Tag Archives: NOAA

Cold War Relic Suffers Vandalism

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Guess the lights were left off. Tear it down. COAST is butthurt that they did not get the building; they can take pictures of the “Scientific” murals for them to study.

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Repeated acts of vandalism have left the former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration building in Pacific Grove damaged, prompting community advocates to demand action for its protection.

Advocates are deeply concerned about the building’s condition, which has deteriorated under new ownership.

“It makes everybody feel so unsafe. In a community like this, it’s usually very safe. And it’s terrible when things happen to historic buildings,” Carol Young said.

The Center for Ocean, Art, Science, and Technology (COAST) is calling on the building’s owners to step up, saying the space needs to be properly maintained.

COAST also worries the mural on the building could be targeted next and say overgrown vegetation is creating more hazards around the property.

“The murals here are much more than beautiful art. They tell the science and culture of so many years of fisheries here, which were important to the basis of Pacific Grove,” a COAST member, Vicki Pearse, said.

Cold War Relic Suffers Vandalism

Seal Posse Shoots First

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Both NOAA and KSBW call out the man in the picture – who was not their man.

sea lion accused

A woman walking along Point Pinos Beach in Pacific Grove reported witnessing a man and his daughter mutilating the carcass of a dead seal back in June to KSBW 8.

Several months later, NOAA got involved and announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the man wanted for doing this.

The incident occurred at 8:40 p.m. on July 27. NOAA says the sea lion was dead before being decapitated, and its cause of death was not determined.

“We are seeking information on the person who decapitated the animal and any other details surrounding the incident,” said NOAA.

Seal Posse Shoots First

Unknown Group Wants To “Save” NOAA Building

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Read a few pages of internet search results and cannot find anything referring to COAST or Ken Parker. Suspect other motives, just like the conspiracy theory that the NOAA building was a CIA facade.

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Two years safter the federal government sold Pacific Grove’s NOAA building to a private buyer, a group that formed to oppose the sale is asking the National Park Service to create a 92-acre historical district at Point Pinos that includes the former NOAA property — and prevents the building from being used for any commercial or residential purposes.

“Designation of the complete 92-acre parcel as the Point Pinos Lighthouse Reservation Historic District would restore the original intention to preserve this unique site,” the group contends. “This historic and scenic coastal location warrants comprehensive recognition and protection.” Measuring 11,200 square feet, the NOAA building was built in 1952 as a training facility for Navy pilots and ground personnel — and to withstand a nuclear blast. It was later used as a weather station for NOAA before being transferred to the federal agency in 1995. In 2009, artist Ray Troll was commissioned to create a colorful 400-foot-long mural of sea life on the building. The effort cost taxpayers $120,000.

Unknown Group Wants To “Save” NOAA Building

Planning Commision Says No To 84 Homes At NOAA Lot

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A residence for the buyer’s mom? Of another art gallery for Steve Hauk. Would be a great location for the John Denver Memorial RV Park.

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To the outrage expressed by some locals when they learned that 84 housing units could be built at 1352 Lighthouse Ave. — where the landmark NOAA building stands — the Pacific Grove Planning Commission voted 7-0 last Thursday to  recommend that the town’s city council remove the  property from a list of sites where housing could be constructed.

. . .

“We certainly believe in low-cost housing,” Hauk said. “We just don’t think it’s a good idea for 1352 Lighthouse Ave.” Hauk is a co-founder of COAST, which stands for Center for Ocean, Arts, Science and Technology. The group insists the NOAA building deserves to be designated as historic and wants to see it repurposed as a science and  environmental center.

Planning Commision Says No To 84 Homes At NOAA Lot

84 Homes To Be Built On NOAA Property

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Wait, what happened to Tianzhu Chu and Yuncheng Huang that bought the land for a home for mama? (another fail by a Panetta, to stop the sale).

the city now suggests that 84 housing units could be built at 1352 Lighthouse Ave, where the former NOAA building stands.

The site is just a short stroll from the tidepools of Point Pinos and Asilomar State Park. The 84 units are among l, 125 units the city believes it is required to designate for development, all to accommodate the state’s mandate to address California’s housing crisis.

84 Homes To Be Built On NOAA Property

NOAA Building Becomes A Home For Mom.

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Just like the older Panetta that lost Fort Ord, the younger one fails to save government land.

last week, the Monterey Herald talked to one of the buyers, Tianzhi Chu, who told the newspaper he bought the building so his mother and real estate partner, Yuncheng Huang, could live there.

A local group, which calls itself COAST, wanted the building donated to the City of Pacific Grove and turned into a science and environmental center. According to COAST, “more than 2,500 residents, including leading oceanographers, marine biologists and other scientists,”
signed a petition urging that the property be used for  marine scientific research and education.”

Congressman Jimmy Panetta has backed that plan, and he  repeatedly called for the property to be taken off the auction
block because, he said, the federal Public Buildings Reform Board “failed to engage with local stakeholders.”

NOAA Building Becomes A Home For Mom.

Environmentalists Will Sue For NOAA Building

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Concrete & asphalt white elephant. Good place for a modern hotel or several multimillion-dollar homes.

“Our legal strategy is to work with the City of Pacific Grove, the Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation, and the California Coastal Commission to demonstrate that the Public Buildings Reform Board failed to engage with local stakeholders, as legally required, when it recommended inclusion of the NOAA property in the portfolio of ‘high value’ properties to be sold through the Federal Assets Sale Transfer Act,” the group explained. “Perhaps more importantly, the board issued a report in December 2021 explicitly stating that the Pacific Grove property does not meet its current evaluation criteria for a ‘high value’ property. “

Environmentalists Will Sue For NOAA Building

Going Once, Going Twice

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Can Jimmy do it?

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It was initially scheduled to go from January 31 to March 9. At this point, there is no longer an end date.

This gives Rep. Jimmy Panetta’s (D-Carmel Valley) and the Center for Ocean Art, Science and Technology (COAST), a volunteer group of multidisciplinary experts, more time to ensure the transfer of the building is kept in the public’s interest.

Going Once, Going Twice

Turn The NOAA Building Into Another Art Gallery?

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Got the money, do it. Just what is most useful another art gallery open 16 hours a week. Just tear it down and plant some butterfly favored fauna. Or maybe a mountain lion preserve.

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While those circumstances might suggest that the group has little chance of competing with deep-pocketed bidders, Greene pointed out that there are very few things a buyer could possibly do with the building and land due to its sensitive location, which is zoned for open space. “Because it falls in the Coastal Zone, it would be hard for anyone to come in there and do any significant development,” he said. Before trying to acquire the building and land, Greene said his group first wants to see if there’s local interest in the project.

Turn The NOAA Building Into Another Art Gallery?

Sea Lion Posse Wants Your Tax Dollars

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Animal lovers want tax money to protect seals. Liken it to feeding stray cats. Keep protecting them and the population quickly increases, outstripping the food sources and attracting more predators.

Harbormaster with the city of Monterey, Steve Scheiblauer said last spring the number jumped to about 700 and with it came a lot starving juveniles.

“At that time the animals were young and thin very emaciated looking,” Scheiblauer said.

For many it was hard to watch the animals, which can be an annoyance to many boaters and fisherman but are also endearing.

“It’s hard to witness this kind of thing, but you know I have seen a lot of it and this is nature appears to be unfolding,” said Scheiblauer about the event in 2015.

Delong said the population is seeing its first big disturbance in decades thanks to the warm blob which has been pushing food sources farther out to sea.

Sea Lion Posse Wants Your Tax Dollars