I had the pleasure of documenting Ojai's original Libbey Bowl in the Historic American Buildings Survey style a few weeks before its demolition in Summer 2010.
The HABS-like archival prints were donated to the Ojai Museum and will serve as a reminder of the design and architecture of the first bowl in Libbey Park. These final images capture a Nordhoff High School concert in the bowl, and details of the sun-dappled outdoor venue which was built between 1954 and 1957.
The original bowl was conceived, initiated, planned and built by famed local architect Austen Pierpont, and noted architect Roy C. Wilson of Santa Paula was also associated with the project.
(click on photos to enlarge)
Today in the LA Times, architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne reviewed David Bury's new Libbey Park Bowl.
Link:
Libbey Bowl has been the backdrop for the appearances of world-reknowned musicians, performers and composers for over fifty years and this tradition will continue under its new arch. The Ojai Music Festival and other community events will now have a much more comfy venue to enjoy, and the termites and dry-rot are now all gone (but I hafta admit, a bit of the funkiness I loved is gone too).
Stephen Schafer is a HABS Photographer based in Ventura, California. | 805-652-1000 | www.habsphoto.com