LETTERS MEMORIAL IS A GOOD PLAN FOR ATTENTION.Re ``Memorial plan angers veterans'' (April 29), describing opposition to a plan to memorialize me·mo·ri·al·ize tr.v. me·mo·ri·al·ized, me·mo·ri·al·iz·ing, me·mo·ri·al·iz·es 1. To provide a memorial for; commemorate. 2. To present a memorial to; petition. the 1928 St. Francis Dam The St. Francis Dam was a concrete gravity-arch dam, designed to create a reservoir as part of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. The dam was located 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Los Angeles, California, near the city of Santa Clarita. catastrophe in the Santa Clara River Valley The Santa Clara River Valley is a rural region of eastern Ventura County, California and northwest Los Angeles County, California that is named for the Santa Clara River which winds through the valley before emptying into the Pacific Ocean between the cities of Oxnard and Ventura. : This is a good time to fast-forward the memory of that disaster to the present. Today, the ghosts of the 450 St. Francis Dam victims have an important message to send us. Operators and owners of dams and those exposed to potential flooding from them should be acutely aware of existing hazards of dam failure in the Santa Clara River Valley. To focus national attention on the importance of dam safety, the Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the federal agency responsible for coordinating emergency planning, preparedness, risk reduction, response, and recovery. The agency works closely with state and local governments by funding emergency programs and providing technical is sponsoring the first National Dam Safety Awareness Day on May 31. An important theme is to raise the awareness of communities affected by dams and to take actions to make their communities aware of the potential hazard. Today, we who live in the downstream reaches of the Santa Clara Santa Clara, city, Cuba Santa Clara (sän`tä klä`rä), city (1994 est. pop. 217,000), capital of Villa Clara prov., central Cuba. watershed should be aware that we now have a total of 648,000 acre-feet of water - 17 times the storage capacity of the St. Francis Dam - sitting in the reservoirs of four large earthen earth·en adj. 1. Made of earth or clay: an earthen fortification; an earthen pot. 2. Earthly; worldly. dams in the seismically sensitive upper watershed of the Santa Clara River Santa Clara River may refer to:
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' National Inventory of Dams gives each of these dams a rating of H (High), indicating the potential hazard to the downstream area resulting from failure or misoperation of the dam or facilities. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, after a review of the design of Casitas Dam (built in 1959) in the Ventura River Watershed, is now doing a $42 million seismic upgrading. A memorializing of the 450 victims of the St. Francis Dam might earn the attention of the developers, political leaders and professional staffs of the cities and towns along the river who are now thoughtlessly building and planning to build thousands of homes in the flood plain. It seems that they are attracted to the mild flat slopes of the alluvium al·lu·vi·um n. pl. al·lu·vi·ums or al·lu·vi·a Sediment deposited by flowing water, as in a riverbed, flood plain, or delta. Also called alluvion. they see along the river with promises of ease of construction. - Clarence N. Freeman Fillmore Oak Park theater better in comfort Well, they did it again. Last Friday evening, we made an excellent decision. Six of us attended the Oak Park High School performance of ``Fiddler On The Roof,'' and it was magnificent. The acting, the sets, the change of scenery - for all aspects it was as though we were at the Shubert Theatre - all was top-notch. The Performance Arts Booster Club and the entire staff and cast of students who were involved in the presentation of this show are to be commended. The costumes (and accessories) were no less superb than those in the movie and live performance. So you wonder - could there be anything negative? Yes! The seats in the gymnasium were not comfortable - through no fault of anyone - which causes me to reiterate, Oak Park is in need of a performing arts center A performing arts center, often abbreviated PAC, is a multi-use performance space that can be adapted for use by various types of the performing arts, including dance, music and theatre. on campus. While the lack of such a center does not keep people from attending the fine performances, it would be so much better if we had such a facility. Let's put our heads (and money) together and get this accomplished. Through the Performing Arts Booster Club some money has been raised, and we are short about $3.5 million - any suggestions? - Eileen Kahn Oak Park |
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