I was walking up Manchester Avenue one day in October on a photo tour when I came across this stone head, to my surprise. I'd never seen or heard of anything like it, except in natural history museums and the Jungle Cruise. Nearby is a trellis gate with artificial flowers, so evidentally somebody took this statue and this little corner of the hotel seriously, like a shared personal shrine. It's totally out of character with the rest of the hotel, as far as I can see, and is delightfully unique.
The pedestal was empty in early March, then in late March I happened to walk by just as workers were reinstalling it. When I asked what had happened to it, they said it had been repaired, not stolen. They turned the head around during installation so that now it faces the parking lot instead of Manchester Avenue. Spectromen of MousePlanet reports that the head is that of Siddhartha Guatama, better known as the Buddah.
Quality Inn & Suites is a short walking distance from the Harbor-Manchester junction, just around the bend of the road on Manchester Ave., and across the street from Howard Johnson. It faces the noisy I-5 without a soundwall. Although this hotel is not quite within view of Disneyland, I thought this little tourist gem was so close to HMJ that it justified mentioning it here.
QIS tends to get poor reviews on MousePlanet. Visually it has some interesting features other than the Buddah head, if one explores the grounds a bit. QIS now has one of the gingerbread bus stops that Howard Johnson's had until just a few years ago. I don't know if this tiny building was moved from Howard Johnson's, or if QIS always had one of their own. (A cashier at Howard Johnson's said this bus stop was for the Disneyland Express, which costs $3 for a day ticket.) There is also a cute courtyard with lanterns hanging from the large overhead Rubber Plant (Ficus elastica), a fountain near the registration lobby, a gift shop (the cashier was watching a home travel film of the orient when I visited this shop, and in the film was footage of Buddah head statues!), wrought iron seats, hanging flower pots, a dripping fountain, and in general a lot of quaint hallway decor that reminds me of the decor of a retirement home.
This building appears in the background of various Anaheim and Disneyland postcards from the 1970s, such as postcards of local hotels and aerial views, so the building might be considered historically significant by now. The building is on Manchester Avenue and faces I-5 right across the street. The most distinctive feature of the building is its hat-like flat roof design, and another distinctive feature is three large Silk Floss Trees near the front, close together in a row, which are covered with showy pink flowers for several months in the autumn.
This building has been vacant and available for lease since at least October 2006 through April 2007. According to Riverrock, the management company for this building, this building has no name. CBRE (CB Richard Ellis) is the leasing company for this building, but they are an international real estate company, so this building is not unique to them, either.
The contact information on the sign in front of this building is:
An Internet search on this address pulls up the following former businesses at this location, none with dates:
I think it would be cool if somebody turned this building into a Disneyland memorabilia museum, full of rare souvenirs, photos, and items from Disneyland, with paid admission. The more impressive Disneyana merchandise sold on eBay in recent years, such as the big old Disneyland sign, the nose car of the old monorail, a branch from the Swiss Family Treehouse, submarine lagoon props, and original posters could be displayed, for example, with appropriate theme music playing in the background. Each of the four floors could be dedicated to 1-2 large Lands, such as Tomorrowland, Adventureland, Frontierland, and Fantasyland. There could even be virtual simulations of rides in full-sized vehicles, such as Adventure Thru Inner Space. Retired restaurants such as Hills Brothers Coffee Shop could be faithfully reconstructed. The large tic-tac-toe playing machines from America The Beautiful could once again be seen and played. Maybe outside on the side of the building the old fountain globe from Global Van Lines could be resurrrected, or maybe the large old fountain globe from Leisure World near Laguna Hills Mall from the '60s-'70s, the old Satellite Center rotating satellite sign could be pulled out of its museum and put back into operation, full-sized fake monorail pylons could be put into the parking lot, or inside the building the 2-story rain lamp at the end of Adventure Thru Inner Space could be resurrected. There are many possibilities. I envision it being open very late at night to catch guests leaving Disneyland who want to cram a bit more Disneyland experience into their day. But would such a museum make enough money to stay in business?
On 4-22-07 I found a public notice posted on a telephone pole in front of this building. Evidentally a nursing school is considering using this building. The notice reads:
NOTICE OFPUBLICHEARINGCity of Anaheim PLANNING DEPARTMENT
DATE OF MEETING: APRIL 30, 2007
CEQA NEGATIVE DECLARATION
WHERE IS THE PROJECT? 1477 SOUTH MANCHESTER AVENUE: Property is approximately
WHAT IS PROPOSED? Request to establish a nursing school within an existing legal
INFORMATION AVAILABLE: A copy of the staff report, proposed plans, environmental impact
WHO TO CONTACT? For more information, call (714) 765-5139, extension, 5746
NOTE: All interested parties are invited to attend the public hearing and
Date Mailed: April 18, 2007 |
Manchester Avenue is an odd street that is very busy at Harbor Boulevard where Howard Johnson's and Mimi's Cafe are located, but once it makes a bend and parallels Interstate 5, it becomes a street with little traffic flow. Below Alro Way its name changes to Clementine Street, whereupon it starts to diverge from I-5, ultimately ending at Katella Avenue just a couple blocks further south. Manchester Avenue is separated from Interstate 5 by only a chain link fence, so the street is very noisy from freeway traffic despite its own traffic flow being low. Interstate 5 is elevated about 3-4 feet above street level, and a long hedge of Natal Plum (Carissa macrocarpa) lines the roadway alongside I-5. I believe there used to be an onramp to I-5 from Manchester Avenue, but now there are no onramps or offramps to I-5: if you end up on this street by mistake when exiting Disneyland, you'll have to get onto either Harbor Boulevard or Katella Avenue to get on northbound or southbound I-5.
The next building south of CBREB houses at least two companies that sound like high-tech companies: Zyfer and Iteris. I don't know what they do and I'm not sure I want to know: considering the kind of barbs on their parking lot gate and the number of security cameras they have on top of their building, they must have a serious security obsession.
The Immigration office is on the northwest corner of Manchester Avenue and Alro Way. My only experience with this office is when I had to use their parking lot to turn around once. A fat, nasty, bored security guard shouted at me to slow down while I was turning around. Nice place you got there.
Alro Way is a short street with dead ends at both ends, one end at Bergstroms Childrens Stores / I-5, and one end behind USCIS / Ramada Maingate. It runs between USCIS and Disney's Pumbaa lot. A sign that says to use Freedman entrance for Disneyland parking shows its age since Freedway Way is now called Disney Way. I hope they keep that old sign around as a bit of nostalgia.
Bergstroms Childens Stores is located immediately below and along Alro Way, so the store is technically neither on Manchester Avenue nor Clementine Street. This is a modern building that is so close to the I-5 freeway's southbound lanes that it is a landmark of sorts. Their tall lighted sign is almost always advertising which positions for which they are hiring. I applied there twice but they didn't even bother to call me back either time.
Created: February 24, 2007
Updated: April 29, 2007