West Side
1. Were you aware that a general aviation airport was once located west of Broadway, where the Sweetwater Flood Control Channel and SR-54 are now? The Sweetwater River’s main flow was south of the Southland Industrial Park?

2. Were you aware that a cow dairy once dominated the area northwest of Fourth Avenue and C Street?

3. Were you aware that one of the three popular drive-in theaters located in the South Bay was once located south of Main Street, just east of I-5, where an industrial park is now located (the Big Sky Drive-in)? The others were the Southbay Drive-in (north of Coronado Blvd., west of I-5), and the Harbor Drive-in (northeast quadrant of SR-54 & National City Blvd.).

4. Were you aware that the Chula Vista Center was once a Navy housing complex?

5. Were you aware that Dwight David Eisenhower, our 34th president, once made a public visit to Chula Vista, landing by helicopter at the San Diego Country Club (late 1950s)?

6. Were you aware that the first Little League ballfield in Chula Vista was located on the Chula Vista High School campus (southeast corner of K Street and Fifth Avenue)?

7. Were you aware that Third Avenue from K Street to downtown once contained rail lines. These rail lines were the remnants of a downtown Trolley line?

8. Were you aware that the City’s animal shelter was once located in the Bayfront off of J Street (before moving to Otay Valley Road, and before moving to Beyer Way where it is today)?

9. Were you aware that Anthony’s Restaurant and El Torito Restaurant along Interstate 5 were once the site of auto wrecking yards?

10. Were you aware that Broadway was once Highway 101, flanked as much by agricultural fields as by commercial uses through Chula Vista?

11. Were you aware that Rice Canyon, east of I-805, was once a playground for fossil-searching kids and off-road motorcyclists?

12. Were you aware that Southwestern College originally held classes at Chula Vista High School until the campus was constructed on Otay Lakes Road?

13. Were you aware that a large grocery store and drug store was once located where the South County Regional Center (courthouse) is today?

14. Were you aware that one of the first (maybe the first) miniature golf courses in Chula Vista was located where the where the Ken Lee Building parking lot is, with access from F Street?

15. Were you aware that the Building Department and Personnel Department (Human Resources) were once located in a small building that fronted on the east side of Fourth Avenue, where the main Library is now?

16. Were you aware that Claire Avenue once extended through from Davidson Street to F Street, providing diagonal curbside parking for City Hall?

17. Were you aware that the Post Office and Library were once located where the Public Services Building is today?

18. Were you aware that the Fire Department administrative offices were once located in the building that the Community Development Department is in today; however, it was located on the northwest corner of Fourth Avenue and F Street?

19. Were you aware that Friendship Park was once the playground areas for the F Street Elementary School that was located where the main library is now?

20. Were you aware that a large trash-to-energy plant was once proposed on the west side of I-5, south of J Street? This plant eventually was constructed in San Marcos, and turned out to be much less than successful.

21. Were you aware that the Fire Department’s administrative offices were once located in a small building right on the northwest corner of Fourth Avenue and F Street? That small building was moved and now houses the Community Development Department.

22. Were you aware that lemon orchards were still prominent within the Urban Core as late as the 1950s?

23. Were you aware that a lemon packing plant used to be located where the Police Department is located today?

24. Were you aware that a lemon packing plant used to be located at the Southeast corner of K Street & Third Avenue, where the Bank of America is today?

25. Were you aware that there was once a full size bowling alley where the E Street Trolley Station is today and that there was a small (8-10 lanes) bowling alley on F Street where Marie Callender’s is today (named the “CeeVee Bowl”, if I recall).

26. Were you aware that the city’s first library was located where the Congregational Church is located on F Street, east of Third Avenue.

East Side
27. Were you aware that the Planning Department’s Landscape Architect once had his office in the old adobe building located on Rohr Park in Bonita? This building, originally a horse tacking shed before being converted into an office in 1971, is located south of where the City’s Parks and Recreation Department administrative offices were also once located within the historic Rohr Manor.

28. Were you aware that the Bonita Store Restaurant was actually once a small market, containing a popular meat section and delicatessen?

29. Were you aware that a golf course used to be located where the Plaza Bonita Shopping Center is today (Bonita Golf Course)?

30. Were you aware that a sports arena to house the local American Basketball Association team (the Conquistadors) was once proposed to be located where the Terra Nova Shopping Center was built? The project was called “Sports World” and included a regional shopping center and skating rink.

31. Were you aware that the original Shamu (Sea World’s original killer whale) was processed at an animal rendering plant located where the Auto Park North site is today?

32. Were you aware that it last snowed in Chula Vista in 1968?