MR. ORANGE: Is Orange High's name absent at former campus?
Orange Union High campus before it moved to its current location on Shaffer Street.
ORANGE PUBLIC LIBRARY COURTESY PHOTO
Q. Is there any plaque or any sign at Chapman University that describes how the center of the campus was once the original site for Orange High School? I'm a graduate of Orange High and a long-time Orange resident who finds that current Chapman students don't realize their campus was once a high school.
– Erin Walstead, Orange
A. No plaque has ever been installed, but there are plenty of references that are easily found, Chapman spokeswoman Mary Platt said.
"For example, during our 150th anniversary year in 2011, Chapman published a university history book that tells the story of how the Orange High campus was sold to Chapman in 1953," Platt said in an email. "Chapman moved there in 1954. The book is in the Chapman library and in the Orange main library."
Or you can talk a look on chapman.edu, Platt said.
In addition, all Chapman students learn the history of the campus during the "History and Traditions" track of their freshman-year orientation. So, maybe some students forget or don't read the website or the university's history books, but the information is definitely given to them and otherwise available, Platt said.
Mr. Orange has also heard that if you were to look at the top of Memorial Hall in the right light, you can still make out the old "Orange Union High" name from where the letters were carved off six decades ago. Mr. Orange took a good look at the spot recently and did see something that resembled the campus' former name.
Q. How is it that a city the size of Orange does not have a municipal or privately owned public golf course? With the closure of the Ridgeline course in Orange Park Acres, there are no city courses available to city residents. Has there been any proposals made to the city leaders to build a golf course anywhere in the city?
– Robert Sarkissian, Orange Park Acres
A. Orange's only golf course, Ridgeline Country Club, did indeed close, in 2006. The privately owned, nine-hole course had served as the city's lone course since 1970.
Mr. Orange checked with city officials who said there are no current proposals to add another course in town.
It's rare nowadays for cities anywhere to build new municipal courses. The land needed to accommodate a course would generally cost more to acquire and develop than what the course would generate for the city. The only new courses built these days are the private, swanky ones in resort areas like Hawaii and Florida.
Orange County has more than 30 public and private courses, including the nearby Anaheim Hills Golf Course, so Mr. Sarkissian still has plenty of options.
Contact the writer: If you have a question about Orange, ask Mr. Orange at 714-704-3704 or firstname.lastname@example.org. He wanders around Villa Park, too, so feel free to query him about V.P. as well.