City to move last two Seacliff murals

March 23, 2000 12 AM PT

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Despite complaints from a council member about the

cost, the City Council agreed this week to spend $51,700 to move the last

remaining murals from the Seacliff Village shopping center.

The money, approved by a 5-2 vote, will pay for transferring the ceramic

tile art pieces to City Hall after removing them from a wall near the

entrance to Albertsons market by Yorktown Avenue and Goldenwest Street.

The grocery store is slated for demolition by the end of April as part of

the center’s ongoing renovation. Mayor Dave Garofalo and Councilman Dave

Sullivan objected.

The city hoped private donations would cover the expense of moving the

two remaining murals. Private benefactors paid the $260,000 cost to move

nine murals, which are now mounted on the civic center office buildings.

But no one stepped up as the deadline approached for leveling the market,

Councilwoman Shirley Dettloff said.

“We simply ran out of time,” she said.

Using taxpayer dollars for the relocation makes sense because the

25-foot-long, 4-foot-wide murals depicting local sea birds will be

mounted on public buildings to benefit the entire community, said

resident Margaret Carlsberg, who spoke at Monday’s meeting.

“The murals are absolutely spectacular,” she said. “They are certainly

great cultural assets for the city of Huntington Beach for decades and,

we would hope, centuries.”

feature brightly colored earth tones with birds in the foreground. As you

look up at the murals, the birds appear to fly farther into the distance.

The only other work created by Beall that’s similar to this collection --

estimated at a value of more than $2 million -- is on display in Maui,

officials have said.

Although beautiful and precious, the murals do not justify the public

expense because the city is always complaining about the need for more

money, Mayor Dave Garofalo said.

“I do not personally think it’s a good use of public funds,” he said.