The Rebuilding of the Crest Clubhouse

In March 1933, the La Cresta Women’s Club was founded with a membership of 32. In the beginning, members of the La Cresta Women’s Club were very active in helping circulate petitions to get the La Cresta streets oiled, the park improved, did charity work, and later sponsored the building of the La Cresta Clubhouse. They accomplished much in the way of civic improvement.  

In 1939, the Clubhouse was built by residents of La Cresta at what is now 113 North Park Drive. Land for the clubhouse was provided by the Cornelius family. It was the main meeting place for the new community. The La Cresta Women’s Club federated with the county in 1940, incorporated in March 1945, and amended on October 5, 1950. officially granted the land for community use to the La Cresta Women’s Club on July 8, 1946 for the consideration of $10.

October 26, 2003 – The Cedar Fire Devastates La Cresta Women’s Club (aka The Crest Clubhouse)

The Cedar Fire, a human-caused wildfire driven by Santa Ana winds, resulted in the largest fire recorded in California history. The Crest statistics were grim. Of Crest’s 1,100 plus homes, 290 homes were lost including the Crest Clubhouse.

It wasn’t long before the community rallied to rebuild our precious clubhouse.  On October 24, 2004, just one year later,  ground breaking ceremony took place with Phil and Debbie Goettsch  leading the community in a fantastic volunteer effort. The building, like most structures in Crest, was underinsured.  However, with existing insurance and monetary assistance from Supervisor Dianne Jacob’s office, Crest Kiwanis, and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, a beautiful, unique timber frame structure came to life. The building was obtained from Cascade Joinery out of Bellingham, Washington.

The roof structure was a timber frame with a tongue and groove wood ceiling. The timber frame was scheduled for delivery on October 31st and installed in the beginning of November 2005.

The roof and timber frame were built in Washington State, disassembled, and then transported to Crest where the assembly started all over again. As the roof was lifted into the air, Crest residents came to take pictures of the event. Workers quickly raised the walls to fit under the roof. Phil wanted everybody to have a good time as well as enjoy the experience of creating a community building.  He told the crew that he wasn’t going to shave or cut his hair until the building got “final.” Good thing his hair grows very slowly.

Phil asked for volunteers and donated items everywhere he went. He was great at getting volunteers from Palomar College; over 90% of our volunteers came from there to help. No one knows for sure how he did that; maybe a project grade? Phil also managed to get the most amazing items donated. Because of his talent, we have a valuable building built for less than half the cost if we had contracted the work out. The highlight of the 4th of July, 2006 activities was the stream of people entering the new CCA Community Clubhouse to check out the progress.

July 7, 2008 was a big day for Crest as we celebrated the dedication of our new community clubhouse. The Goettsch family and all volunteers can be proud of their accomplishments. There were about 200 people attending the festivities and County Supervisor Dianne Jacob presented CCA with a proclamation which is now hanging in the new building. The new sign for the clubhouse was crafted by resident Glen Weischedel,  whose grandparents, Alma and Glen Miller, were early settlers in Crest.