A makeover worth saluting

By REBECCA TUREK NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT

After 75 years, the grand old flagpole outside the Santa Barbara County Courthouse is getting a face-lift.

The month long project starts Tuesday and will include a new sandstone base, painting, flag rigging and weather vane restoration. According to County Architect Robert Ooley, the double-masted flagpole has more history behind it than the courthouse itself.

Originally, the bottom half of the flagpole was the mast of the warship USS Congress. In 1846, Commodore Robert F. Stockton removed the mast and erected it in Santa Barbara to fly an American flag.

In the late 1800s the flagpole was moved to the Potter Hotel, which was then located at the site of today's Ambassador Park near the waterfront. After the hotel burned down in 1921, the area surrounding the flagpole fell into disrepair, Mr. Ooley said.

"The local citizens rallied to get the pole moved to the courthouse," he said. "The courthouse was built in 1872, and in the early 1920s it was going through a restoration. The flagpole was a way to celebrate their newly remodeled courthouse."

Outside the refurbished courthouse, the bottom half of the flagpole was connected to the top half, which came from a Spanish sailing ship. The two 35-foot halves were joined with a crow's nest, a nautical term for a lookout at the top of a ship's mast.

The flagpole was placed at the corner of Anacapa and Figueroa until the new courthouse was built in 1928. Then it was moved to the corner of Anapamu and Santa Barbara streets, where it's stood for the past 75 years. Jill Van Wie, capital projects coordinator for the county architect, said there is a great amount of rotting around the base of the flagpole that will be removed, shortening the pole by 6 feet.

"We were afraid it wouldn't make it through a strong wind," Ms. Van Wie said.

The project will also include remounting the 3-foot-wide golden eagle that was removed from the top of the pole 20 years ago because of rot. Finally, the flagpole will be moved 10 feet closer to Anapamu Street to give it better visibility, Ms. Van Wie said.

The $15,000 restoration is a collaborative volunteer effort by several local businesses and organizations including Specialty Crane, Santa Barbara Contractors Association, Channel Coast Corp., Ehlen Speiss & Haight, Santa Barbara Industrial Finishing, County Facility Wood Shop and the Santa Barbara Conservancy.

Area residents can help repaint the pole white.

"We want to invite people in the community to come, grab a paintbrush and join in. It's really their flagpole," Mr. Ooley said. "The flagpole rarely gets noticed; most people just walk by and assume it's a tree. This is going to give the flagpole the love it deserves."

Those who want to help paint can call 560-1079.

MIKE ELIASON / NEWS-PRESS

A golden eagle removed from the top of the courthouse flagpole 20 years ago because of rot will be remounted during the restoration. The top half of the pole is from a Spanish sailing ship.