By Susan Motander
Last week Alexis Newell, Monrovia’s Public Information Officer, sent out a press release regarding a single vehicle traffic accident that resulted in damage to city property. This newspaper ran the information provided by the city P.I.O. Unfortunately, the public information officer was sadly misinformed.
The small dressed granite block, tiled roof structure in Library Park housed a drinking fountain, not a wishing well as Newell wrote. The drinking fountain was donated to the city by the Monrovia Farmers Club. According to City Historian Steve Baker, this group met in the early part of the twentieth century to discuss issues facing agriculture.
Police Chief Him Hunt said that according to the police report written at the time of the incident, a 64 year old Pasadena woman apparently panicked when she realized she was about to enter Lime Avenue, a one way street, going the wrong direction. It was unclear if she had been driving westbound on Lime (east of Myrtle it is a two way street) or northbound on Myrtle turning left onto Lime. In panicking, the woman attempted to turn her vehicle onto Myrtle and instead the vehicle jumped the curb and slammed into the historic old landmark.
The roof collapsed as city workers tried to preserve as much of the structure as possible. According to Director of Public Works, Ron Bow, the driver was insured and he believed the city would attempt to recover the cost of repairing the small structure. Daniele Tellez, Human Resources and Risk Management Division Manager said ” If there is anyway possible to recoup the costs, we will be doing that.”
The woman who received some apparently minor injuries (abrasions and a bloody nose) was taken to the hospital. She was however issued a citation, which according to Hunt was mailed to her. The citation? It was for making a unsafe turn (You think?!?).
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