The Historic “Digester,” Laguna Beach
Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach (1936)
UPDATE FEBRUARY 2020
On February 25, Laguna Beach City Council voted unanimously to direct $930,000.00 to restore the exterior of the Digester following the offer of a $200,000.00 donation made by residents, Barbara and Greg MacGillivray. For more detail, click here.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In 2014, historian and Laguna Beach resident, Barbara Metzger, submitted a report to the City of Laguna Beach explaining the origins and significance of what’s known locally as the “digester” building. She wrote:
“The sewage treatment plant on Laguna Canyon Road, of which the digester building is a remnant, was part of the city’s first improvement district: a comprehensive sewer system that would protect the beaches from contamination and that included, in addition to the plant, a main sewer line from Sleepy Hollow south to the city limits with branch lines and pumping stations at seven locations including Cleo Street and Nyes Place and an outfall 400 feet into the ocean parallel to the old one at the end of Jasmine Street. The decision to construct the system was the culmination of what the Los Angeles Times at the time described as a three-year battle, with the City Council split 3–2 and a city engineer dismissed and later rehired in the process.”
The city eventually applied for New Deal money from the Public Works Administration and “On January 4, 1934, a combined grant and loan of $190,000 (split $39,000 and $151,000) was approved by the PWA.” (Metzger, 2014) The labor to build the facility was provided by unemployed, local residents.
“The sewage treatment plant operated until 1983, when Laguna Beach sewage began to be piped to the treatment plant in Aliso Canyon. The plant stood idle until 1989, when, despite its being on the city’s recently established historic register, most of it was demolished at a cost of about $160,000. Public input at a council meeting on September 19, 1989, led the council to preserve the tower and the attached office, along with the vent pipe on the hillside above it.” (Metzger, 2014)
Last fall, on September 24, 2019, the Laguna Beach City Council voted 3-2 to begin environmental documentation to demolish the digester structure and replace it with parking. Council said it would also explore building a new restroom in the vicinity. The City estimates a total cost of $1.36 million to demolish the building [$360,000] and build a new public restroom [$ 1 million]. The cost to completely restore the structure, with new public restrooms included, has been estimated by the City to be $1.8 million. Local advocates in favor of restoration therefore conclude that to restore the building for potential public use such as a Visitors Center, gallery, etc. could cost the City as little as $440,000, which could be offset by rental fees and leases that would be permanent and on-going.
Since the City’s decision last September, members of the public and groups such as Village Laguna have worked to raise awareness about the threat to the building. Some have recommended to the City that it pursue a public-private arrangement so that a portion of the building’s renovation is covered in a lease agreement, pointing out that the City would avoid the potential $1.36 million upfront costs for demolition, and construction of new restrooms. Such public-private partnerships are common in other cities, such as the leasing of restaurants on public piers.
Public sentiment in favor of rehabilitating and reusing the historic digester seems strong. Since the Council’s decision to pursue an environmental review, residents throughout Laguna Beach and Orange County have made their voices heard, and watchdog groups such as Living New Deal (based at UC Berkeley) have expressed strong opposition to the structure’s demolition. The Living New Deal builds awareness about the significance of the era to our built environment and cultural heritage. In the 1930s and early 1940s, in response to the Great Depression, federal government agencies funded public art and architecture projects throughout the US, including several in Orange County.
A current photograph of the “Digester” Building on Laguna Canyon Road. The venting structure built at the same time on the hill above was designed to look like a lighthouse.
In February 1934 the contract to build the sewage treatment facility was awarded. According to historian, Barbara Metzger, “The South Coast News printed a rendering of the building as it would appear when completed that reportedly “caused several people who did not like the idea of a plant of this nature being erected in Laguna Canyon to change their ideas.” The headline read “NEW LAGUNA SEWAGE TREATMENT IS ATTRACTIVE IN DESIGN.” “
Interior of the Laguna Beach sewage treatment facility, opened in 1935
The sewage treatment facility with digester tower, right. The tower is the only original structure remaining on the site. The Tudor Revival style of the tower is complemented by elements and materials of the Spanish Colonial Revival such as clay tile on the roof and dark-stained wooden balcony with …Photograph from
In his book, The New Deal in Orange County California, published in 2014, Charles Epting records what he believes were most of the New Deal projects in the county. He says that “dozens of schools, city halls, post offices, parks, libraries and fire stations…” were built and “nearly every single community in Orange County was profoundly impacted by the New Deal.” (Epting, 16) Epting describes the infrastructure projects undertaken at the time in Seal Beach, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach, but says that the Laguna Beach digester is special, “from an architectural and historical standpoint.” (Epting 122)
The New Deal in Orange County California, The History Press, 2014. The author lists the New Deal landmarks in Orange County in the appendix to his book. In addition to the digester building, buildings from the era in Laguna Beach that are still standing include the elementary school (now used for the entrance to the municipal pool), the high school gym and the post office (now a shop).