. For less money than was spent to rebuild the past we could have hired one of the world top architects and built a monument to our future. The old City Hall, which is a beautiful building, could have been preserved as a museum. That opportunity is now past.
Second: When Ambassador College shut down the city could have led the way to attract a world-class university to what was already a great site for such an institution. Educational institutions especially research institutions are creators of long-term prosperity. They are clean, non-polluting and also create jobs. The city opted instead for a conversion to mostly residential and commercial use that will create tax revenue. Opportunity lost.
Third: We now have an opportunity to rebuild the Rose Bowl and pay for it by acquiring an NFL franchise. Taking this opportunity will enhance the image of Pasadena in Southern California and the region for generations. Yes, it will cause some inconvenience to the people of West Pasadena and to golfers at Brookside on nine or ten Sundays a year. It is possible to install an underground people mover to transport people from old Pasadena to the new Rose Bowl to mitigate this effect. But as the examples cited above illustrate bold actions now are needed to create a city to be proud of in the future.
These are the reasons I support Chris Holden in his efforts to secure an NFL Franchise for the Rose Bowl.