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Published by pashnit
03-07-2005 |
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#2
By
Backmarker
on
03-08-2005, 04:44 AM
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Re: Underground Gardens in Fresno - Anyone ever been there?
Looks like a neat place to visit. Seems to still be there. http://www.undergroundgardens.com/index.html
If anyone goes, they'll have to report back. |
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#4
By
Big Kahuna
on
03-08-2005, 07:19 AM
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Re: Underground Gardens in Fresno - Anyone ever been there?
I've been there many, many, many times when I was a kid. We've been wanting to go back and check it out but we never seem to make it down there.
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#5
By
that_guy_you_know
on
03-08-2005, 07:38 AM
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Re: Underground Gardens in Fresno - Anyone ever been there?
What a trip... I gotta check that out.
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#6
By
MrWizard
on
03-09-2005, 05:50 PM
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Re: Underground Gardens in Fresno - Anyone ever been there?
Forestiere Gardens, been there about 18 years ago when I was living in the valley. It really is interesting and amazing what he accomplished.
If you decide to take a tour, I recommend you do it on a hot, summer day. It'll make it that much more enjoyable. Nice and cool in the tunnels.  |
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#7
By
JimmieS
on
03-10-2005, 08:09 AM
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Re: Underground Gardens in Fresno - Anyone ever been there?
Hi everyone --
New pashnit user here  I wrote Andre to see if the Gardens would be open this weekend (the website says weekens weather permitting) - He sent me an email back letting me know that he won't have the gardens open until the first weekend in April -- So, Plan now! |
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#8
By
pashnit
on
03-10-2005, 08:18 AM
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Re: Underground Gardens in Fresno - Anyone ever been there?
Thanks for the link Renee... here's one of the articles on that site that's pretty interesting published in the August 4, 1999 Fresno Bee...
It began with glaciers more than 200,000 years ago and ended in 1946 when Baldasare Forestiere died. But the creation of the Forestiere Underground Gardens at Shaw Avenue, just east of Highway 99 continues to intrigue people from near and far. "It's like walking back into time," said Kerry Arroues, supervisory soil scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service in Hanford. "You can see the Ice Age [written on the walls]." The Underground Gardens, a network of underground rooms, niches, courtyards, patios and passageways that at one point covered 10 acres, were formed by the resolute forces of nature and the indomitable spirit of one man. Scientists have documented nature's role. It's the man who did the digging who remains a mystery. Unlike the soil, whose lengthy history is laid bare to the trained eye, Forestiere left no communication for humans beyond the work of his hands. Whether intended or not, he spent the bulk of his life creating a monumental work that causes all who see it to wonder "why." Ultimately it was nature that made the Underground Gardens possible. If not for hardpan, one of the elements of the San Joaquin soil that covers the site, Forestiere could not have created his underground world. The soil that fills the San Joaquin Valley was formed from bits of rock washed down from the mountains over tens of thousands of years, said Arroues. A layer of hardpan formed through the action of silica and other minerals dissolved in water and binding solidly together after seeping into the soil. Hardpan does not dissolve in water or acid, said Arroues. The only way to knock a hole in it is by the use of physical force. "The hardpan was Forestiere's biggest enemy and his best ally," said Arroues. While it took tremendous effort to chip away the hardpan with pick and shovel, Forestiere exploited its strength for walls and ceilings that didn't need elaborate bracing. It is not known how many cubic feet of soil Forestiere moved in 40 years of digging. But he apparently dug tunnels and rooms that extended more than an eighth of a mile from his main dwelling. In 1959, during construction of Freeway 99 west of the Underground Gardens, area residents saw earth-moving equipment get wedged in the ground after dropping through the ceilings of distant underground rooms, said Andre Forestiere, son of Rick Forestiere, Baldasare's nephew. "Baldasare began by building a cellar to escape the heat," said Andre Forestiere. "But he kept on digging. He never put any plans on paper. It all came from his head." Digging a cellar in 1906, decades before air conditioning came to the central San Joaquin Valley, was a practical thing to do; If Forestiere had stopped there, merely using his cellar' as a cool place to rest his body and store food, he would have been no different than hundreds of other people. His compulsion to keep digging is what makes him remarkable. "To get at the core of the mystery you need to enter the man's psyche," said Silvio Manno, a bilingual teacher at Rowell Elementary School and Forestiere family friend. Manno, like Baldasare Forestiere, is an Italian immigrant. He believes an evaluation of Italian culture and Forestiere's immigrant experience provides clues to what may have motivated the creation of the Underground Gardens. Baldasare Forestiere was born 120 years ago in Sicily. He no doubt was familiar with examples of Greek architecture on the island and may have visited the catacombs near Syracuse, said Manno. The people of Southern Italy tend to be introspective and tenacious, said Manno, who grew up in Calabria, the "boot tip" of Italy just across the sea from Sicily. Those character traits, plus Forestiere's exposure to Greek architecture, may have spurred him to see possibilities in hardpan that ranged beyond the four walls of a simple cellar. "Baldasare came to America when he was 21," said Manna. "Something drastic must have happened to loosen his roots." Forestiere's father was a citrus grower, but because Baldasare was a younger brother, he wasn't entitled by heredity to a dominant role in the farm. When the bottom dropped out of the Sicilian agricultural economy around the turn of the century Forestiere may have concluded America offered better opportunities to pursue his dreams and migrated. Forestiere worked on subway tunnels in Boston and helped build the Croton Aqueduct and the Holland tunnel in New York. "Coming to America had to have had a psychological impact on him," said Manno. "He moved from an agrarian background to a large city. It must have been traumatic." Many Italian immigrants thrived in America's big cities. But Forestiere evidently wanted to get back to his rural roots and moved to California in 1905. Failing to find land in the Los Angeles area, Forestiere bought 70 acres 7 miles north of Fresno, intending to plant citrus and vineyards. But hardpan two feet under the soil surface spoiled his plans. Instead, Forestiere worked for other farmers and eventually acquired additional parcels suitable for planting his own orchards. But he kept his original home site and hacked away at the hardpan in his spare time with uncommon determination. "He must have been very tough physically," said Arroues. "Hardpan is extremely hard when it's dry." Arroues said it would be interesting to know what techniques Forestiere used to make his work easier. No doubt he kept the surface wet, since hardpan is easier to crush when it is moist. Forestiere also may have learned to take advantage of fracture layers, formed by deposits of lime, and so-called "windows," areas where hardpan does not develop because of different drainage patterns. "What he did over 40 years is a profound accomplishment," said Arroues. Manno sees the Underground Gardens as a figurative symbol of Forestiere's immigrant experience. Not only did the lifelong project provide relief from summer heat, it gave Forestiere a refuge from the world and an opportunity for self-expression. Southern Italian immigrants to America faced many challenges, said Manno. Besides adapting to a new culture and language, they had to overcome discrimination and racial stereotypes. "Being a Sicilian in America, Baldasare may have had a defensive state of mind," said Manno. "Sicilians were seen as criminals and the scum of the earth." |
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#9
By
pashnit
on
03-10-2005, 08:19 AM
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Re: Underground Gardens in Fresno - Anyone ever been there?
Perhaps Forestiere left New York for California to escape those stereotypes, said Manno. Perhaps digging the Underground Gardens was an attempt to create a safe haven and insulate himself from the world.
But Forestiere was not a recluse. A 1924 article in The Fresno Bee contained an invitation for visitors to tour his gardens on Sundays from May through September. He owned a car and took flying lessons so he could commute from Fresno to farmland he owned near Coalinga. He also was interested in the outside world. "During World War II he never missed listening to Lowell Thomas and the news on the radio," said Rick Forestiere. "He wanted to know why things were happening." The precision and scale of Forestiere's work seems to indicate a never-ending quest for self -expression. "It's like the Land of Oz," said Rick Forestiere, referring to the Underground Gardens. "It's a fantasy land. He mediterraneanized his own environment. He needed space and didn't want to be locked in." Rick Forestiere and Manno will travel to Sicily in September in quest of more information about Baldasare Forestiere. They hope to gain insight by sleeping and walking on the ground where Forestiere grew up. Perhaps the Underground Gardens were Forestiere's attempt to gain status through his artistic talent, said Manno. Forestiere returned to Sicily in his early 30s, presumably to claim the hand of a woman who had been promised to him. That trip supposedly ended in rejection and ridicule at the hands of the woman's father. "If the story is true, that experience could have given him the determination to create something spectacular," said Manno. "When an immigrant returns home he feels like an orphan or deserter He feels a burden to justify to his peers and family that the severance was worth the pain." Forestiere never married and his bachelor status gave him extra time to work on his project that would not have been available to a married man with family responsibilities. "He did have some lady friends but that was something he never talked about," said Rick Forestiere. It's anybody's guess what Forestiere thought about during his endless hours of digging and moving dirt. Lorraine Forestiere, wife of Rick and mother of Andre, sees strong spiritual qualities in the gardens. "He had a deep love for God," she said, referring to Forestiere's penchant for doing things in threes - three levels to the entrance, three trees in a courtyard etc. -which she believes is symbolic of the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Manno thinks Forestiere may have found self-empowerment in the work of creating an underground world he knew would never be finished. "It gives you a sense of control," he said. Other people, however, often saw Forestiere as a man out of control. In a 1949 Bee article, Joseph Forestiere described his brother this way: "Where he made his mistake is that he could not stop digging. He had a burning fever to keep digging, digging all the time. As a result, he never had a chance, and probably never would have had a chance to finish the work he cut out for himself to do. "My brother figured he had another 10 years of work left on his caves to get them to a point where he wanted them. Still, he would finish one cavern and immediately start on another." There is evidence Forestiere knew most people would not understand his quest to find meaning in his digging. "When people asked him what he was doing, he told them he planned to build a restaurant," said Lorraine Forestiere. That made his work sound practical. But in reality, said Lorraine, it probably was a ruse to deflect criticism. Forestiere had enough money to build a restaurant at any time, she said, but he preferred to go on digging rather than serve food. There is evidence Forestiere knew most people would not understand his quest to find meaning in his digging. "When people asked him what he was doing, he told them he planned to build a restaurant," said Lorraine Forestiere. "At some point his experience approached a monastic and mystical dimension," said Manno. "He secluded himself in a world of his own making and found inner peace and harmony by becoming one with the gardens." Above all, said Manno, Forestiere no doubt felt nourished at an intangible level by his digging: "He didn't need any validation because he did it for himself. Whatever praise or recognition he might have received would not enhance or diminish the profound significance of his personal accomplishment." |
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