Medical center is saved

Costa Mesa architect John Linnert would often marvel at the clean lines and airy feel of the Mariners Medical Arts center when he would take his children to orthodontist appointments at the Newport Beach office building on Westcliff Drive.

The white, mid-20th century cluster of doctor and dental offices on a bustling street next to a small shopping center features an atrium and exterior stone walls.

Richard Neutra, one of the most important architects of the 20th century, designed the center that was completed in 1963, Linnert said. Neutra once graced the cover of Time magazine and designed a number of architecturally important buildings in Southern California over the course of his career. He died in 1970.

“His style of architecture dealt with the way all buildings relate to the nature of the human soul,” Linnert said. “It’s quite phenomenal. That is why it’s definitely not only a building of local or state or national significance, but one of international importance.”

One day last year, the receptionist at the orthodontist told Linnert’s wife the building was slated to be bulldozed. When Linnert went to Newport Beach City Hall to look at the plans, he was dismayed to learn that a developer wanted to put a new office building there.

“They were ultimately going to build a monster two-story glass office building and Richard Neutra — gone,” Linnert said.

Linnert, a few other architects and residents eventually convinced Newport Beach city officials to halt demolition plans long enough to do a study of the historical significance of the Neutra site. The newly released report calls Mariners Medical Arts center a “historical resource” and city officials announced this week plans to preserve the building.

“Linnert has got to be given a lot of credit for trying to change this — it’s like David and Goliath,” said Dion Neutra, Richard Neutra’s son. “He sent up a red flag.”

Dion Neutra has made it his part-time job to preserve his father’s architectural legacy. He’s fought several battles over the years to save Richard Neutra’s buildings from bulldozers. Also an architect, Dion Neutra has offered his services to restore Mariners Medical Arts, but has yet to hear back from the building’s owner, he said.

Another Neutra-designed medical center in Orange was demolished years ago, but Dion Neutra didn’t find out until he saw a photograph of the building in an architecture exhibit with a note that said the building no longer existed, he said.

“Maybe nobody was around to do or say anything about it,” Dion Neutra said. “They never considered it might have some value. Sometimes things slip by, and nobody is on the alert for it. You find out later, and then people get upset.”

A representative for Mariners Medical Arts center property owner Westcliff Investors could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].