Bunker Graffiti and Bolsa Chica : Chica Project

* Before the demolition of one of Orange County’s most historical sites, shouldn’t the public get to view them?

The 50-year-old bunkers, located in Huntington Beach at Warner and Pacific Coast Highway have been buried for over half a century and now they are being destroyed so the land can be used for development.

Many people are fascinated with these enormous sites that contain jail cells, overhead tunnels, underground tunnels, generator rooms, shower rooms and more.

This graffiti is from the teens of the ‘90s! And it all has some meaning. The demolition of these bunkers should be stopped until the public has a chance to view them. What can the public hurt now? They are going to be destroyed anyway.

DANNY NORMANDIN

Huntington Beach

* Odd that graffiti taking place in an unused war relic is referred to in terms like “archeological treasure,” “social preoccupation” and even called “art.”

The same kind of artwork was produced in abundance just a couple of miles down the road, on the beach, in full view, and you didn’t have to break the law to get in. The colorful retaining walls of Huntington Beach (north of the pier) were part of a popular program closed earlier this year for doing exactly what went on in the hidden bunker.

In closing down the Walls on the beach, uptight locals cited what they considered an “undesirable element” coming down to “their” beach. But I bet it was this same “element” that found their way into the war/art bunker, transforming it into a real space of social and archeological significance.

Someone should direct Nancy Whitney-Desautels south to the Walls, where she can discover a whole new set of hieroglyphics. Then maybe some people in Huntington Beach will wake up and realize just how important the work was, or is, because it’s still there.

RANDY PESQUEIRA

Costa Mesa