.Nuz: What’s the Historic Part of the Circle Church?

Santa Cruz is often tempted to make housing matters more complicated than they really are. Take, for instance, Mayor Justin Cummings’ recent remark to GT that he hopes to create an Affordable Housing Subcommittee. Sounds a lot like the Housing Blueprint Subcommittee, whose recommendations haven’t exactly been prioritized. Do we seriously have to go back and re-study everything that happened before Cummings got elected?

Over in the Westside’s circles area, meanwhile, neighbors may get rewarded for their efforts to block a small new housing development at the center of their neighborhood.

At the request of the City Council’s super-left majority, the Historic Preservation Commission will now be hearing an item on Wednesday, Jan. 15 to consider listing the former circle church as a historic site (see page 11), before the developer finishes submitting plans for a small-scale development.

But before you decide how you feel about the upcoming vote, Nuz has a quiz for you, dear readers. Close your eyes and picture the defunct former house of worship at the heart of the well-rounded Westside neighborhood. There’s a big lawn and a circular road, sure. Maybe you’re having trouble visualizing the actual structure itself. After all, there’s nothing notable about it. There’s a chance you can’t even remember the name of its former congregation, as the moniker was pretty forgettable.

Don’t get it twisted: The broader circle neighborhood is quite historically special. Nuz certainly has a long history of getting stoned and finding oneself lost in its spirals for long hours, as day turns into dusk. The blocks are so old-timey that, after one lap, you feel like you’ve traveled back 200 years. “Bully!” Nuz hollered whilst looking through a monocle at a bougainvillea patch.

As for the building itself, let’s not confuse the word “historic” with “drab” or “dull.”