The city of Pasadena is debating a new mixed-use development to be built on the site of a former Naval Research Annex used to test missiles, torpedos and classified weapons. On one side, developers and a majority of the City Council contend that this development will help the city address the need for more affordable housing. On the other, community activists led, in part, by Dr. Kristin Shrader-Frechette, a Pasadena resident, noted environmental scientist and O’Neill Endowed Professor at Notre Dame claim that this place is an un-remediated toxic-waste site and a public health danger. Though the development was initially approved with little fanfare amid claims that the site was safe and further testing for toxins unnecessary, growing community activism forced the city council to re-examine their decision and interrogate the state-approved plans for limited site clean-up. This essay examines place as palimpsest, something “reused or altered while still retaining traces of its earlier form.” (OED n. 2.b.) I am interested in how the history of this site as a Naval Research Annex is used as an origin story by both sides. In envisioning its future, developers use this site’s military past as a source of nostalgia, while activists see it as a source of unknown danger. I am also interested in ways that this usage perpetuates the ongoing erasure of indigenous peoples and cultures in California history.Currently both sides are awaiting a decision by California’s Department of Toxic Substances on whether to sign-off on the developer’s proposed clean-up plan. Community activists who argue for additional site testing are raising money in anticipation of an unfavorable decision through their grass-roots campaign “Stop Toxic Housing in Pasadena.”Through the juxtaposition of multiple visualizations of 3202 East Foothill Boulevard, Pasadena, California across time I explore how “toxicity” gains or loses resonance in debates about safe, liveable community spaces.
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