In the 1950s, the Cross Roads Drive-In restaurant served as a rendezvous for teenagers in Santa Cruz, Calif., a seaside community at the northern tip of Monterey Bay about 75 miles south of San Francisco.
Located a couple of blocks from the Santa Cruz Beach, Boardwalk and Wharf at the foot of West Cliff Drive and adjacent to the Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, the Cross Roads also served as a summer gathering place for teens visiting the Beach and Boardwalk from the San Francisco Bay Area, the San Joaquin Valley and other Central California coastal communities.
In March 2001, the City of Santa Cruz announced plans to demolish the building, which has housed a liquor store for almost 40 years, and replace it with a natural history museum as part of a new park development.
But Santa Cruz High School students of the 1950s from throughout the U.S. have written letters to City Hall and to the local newspaper requesting that the former drive-in be preserved, restored and made part of the museum complex.
WHERE TO WRITE
If you would like to join the growing number of 1950s' high school students who are trying to Save the Cross Roads from extinction, please write to the Santa Cruz City Council and to the Santa Cruz Sentinel Editor at:
[email protected]
[email protected]
And please send a copy to me at:
[email protected]
Please include your name, current city and state of residence, name of your school and year of your class, and any special memories you have about the '50s and, in particular, any special recollections and/or anecdotes about your local drive-in experiences.
