The Port is right in demolitioning the buildings. It has been known throughout the Aeronautic Community that these buildings are literally hazard waste. They can not be used, and in fact the ground under the structures will need to be mitigated as well. The buildings take up valuable land and are an eye-sore. I, too am sad that these buildings couldn't be refurbished and utilized, but not everything can be saved.

The Port of San Diego thanks you for the opportunity to address your nomination of our organization’s Ryan Aeronautical Complex Demolition Project for an Onion award. We appreciate your tagline: “We want to hear from YOU,” and want to provide you with background information we believe to be essential to your decision-making. The project involves demolition of all of the Ryan buildings near the Commuter Terminal at San Diego International Airport. The Board of Port Commissioners approved the demolition project in August 2009 at a public hearing following a rigorous environmental analysis. In fact, the environmental impact report on the proposed demolition was recognized by the San Diego Chapter of the Association of Environmental Professionals for its thoroughness and professionalism in September 2009. Demolition of the structures is warranted because the majority of the buildings are contaminated with PCBs, various heavy metals, asbestos, lead-based paint and other hazardous materials. The contaminants in the structures, their foundations and utilities are potential pollution sources to storm water, soil and groundwater, as well as to Convair Lagoon and San Diego Bay. Historically, the buildings were once owned by aviation pioneer and businessman T. Claude Ryan, who is best known for manufacturing the famed “Spirit of St. Louis” monoplane for Charles Lindbergh. However, the Spirit of St. Louis was constructed in 1927 within the present Solar Turbines site, and took off from Ryan’s airfield at Dutch Flats, which is outside the boundaries of the Ryan Historic District. The Port’s environmental impact report found an event to be associated with aviation advancements rooted in the Ryan Historic District if it was principally and fully associated with the historic district, occurred within the boundaries of the historic district, and/or occurred within the period of significance of the historic district between 1939 and 1969. That criteria is based on the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. An independent historic resources expert found that the Spirit of St. Louis and other developments that many associate with the Ryan Historic District – including San Diego’s first commercial airline, the Lunar Lander, the Tomahawk Cruise Missile and the first buildings at Lindbergh Field – did not meet the Secretary of the Interior’s criteria. The Port’s environmental impact report acknowledged that 17 of the 58 Ryan buildings comprise a historic district. The report identified mitigation measures that would be implemented by the demolition project to honor Ryan’s legacy and reduce the impacts on the historic resources. Those methods include HABS/HAER photo recordation and documentation, architectural salvage, and an interpretive display to commemorate Ryan’s contribution to aviation history. The environmental impact report also analyzed alternatives including rehabilitating and reusing or relocating some or all of the structures. The alternatives proved unworkable because of the contamination that exists in the majority of the structures – contamination that cannot be abated and removed in a manner consistent with the Secretary of the Interior Standards for Treatment of Historic Resources. Additionally, the methods and estimated cost to abate the contamination and to rehabilitate the structures for adaptive reuse is prohibitive. In summation, the Port weighed the historic resource impacts of the project against its benefits. The benefits of the project include protecting public health, safety, and welfare by removing a potential source of contamination of storm water, soil and groundwater, the project site, Convair Lagoon, and San Diego Bay. Additional benefits are derived by removing unused and deteriorating structures which do not meet current seismic safety codes. The port is also advancing one of the goals articulated in its mission statement of protecting Tidelands Trust resources while balancing economic benefits, community services, environmental stewardship, and public safety on behalf of the citizens of California. In the end, the Port found that the benefits of the project are of such importance to the community that the Ryan Aeronautical Complex Demolition Project is warranted. Again, we want to thank you for the opportunity to comment on your nomination. Ronald W. Powell Director, Communications and Community Services Port of San Diego 619.400.4789

Clear the site, clean the Bay, open up the views to the water and start building something better.