This secret stage behind Cuesta College once hosted the biggest names in show biz
On the muddy banks of Chorro Creek behind the main Cuesta College campus under willow and sycamore trees sits a ghost: a now-abandoned outdoor stage that once hosted the elite entertainers of Hollywood.
During World War II, the property was part of Camp San Luis Obispo, which was home to over 20,000 U.S. Army officers and enlisted troops.
As a morale builder, the USO brought the best film and radio stars from Hollywood to entertain.
Bing Crosby, boxer Joe Louis, George Burns and Gracie Allen, and Ada Leonard and her All-American Girl Revue were among those featured.
Harpo Marx, the Three Stooges and Lt. Rudy Vallee also performed.
Bob Hope’s Pepsodent Show broadcast nationally on a radio link from the stage.
Today, all that remains is a wreck of a stucco mission-style amphitheater below a grassy bowl-shaped bank.
Stage dates back to the 1940s
The venue first hosted a sunrise service on April 25, 1943, and was officially dedicated in June, according to a Telegram-Tribune story from Aug. 7, 1971.
The design was the winner from a statewide contest. San Luis Obispo native Young Louis, a son of pioneer Chinese businessman Ah Louis, drew the plans.
Eventually, Cuesta College was born on a corner of Camp San Luis Obispo, and the amphitheater is located inside a difficult-to-access 27-acre dog leg-shaped property.
There used to be a footbridge and two or three access paths, but using Google Maps today, the only obvious markers of the facility are platforms in the bowl likely used for the sound and light crews. The stage itself is hidden from satellite view under trees and cut off from easy access by a National Guard air field, the creek and Cuesta’s corporation yard. No roads lead to it.
The amphitheater was used for fundraising fashion shows in the 1970s, and there was talk of a botanical garden and a camping area. But despite intermittent efforts over the years to restore the outdoor venue, funding has remained elusive.
The creek that created the natural bowl has periodically flooded the stage, covering it with mud up to a foot deep and filling in the orchestra pit.
This is a major drawback to investing in repairs, and when I first saw it in the 1980s, it was crumbling. Very little on the base was built to last in those frantic war years. Good enough and move on was what was required to ramp up the war effort.
Utilities have long since been cut off from the venue.
Without power, water, parking and access, it seems that the deck is stacked against reviving the facility.
But if you ever find yourself nearby, listen past the cry of the red-tailed hawk and the wind in the trees, and you might hear Bing Crosby crooning or Bob Hope snapping a one-liner to the appreciation of thousands of troops.
