[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 13755-13756]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               IN HONOR OF THE ASILOMAR CONFERENCE CENTER

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 29, 2006

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 50th anniversary 
of the California State Parks Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific 
Grove, CA. Ordinarily, one would not expect a Member to rise on the 
floor to acknowledge the birthday of a conference grounds, but Asilomar 
is no ordinary place. For starters, Asilomar is nestled in the coastal

[[Page 13756]]

dunes of the Monterey Peninsula. The name itself is Spanish for refuge 
by the sea.
  Asilomar also boasts an extraordinary history. It began life in 1912 
as the western regional conference grounds for the YWCA on 30 acres of 
beach front property donated by the precursor of the Pebble Beach 
Company. Within a year, the YWCA hired the pioneering San Francisco 
architect Julia Morgan. By 1921, additional land had been donated and 
many buildings were completed, including the centerpiece Phoebe Hearst 
grand meeting hall. The center could by then accommodate up to 500 
people at a time. Over the course of the 20s, Asilomar grew not only as 
a site for YWCA activities but also as a center for religious retreats, 
Scouting events, and very popular summer camps. All of that ended with 
the Depression. Unable to pay its bills, the YWCA decided in 1934 to 
cease operating Asilomar. For almost 20 years Asilomar floundered along 
under various concession or cooperative agreements until the YWCA 
finally decided to sell the property in 1951.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, Asilomar is part of my own family's story. In 
1955, my father Fred Farr entered the California State Senate. And 
while it is true that my father cared deeply about the future of 
Asilomar, it is also true that my mother Janet would have never let him 
ignore the question of its future. That year my father authored 
legislation along with his Assembly counterpart, Alan Patee, directing 
the State Parks Department to purchase Asilomar for the now 
unbelievably low amount of $350,000. The bill, SB 2007, passed both 
houses of the legislature without opposition. Unfortunately, Governor 
Knight then vetoed every park bill before him that summer. Needless to 
say, that act did not make the Governor a very popular man on the 
Monterey Peninsula. The uproar over the veto forced the administration 
to rethink its position. In December 1955, the Governor reversed his 
opposition to Asilomar's purchase. In the ensuing months, my father 
helped to broker a purchase and operating agreement between the YWCA, 
Pacific Grove, and the State. Those efforts culminated in the July 1, 
1956 transfer of Asilomar to the State of California.
  Asilomar has since grown into one of the most unique public interest 
conference grounds in the world. It hosts conference groups as diverse 
as the annual Eco Farm conference, the Nation's largest annual organic 
farming gathering and an annual national gathering of electronic 
intelligence specialists. Last year, Asilomar saw over 175,000 guests 
from 1,000 different groups who netted the State over $3 million in fee 
revenues.
  It is a legacy that my father remained supremely proud of throughout 
the remainder of his life. When he passed away in 1997, he had spent 
over 20 years on the park's official advisory commission and had spent 
countless hours offering formal and informal advice on the management 
and future of Asilomar. So while this anniversary is a celebration of a 
unique public park, it is also the celebration of one of my father's 
most cherished personal achievements.

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