Community Members Speak Up to Save Murals at Santa Barbara’s Ortega Park
After hearing from artists, activists and others, the city s Historic Landmarks Commission votes to indefinitely continue the proposal
A mural titled “Campesinos” is one of several murals at Ortega Park in Santa Barbara that are at the center of a debate over how and whether to preserve them during a planned renovation of the park. (Courtesy photo) By Joshua Molina, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @JECMolina
February 3, 2021
| 10:13 p.m.
The city s Parks & Recreation Department has resisted requests to preserve the murals. Instead, it commissioned a report that suggested that seven of the murals could be re-created at the park.
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Lacking the modern equipment available today, the effort required a tremendous amount of paid physical labor and planning, as the construction had to take place seasonally adobe bricks could not be left out in the rain, as they would have melted to mud.
Over the course of describing the reconstruction of the fort, in several installments, I hope to convey to the reader just what it takes to make and lay the bricks and gather the other materials required for fenestration and the roof structure.
The task was formidable, and Goicoechea was able to carry it out effectively with a cooperative labor force that included a mix of soldiers and local Chumash Indians. I came across only one hostile incident in the records, when a soldier disobeyed a Goicoechea order, was pulled down from a wall, arrested and sentenced to jail time.