Historical homes in Oxnard meet a fiery grave this week
By Michael Sullivan 02/26/2009
Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León spent a lifetime in search of the Fountain of Youth. Indiana Jones drank from the cup that would give him everlasting life. And men and women spend trillions of dollars every year to keep their bodies, faces and skin looking youthful and vibrant.
Unfortunately, the quest for eternal life falls short for inanimate objects — the Petit historical homes on the corner of Rose Avenue and Channel Islands Boulevard in Oxnard will be destroyed sometime this spring.
One of the two former Petit family residences succumbed to a fiery grave last weekend. The buildings are being removed from the College Park area to make way for a 75-acre sports park. After several years in search of such a donor with the time and money to move the century-old buildings, the second home will be set ablaze
this weekend.
“The facts that we have to deal with are that they have to be moved off the property and to find a new home for them,” said Oxnard Mayor Tom Holden. “Two aspects: Would they make the trip and be able to rehab them? It would be a very difficult, if not impossible, task. But we have offered the homes to anyone who would like them.”
Holden, who lives in a historic home in the Henry T. Oxnard Heritage district, is a firm believer in preservation, but after several failed attempts with a handful of donors, the only option is annihilation.
Even though the sports park will undoubtedly benefit the community, Stephen Schafer of the San Buenaventura Conservancy firmly believes in preservation and that the buildings could have been restored and left on site by planning the park around them.
“There is a lot of developable land in Oxnard, and on this particular park project, the city of Oxnard just doesn’t want to deal with it,” Schafer said. “People usually take about a decade to rethink it.”
Schafer said something similar happened in Ventura when building the sports park off Kimball Road. Numerous historical homes were destroyed in order to construct the park. Only now have people started to rethink the decision to eliminate such important tangible pieces of history.
Schafer also said that because Oxnard does not have a historical conservancy, such homes don’t have anyone going to bat for them before the City Council.
“If you don’t have anybody standing up for the resource, it goes away,” Schafer said.
Preserving building is also a green endeavor, whereas setting homes ablaze releases a number of toxins into the air from water sealants to lead paints, Schafer added.
Although these two pieces of history will not make it through the year, another Petit home was moved and rehabbed in Oxnard’s historical district several years ago.
FAST FACTS — History of the Petit homes
• The homes have passed through three generations of Petit farmers since 1883
• The County of Ventura purchased the homes from the Petits in 1981
• The City of Oxnard purchased the homes from the County in 2000
• The City of Oxnard planned a 75-acre sports park on the land of the former Petit farms in 2005
• The City of Oxnard conducted a controlled fire to destroy the homes and have them removed this year
• One Petit home was removed and relocated to the historical district, Henry T. Oxnard — now the Petit Playhouse
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Comments
Mayor claims they did everything they could to save these historic farmhouses.... OH, REALLY - Were signs posted on site advertising the homes as free or for $1.00 to anyone willing to move them ? Was there a link on city website or any advertising or any mention at City Council meetings by Mr. Holden or City Manager Mr. Sotelo or any council members. NOPE not that I ever saw.
Being for preservation means more than living in a historic house, Mr. Mayor.
The council forced the women's shelter out claiming they were going to build farm museums with the County Museum and thus this was a "higher use" for the old structures ANOTHER LIE... ?
Title should read OXNARD LIED TO CITIZENS AGAIN these are the same houses the city council said Houses to be used as museums for farm living in order to get Rainbow colation moved out using city funds check Star and Ventura news records, along with park improvements shows you get what you vote for.