Landmark Could Improve Survival Chances by Adapting to Changing Times
No sooner did I mention the comeback of Chicken Boy, onetime rooftop decoration at a local eatery, than the L.A. Business Journal reported that another giant, Golf Man, could be homeless.
Golf Man, a 22-foot-tall fiberglass hacker at the Dominguez Golf Course (see photo), is a familiar sight along the San Diego Freeway in Carson.
But the newspaper says that the owners want to turn the course into a “retail and entertainment complex.” Of course, the project is still in the “conceptual stage,” meaning Golf Man could be in place for another 50 or 100 years.
And who knows? Maybe he could exchange his club for a sandwich board and be retained (and retrained) for an entertainment complex.
In the meantime, Golf Man’s ambiguous smile never wavers. Is the big guy mocking motorists chugging along the dreaded 405 or sympathizing with them? I can’t make up my mind.
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Something to get all puffed up about: L.A. has the honor of being the first U.S. city to display the Inflatable Church, the creation of an Englishman named Michael Gill (see photo).
The blow-up edifice (capacity 60 people) will be unveiled next Monday at the New Hope Chapel in the Los Feliz area to accommodate overflow crowds.
Nearly 50 feet high when inflated, it includes such blow-up accessories as organ, altar, pulpit, pews and “stained glass” windows.
Designer Gill said that, in England, children have taken to the Inflatable Church despite its one shortcoming. Explained Gill: “You cannot bounce on it.”
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LAX II won’t do: L.A. Mayor James K. Hahn caused a furor in Orange County with his proposal to convert the old El Toro Marine Base into a commercial airport operated by the City of low-flying Angels.
Hahn’s mistake was that he forgot he’s in Southern California, land of glitz. He needed to suggest a colorful name for the destination -- and one that Orange Countians would like.
Something that would turn the place into a sidekick for John Wayne Airport: perhaps Walter Brennan Airport or Andy Devine Airport.
Or turn it into a co-star. Maybe Hahn could redirect Supervisor Mike Antonovich’s proposal of a few years ago to rename LAX after Jimmy Stewart.
Column readers have also offered various concepts:
* A Disney theme (Dumbo International Airport)
* A corporate theme (El Torito Airport)
* And, finally, an anti-L.A. theme (Orange You Glad This Isn’t LAX Airport).
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miscelLAny: Jack Rooney of San Diego found an odd juxtaposition (see photo) of sign and facility -- the type of facility where Hahn’s proposal may wind up, by the way.
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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.
