Navy to alter barracks shaped like swastika [View All]

Google Imagery The Navy will spend as much as $600,000 to change the appearance of a barracks complex because it resembles a swastika from the air, officials said.


Navy to alter barracks shaped like swastika
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Sep 28, 2007 23:18:01 EDT

CORONADO, Calif. — The Navy will spend as much as $600,000 to modify the appearance of a barracks complex that resembles a swastika from the air, officials said.

The Navy approved the spending for changes to the four L-shaped buildings’ walkways, landscaping and rooftop solar panels after satellite images from Google Earth revealed the swastika-like shape, officials said.

“We don’t want to be associated with something as symbolic and hateful as a swastika,” Scott Sutherland, deputy public affairs officer for Navy Region Southwest, told the Los Angeles Times.

~snip~

“I’m concerned about symbolism,” he said. “This is not the type of message America needs to be sending to the world.”

The Navy decided to alter the buildings’ shape following requests this year by Anti-Defamation League regional director Morris Casuto and Rep. Susan Davis, D-Calif.

“I don’t ascribe any intentionally evil motives to this,” Casuto said of the design. “It just happened. The Navy has been very good about recognizing the problem. The issue is over.”

The funds to change the buildings’ appearance were budgeted for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, officials said.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/09/ap_navyswastika_070926/



uhc comment: If you have google earth, you can see the building in question at 32 40 34.18 N, 117 09 27.46 W.