A Leisure World committee recently recommended remodeling the front entrance of Seal Beach’s largest gated community, including some possible changes to the iconic globe that stands outside the retirement community.
The globe is apparently staying, but might be altered. If last week’s plan is approved by the Golden Rain Foundation Board of Directors, the front entrance would be changed to resemble an oasis and the continents might be removed from the familiar rotating globe of the world.
However, the proposed changes could change as quickly as they came. The committee that recommended changes to the globe was scheduled to meet again Tuesday, May 7, to further discuss the subject. Details of this week’s meeting were not available at press time.
Supporters of the change argue it will improve property values. Opponents question its necessity.
The Golden Rain Foundation board will ultimately make the decision.
The Physical Property Committee voted to recommend the proposal on Wednesday, May 1, according to Dave Lyon, a Leisure World resident who monitors and sometimes criticizes the Golden Rain Foundation, the non-profit entity that runs the retirement community.
However, Mutual Three resident Shirley Reimers, a Foundation board member as well as a committee member, said the recommendation to change the globe was actually made by an ad hoc beautification subcommittee of the Physical Property Committee.
Mutual 2 resident Anne Seifert, a member of a subcommittee, said the committee voted on funding for the project.
The Foundation Board will have the final say in the matter.
Lyon reported that the iconic globe might be dismantled. That does not appear to be the case at this time. The Physical Property Committee didn’t discuss dismantling the globe, but Lyon said that the beautification subcommittee did discuss it.
Physical Property Committee Chair Mario Michaelides, a resident of Mutual Three, said the globe is staying. “The globe is not going anywhere,” he said.
Reimers said they talked about possibly reconfiguring the front entrance of Leisure World, located at Golden Rain Road and Seal Beach Boulevard, and possibly removing the continents from the globe.
According to Lyon, Reimers was the only committee member who voted against the proposed front entrance. Lyon reported that the remake of the front entrance would cost $200,000. That figure apparently includes the entire front entrance and is not limited to work on the globe.
“I really don’t feel it needs to be done,” Reimers said.
She said “a lot of people with too much else to do” have thought about making changes in Leisure World.
She also said she doubted the board would approve because of the expense.
Seifert said some residents are very attached to the globe, while others consider it an eyesore. Seifert, a Leisure World resident who has advocated changing the retirement community’s name, said the Leisure World globe was modeled after the “unisphere” of the 1954 World’s Fair in New York. She said the designer had worked for Walt Disney, which she found interesting because “a lot of people think it looks lie the entry to an amusement park.”
Seifert said there was a lot of misinformation about the value of what she called a copy.
Seifert said it would cost $10,000 to completely remove the globe.
According to Seifert, the landmark would not be destroyed. Instead, the globe will be part of an “oasis.” She said the Physical Property Committee decided to work with the globe to make it more aesthetically appealing.
Physical Property Committee Chair Michaelides said the committee, based in part on the architect’s recommendation, was looking to landscape the main gate area, adding a waterfall and palm trees.
He said some people were upset because they heard that the globe was coming out. However, he said the committee recommended that the globe be remodeled or refurbished.
The continents that adorn the globe of the earth would be removed. Michaelides said the globe would be remodeled because it would have a new look and the committee thinks it would look better with a new landscape.
Also, Michaelides said Leisure World property values would increase by landscaping the front entrance.
He also pointed out that the meeting scheduled for Tuesday, May 7, could result in further changes to the proposed remake of Leisure World front entrance.
