“Avenue of Heroes”

“Oceanside the Beautiful, Home of the Brave”

Our many Cultural Communities and Their Arts are the Beautiful,

 Our American Military Services and First Responders are the Brave.

The physical location of the City of Oceanside is incredibly beautiful. As you enter the City going west on Mission Ave, you see before You the blue Pacific and Palm trees lining the vistas shining with incredible beautiful light. This is the first almost surreal impression of our City. It is literally out of the Movies. I mention Top Gun.

The First Visual Impression is one of Grander and Beauty. The first Visceral Impression is felt almost instantly is the vitality and energy of our People. Young, engaged, outward bound and constantly in motion, they typify our City’s population which is young in demographics, and young in their questing of a new life style. They are risk takers. Daring to set up shop in a City with an image of being a Military Town, these newcomers are making a change unlike anything we have seen before. Artists, Crafts makers, Micro Brewers, Clothing Designers, Theatre Venues with performers of professional stature, Authors, Poets,  and Composers.

They Are The Beautiful.

Another First Impression is one of the Visual Impact of so our very young Military Service members. They walk our streets and avenues with a step of vibrant confidence and new found strength of Purpose. Many come from other states, and yes, other lands. They have a spark in their eyes of knowing, engaged in the responsibilities of their Nation’s Missions.    

Meeting them they will look you in the Eye, and when we say “Thank You” they acknowledge with a quiet dignity.

Many of these young people stay in Oceanside and become first responders for they have found a place in the Sun that welcomes and honors them. They Are Our Brave.

Oceanside is home to many cultural groups from America and abroad.

Our many Cultural Communities include; White, Black or African American

American Indian, and Alaska Native, Asian: Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino Japanese,

Korean, Vietnamese, Native Hawaiian , Guamanian ,Samoan, Hispanic

They bring their Cultural Art forms to Oceanside. They are our Beautiful.

In Oceanside the Brave serve in many different capacities. They rescue on a daily biases our Senior Citizens with dire concerns. They visit our Schools and teach our Children the basic skills of CPR and Traffic Safety. They inspire our Teens to become protectors of their neighborhoods, and they keep us honest in our daily traffic commutes. They rescue our Pets, help old folks across the streets, and help with rescues on our Beaches. They Are Our Brave.

I sing this song for I have lived in many different social economic and cultural Cities and Towns. From the City of Newport Beach on Lido Isle, to Boston, to Eureka Ca, Encinitas,  Scobey Montana, and Whittier. From all of these many places I have gathered the important impressions of “what” makes me a Citizen of a Place. I have found this Place two times in my Life, Oceanside in the 90’s when it first became a vision for the Arts, and now in the New Century of exploring the implementation of the Arts, bringing a new vision of possibilities.  This is of belonging. Oceanside is the most Welcoming of Cities, it has become my City, and if you come, it could be Your City of finding your purpose of what makes a Home.

Lower left hand insert shows the present image of the Amphitheater on the Strand. 

Waterfront Restaurant

The Amphitheater is occupying a space on the Beach located in the Heart of our Tourist Visitor and Community Center. It is used on a special event basis and does not generate a daily economic benefit to our City.

With one of the most beautiful Beaches in Southern California and blessed with a view of the Pier, we have a dream location for an upscale Restaurant. The crashing waves at night lighted and the sunset evenings would create an atmosphere for a World Class dining experience. The lights on the Pier at night would be a romantic prelude to walking the Pier after dinner.

The Commercial District of our down is rapidly developing with Hotels and casual dining spots. The Arts and Theater District is within walking distance from the Pier. The support for upscale dinning is inherent with the coming of more Hotels. The parking for additional use on the beach boardwalk could be addressed with multi street level structures located presently on the Strrumman F-14and. The top level roof top should be considered a Green Area and maintained as a scenic walking space enhancing the sidewalk already in place.

     The  image above shows vision of a multi-story parking lot with a walking tour of the Jet from Top Gun

F - 14 Tom Cat. Insert at top, The Top Gun House as it is today.

                                  A SKY FULL OF DREAMS

The Honor Project will encompass three elements which will integrate with each other to become

an International Destination. A Third component “The Valor Center” will be the last piece of the Project and will be a Center for our Service Community with an Arts/Educational/Technology framework.

The first two, Avenue of Heroes and Walking Tour of Heroes will be introduced and be embarked upon in concert. These two elements will be independent in timing from the Valor Center.

The Jet F-16

Last week at a budget workshop, our Mayor Jim Wood suggested that for a tourist attraction he would like to see a submarine located in the Harbor. This validates my visioning the prospect of having the Top Gun House restored to its former condition, and presented to our visiting public as a Mini Museum project honoring our Service Men and Women. Hollywood has given Oceanside the lasting legacy of the world audience’s continuing attention to this film, Top Gun. We should take full advantage of this gift and even provide an additional attraction. The Jet!

In the Arizona’s Desert, there are fields of Jets just eroding in the desert sun. The Jet could be located just below the top of the view and above the parking lot below on the strand. The pedestal would have access to visitors during predetermined hours. Children and adults alike would have the thrill of sitting in the F – 16 and “fly” into the imagined sky of dreams. Many years ago, I had the privilege of sitting in a full sized mock up of the Space Shuttle. My Client of Rockwell International, Dr. Richard Edwards*, let me sit in the Captain’s chair and for a few precious moments I was in space. I did wish I was a kid again, but alas, I was a sculptor and past that imagined possibility. 

The Honor Project if fully realized will give our City of Oceanside a world wide audience of film buffs, History students, and finally a lasting honor to our Service Men and Women.  

 

Recreate “The Memories”, and They will Come!

The Movie “Field of Dreams” brings 50,000 visitors each year to the field that Hollywood built.

The field straddles the property of two farmers: Al Ameskamp who owns left and center field and Don Lansing (who owns the infield, bleachers, house, and most everything else). This split tourist attraction has two access roads running parallel a few feet apart, and two gift shops selling virtually identical stuff.

Hollywood didn't plan very well; the result is more a schizophrenic episode than a dream -- at least after 6 PM. That's when the Lansing-owned infield and right field closes in the summer; Ameskamp's left and center field stays open until sunset. Which explains why cars are crowded on only one of the narrow dirt roads during our end-of-day visit, and why kids and dads are banished to the left and center fields…

Oceanside has the benefit of being a transit hub. No going through the land of nowhere, and driving on dusty roads. We have here in short…a

“Sky full of Dreams…”

* http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sbsun/obituary.aspx?n=richard-p-edwards-dick&pid=128285351

  







More visions from the Ruth Jameson exhibition can be seen at the Oceanside Museum of Art in Downtown Oceanside.