Court Hearing to Decide Fate of Old Bunker by Wetlands : Law: Depending on the outcome, an army of bulldozers could begin turning the structure at Bolsa Chica into rubble by week’s end.

Aged and chipped like an ancient Egyptian pyramid, the great bunker of Bolsa Chica stands as a ghostly monument to a bygone era.

To thousands of hikers and bicyclists, it is a familiar landmark. To generations of youthful graffiti artists, it is an empty canvas they have eagerly filled.

Built during World War II as part of an elaborate coastal defense system, the enormous concrete structure is seen by some as an ugly nuisance and by others as an important historical monument.

On Tuesday, an Orange County Superior Court judge will decide which view prevails. Depending on the outcome, an army of bulldozers sent by developers could begin turning the old bunker into rubble by week’s end.

“Sure it’s part of history,” says Lucy Dunn, a senior vice president for the Koll Real Estate Group, which wants to build 3,300 homes in and around the Bolsa Chica wetlands. “But there’s a point where we need to move on to create the future for our children.”

Bob Williams, a local member of the Sierra Club, which has joined with several other groups in a legal challenge to the planned demolition, takes the opposite view.

“It’s part of our heritage from World War II,” he said of the bunker, one of 104 built in the United States, 30 of which were on the West Coast. “It’s a monument to the sacrifices that the veterans made; there’s hardly any question that it’s worthy of preservation.”

The controversy has its roots in the area’s history.

Built in 1944 by the Army Corps of Engineers, the 600-by-175-foot bunker--along with a smaller one nearby that was demolished two years ago--was part of California’s coastal defenses in World War II.

The bunker, designed to hold gun emplacements at either end, protected by 16-foot-thick ceilings and six-foot-thick walls, contained huge storage areas for ammunition, as well as a latrine and sleeping quarters for its intended crew.

Before the facility could be armed and the finishing touches applied, however, the war ended. In 1970, Signal Landmark, now a subsidiary of the Koll Co., purchased the land, an 1,100-acre site including the Bolsa Chica wetlands just south of Warner Avenue along Pacific Coast Highway.

Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in the structure’s historical importance. Last year, describing it as “a significant local example of World War II . . . military construction,” the National Park Service declared the bunker eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. State officials soon followed suit, declaring it eligible for listing on the State Register of Historical Places.

“I think it’s worthy of preservation,” said Patricia Martz, an archeology professor at Cal State Los Angeles and chairwoman of the State Historical Resources Commission. “World War II is remote history to most young people today, and having something visible to look at can be important in helping them understand.”

Neither the federal nor state designation, however, prevent private owners from disposing of their property. Koll officials say they plan to build a park and homes selling for about $350,000 each on the land now occupied by the bunker.

“The bunker was never an issue,” Dunn said, adding that the company is more interested in restoring wetlands than in restoring World War II structures.

Earlier this year, a coalition of groups that is legally challenging the Koll development filed a petition in Orange County Superior Court requesting a preliminary injunction barring demolition of the bunker until the lawsuit can be settled.

In addition to its own inherent historic value, the group argues, the demolition would endanger a nearby nesting habitat for birds and a Native American burial site, where significant artifacts have been discovered.

“This isn’t brain surgery,” said Debbie Cook, a lawyer representing the group. “They’re going in there with some massive equipment, which we believe will harm the (archeological) site.”

Dunn countered that the habitat hasn’t been used in years. And the Native American burial site, she said, already has been excavated.

“It’s gone,” she said, adding that the recovered human remains and artifacts have been removed by archeologists or reburied by Native Americans.

As for the bunker itself, Dunn said, it is a “public nuisance” covered by trash and graffiti. And, though the structure has unquestionable historic value, she said, that value will be documented in a carefully produced series of videos and photographs to eventually become part of a “traveling bunker show” for area schools.

While the Huntington Beach City Council has passed resolutions urging Bolsa Chica developers to “preserve and restore historically significant structures,” the bunker is not a high priority, Mayor Victor Leipzig said.

“It’s not as significant an issue as wetlands habitat,” he said. “It’s outside the city’s legal limits. There’s nothing we can do regarding the bunker.”

Nearby residents say that, though the old concrete structure is now gated and patrolled by security guards, it has long held a special place in their hearts.

“My kids grew up playing out in those bunkers,” said Barbara Steel, who has lived in the neighborhood for 20 years. “We love that land out there and the bunkers were one of its wonderful features.”