I think this is the first
Rozelle photo that I was able to figure
out within five seconds. For fans of
KGB-FM, they will probably remember that
great April
Fool’s joke that Dave, Shelly
and Chainsaw did a few years ago based
upon Montgomery Field in the picture. They
convinced many that one of the space
shuttles was going to land there --
Roger Covalt ‘77
I recognized Montgomery
Field right away, but I was surprised how
undeveloped that area was in 1958. Balboa
Ave is nowhere to be seen. My 1973 SD map
shows that it didn't have a connection to
Hwy 163 even then. The Convair/GD
Astronautics plant was in full swing,
including a large trailer park just south
of Clairemont Mesa Blvd. Those are long
gone, but there is a surviving trailer
park along I-805 to the west. All the GD
buildings are gone now, except for a large
office building that isn't in the photo.
It is now used by Sharp Healthcare. I
wondered why none of the other buildings
were saved. Now I see that the Sharp
building is newer. On the west side of Hwy
163, across from Montgomery Field, is the
original Fedmart store. We always called
it Mother Fedmart, as the chain grew. Who
would have thought it would spawn Price
Club/Costco, and still be an important
store in my life today (after Trader
Joe's, of course). You can also see a
corner of the TuVu drive in theater in the
lower right corner. That was far more
important to me, then, than any of the
other stuff -- Mike Fry '60
