STORIES FROM THE PAST
50 years ago
The Imperial County Economic Opportunity Council overrode Holtville Ministerial Association protests and last night approved the Holtville Methodist Church social hall for a summer youth program — with one condition.
Acting on a motion by member DuBois McGee, the council stipulated that the facilities offered by the Methodist Church were acceptable unless a more suitable site was offered by the Ministerial Association.
The approval followed lengthy discussions by council members, Holtville ministers and two unidentified Holtville school girls.
Speaking for the Ministerial Association, the president, the Rev. John D. Hicks, protested that neither he, nor the association, were opposed to the summer youth program — which would be financed by Office of Economic Opportunity funds — but to the site: he stated that the effectiveness of such a program would be killed if attached to a church group. Such association, he alleged, carries a “stigma” with the youth.
Holtville Methodist Church minister, the Rev. Allen Grosline, insisted that such “stigma” was not the case and that in the past the Methodist Church had offered its social hall facilities to Holtville youth for various functions and had received notable attendance.
40 years ago
To obtain a site with easy accessibility to and from the freeway, the land for the proposed $800,000 Yuha Desert visitors center to be built in Ocotillo was purchased from the United States Gypsum Co. of Plaster City.
The details of the land purchase were revealed today by David Mari, Bureau of Land Management area manager in El Centro.
According to Mari, U.S. Gypsum received $23,000 for the 23-acre site located northwest of the Texaco station in Ocotillo.
In addition, U.S. Gypsum obtained 160 acres of land adjacent to the company’s Plaster City facility. U.S. Gypsum purchased the property at a public sale, according to government policy. Notice of the public sale was advertised in the Holtville newspaper by the state BLM office, Mari said. No other bids were received on the Plaster City site, he elaborated.
30 years ago
Imperial County’s hopes that its multimillion dollar package of incentives will net an electronics assembly plant in the near future are pretty slim, according to a letter from General Dynamics Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Stanley C. Pace.
The letter released today by Rep. Duncan Hunter says Imperial County’s site is not high on the list of a dozen sites in contention for the factory, despite numerous reports over the past year indicating that the Valley’s multimillion dollar package of incentives was one of just two contenders left in the running.
Local officials reactions to the letter today ranged from disappointment and frustration to relief that at least something is finally on the record. Some officials said the letter at least releases the county to offer the incentives to other potential large employers.
20 years ago
To preserve the beauty and intrigue of the past without stagnating present economic activities in downtown El Centro is one of the tasks the El Centro City Council will address at its meeting Wednesday night.
One way to preserve the downtown area would be to have it designated as a historic preservation site. That route to preservation was given the thumbs down by the El Centro Chamber of Commerce several weeks ago, which warned the bureaucratic hassles necessary to renovate in such a setup would cause more economic hardship than it is worth. The City Council did not want to take action on the chamber’s recommendation until it also had the input of the local Historic Site Foundation.