299 Borchard Drive, Ventura

Image

299 Borchard Drive, Ventura - Looking SW.jpg

Title

299 Borchard Drive, Ventura

Description

The following description was submitted by an outside party. The views expressed are the individual’s own and are not representative of the Museum of Ventura County.

[User contributed description]
A view looking southwest of a building constructed in the mid-1950s to house a Safeway grocery store. Safeway occupied the building from the grand opening on March 8, 1956 until 1971. As of late 2024, only two other businesses have been tenants — Pic ’N’ Save from 1973 to circa 1997 and Big Lots! from circa 1997 until the parent company filed for bankruptcy and the store permanently closed in December 2024.

In 1956, the development had two parking lots providing 129 spaces. One lot was on the south side of the building and the other on the north side at the corner of Thompson Boulevard and Borchard Drive. The grand opening newspaper ad boasted “Acres of Free Parking!” with “Roomy Stalls for Cars.”

Visible in the distance is a portion of the Borchard Center, a building consisting of a series of small commercial spaces. It was constructed circa 1961 at the far end of Safeway’s south parking lot.

Creator

Bob Delaney

Date

2024-12-25

Format

Photograph taken with iPhone XS Max

Subject

Commercial buildings in Ventura

Coverage

Ventura (Calif.)

Audience

Other

Collection

Citation

Bob Delaney, “299 Borchard Drive, Ventura,” Research Library at The Museum of Ventura County, accessed May 10, 2025, https://photographs.venturamuseum.org/items/show/8603.