Physical Facilities
Plan B. Relocate WLRI
Plan A or this Plan B are either a choice of possibilities for one, or the other, or both, depending on the funding that becomes available.
Doctor Halstead relocated WLRI from nearby Reche Canyon to its current location back in 1961. The initial facility was relatively small but soon grew with one addition after another. Motivated by constant moving around as a youth, Doctor Halstead was determined not to have to move again and those wishes came true as he never moved again.
But Grand Terrace and the Inland Empire of that time were quite different then they are today. Back then it was a very rural and agriculture location that was considered 'out in the country'. Today, civilization has increased many fold and has consumed the valley with congestion, traffic, over-development, and smog.
Grand Terrace as it looked when WLRI was located there
Grand Terrace as it looks Today with development and smog
View of what could arguably be a better location for WLRIIt was his deep ties to Loma Linda University that added to his satisfaction with the current location. The choice between leaving WLRI in its current location or moving it closer to the ocean is representative of the dual focus of WLRI; one is related to health and the other is related to oceanography and the environment.
In recent years, there has been some interest expressed in the idea of Loma Linda University acquiring the existing property and utilizing the facility as both a museum and part of their campus out reach. In many ways this could be ideal for LLU for several reasons. There is an increased recognition for Doctor Halstead's role as the Co-founder of the School of Tropical and Preventive Medicine as well as the father of research for LLU.
There is also an increase in the appreciation for Doctor Halstead's work in alternative medicine. These days, there is less interpretation of his work as being in conflict with conventional medicine. Doctor Halstead never saw his work as being in conflict but more as an adjunct or an expansion of possible treatment and more in keeping with the traditional health message of the Adventist church. Finally, conventional medicine has caught up with that outlook and the term 'Alternative' or 'Preventive' has morphed into 'Integrative Medicine' or 'Adjunctive Medicine'. Loma Linda has embraced these ideas and is moving in a direction of offering courses and specialties in that direction. The Loma Linda University Campus is quickly running out of room and the addition of the WLRI property could be advantageous.
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