Bakersfield, California -
Patriotic Bakersfield - American flag

The Bakersfield Arch, recently relocated to a side road next to the Buck Owens Crystal Palace, now has a huge American flag to honor the victims of the 9/11 disaster. The arch, and its flag, are positioned to be highly visible from the very busy 99 freeway. [Gwen Barnes, 09/30/2001]

The Bakersfield Arch that used to span old Rt. 99 was originally part of a hotel, and that hotel was set for demolition sometime in 1999. It has been demolished.

Buck Owens (yes, the country music star) purchased the rubble, and reconstructed the arch near his Crystal Palace nightclub off of the Buck Owens Blvd. exit of the modern SR-99 Freeway. Unfortunately, most of the old archway was unsalvagable. Allegedly, the large neon letters were, however, salvaged and are the ones that adorn the new archway (albeit probably with some refurbishment).

The old archway has lots of fond memories for some of us who grew up in the southern San Joaquin Valley. With the realignment of the SR-99 corridor, however, Bakersfield's once-busy motel corridor along Union Avenue had fallen into disrepair, the archway along with it. While it would have been nice to have seen the old archway repaired in place, I'd rather have the replacement somewhere where the public can enjoy it, and in a safer neighborhood where people are less likely to get propositioned. (grin) [Chris Sullivan, 09/17/2000]