PROPOSITION
40
California voters on March 5th approved Proposition 40, a $2.6
billion parks and open space bond measure that allocated an
unprecedented level of funding, $267.5 million, to historic and
cultural resources in California. The Conservancy thanks our members
who worked in support of Prop. 40, as well as our partners in the
"California Heritage Coalition": the National Trust for Historic
Preservation, California Preservation Foundation, San Francisco
Architectural Heritage, and California Historical Society.
The Conservancy and the Coalition members are remaining active to
help shape the State Legislature's decisions on how the Prop. 40
funding will be spent. One proposal, introduced by Sen. John Burton
in Senate Bill 1247, would create a new, appointed California Trust
for Historic Preservation to oversee the funding allocation.
GLENDON MANOR
APARTMENTS
The Conservancy is opposing the proposed demolition of the 1929
Glendon Manor Apartments, a 42-unit building in Westwood Village at
1070 Glendon Ave. In 1999, the State Historical Resources Commission
formally determined Glendon Manor as eligible for listing in the
California Register of Historical Resources. The building, one of
the first apartments in the Westwood area, was deemed significant to
the history of Westwood Village - its signature five-story tower
long dominated the Westwood skyline, and its Mediterranean Revival
architecture relates to the Westwood Village designs used by the
Village's developers, the Janss Company.
The apartments are slated for demolition as part of a new
mixed-use development by Casden Properties that will include 350 new
apartments and 115,000 square feet of retail space. The Conservancy
does not oppose the proposed development project, but believes that,
because the historic apartments are located in the very southeast
corner of the property, Casden can feasibly incorporate Glendon
Manor into the overall plans. Click
here to see a picture.
HARVARD-WESTLAKE SCHOOL -
N. FARING CAMPUS
The Conservancy has learned of the proposed demolition of
Westlake School for Girls' historic 1928 Administration Building
along with the adjacent Morris Landau residence built by noted
architect Paul Williams, located on N. Faring Road in Holmby Hills
north of Sunset Blvd. Originally founded in 1904, the Westlake
School for Girls relocated to this campus location in 1927. The
Westlake School remained an all-girls facility until 1991 when it
merged with the Harvard School for Boys and the original Westlake
Campus became site of the Harvard-Westlake Middle School.
As one of the oldest and most prestigious private female boarding
schools in Los Angeles, the list of prominent Westlake alumnae is
extensive. The school represents an important site to the history of
women in Los Angeles and the Administration Building is the only
building that remains of the original N. Faring Road campus. Citing
the need for additional classroom space, better parking and traffic
control, and enhanced drama and sports facilities, the new
construction will entail the total demolition of the historic
Administration Building as well as the Landau residence next door.
In the current plans, the Paul Williams designed house will be
replaced by a parking lot. The Conservancy will continue to follow
this process closely and will be participating fully in the
Environmental Impact Report process as it moves forward. Click
here to see a picture.
NFL STADIUM
The Conservancy is closely monitoring plans for a new National
Football League stadium in downtown Los Angeles' South Park
district. While few details had been disclosed at press time, it
appears that the stadium will be located just to the east of Staples
Center. The Conservancy has not yet taken a formal position on the
stadium plan but wants to ensure that its proponents address several
concerns: that any new stadium or associated parking facilities not
result in the demolition of significant historic structures; that
its design creates linkages and positive spillover effects into the
Historic Downtown; and that the project not spell the economic doom
of the region's historic stadiums -- the Coliseum and Rose Bowl.
Because Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas and other community leaders
are again proposing the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as a preferred
stadium site, the Conservancy has also contacted the NFL to indicate
its willingness to work with the League in developing sensitive
alteration proposals to the Coliseum. In 1999, the Conservancy
worked closely with two potential ownership groups on "New Coliseum"
proposals, but the NFL chose Houston over Los Angeles for an
expansion franchise. If the Coliseum is again seriously considered,
the Conservancy will seek to ensure that the site, while becoming a
state-of-the-art venue for football, also retains its important
historic elements such as the famous east entrance peristyle (the
visual symbol of the Coliseum), the grandeur of the stadium's
exterior, and the stadium's defining bowl shape and classical
seating arrangement.
DOWNTOWN REDEVELOPMENT
PLAN
The new stadium proposal was leaked to the press just as the City
Council was completing adoption of a new City Center Redevelopment
Plan for downtown Los Angeles. Contrary to press accounts, the plan
was completely independent of the stadium proposal, had been in the
works for approximately two years, and included broad community
involvement in its preparation. The Conservancy holds an elected
position on the plan's Project Area Committee (PAC). The
redevelopment area, under the auspices of the City's Community
Redevelopment Agency (CRA), does not take large City general fund
appropriations from other parts of the city; it simply allows future
increases in property tax revenues from CRA activities to fund
revitalization activities downtown.
The new redevelopment plan is critical to the Conservancy's goals
of preserving and revitalizing Los Angeles' historic buildings,
since downtown has perhaps the highest concentration of historic
resources in the city. The County of Los Angeles has filed a lawsuit
challenging the plan, arguing that 30 acres around Staples Center
are no longer "blighted" and should therefore be deleted from the
plan area. Although settlement discussions are underway, the lawsuit
could delay the start of the plan's activities. The Conservancy will
remain active in downtown redevelopment issues to ensure that
funding is not drained away to costly new "mega-projects" but
instead focuses on the unfinished business of revitalizing the
long-neglected Historic Downtown.
CLIFF MAY EXPERIMENTAL
HOUSE
A recent, successful landmark nomination by the Conservancy has
halted the substantial alteration of The Experimental House by Cliff
May, the "Father of the Ranch House." May designed the Experimental
House, located in Brentwood's Sullivan Canyon, as his personal
residence and as a laboratory for his cutting edge design ideas. The
Experimental House was designed as the physical embodiment of
"Western Living" (a term used regularly by Sunset Magazine to
indicate a casual, leisure-oriented, outdoor lifestyle) and clearly
shows the fusion of Modern design with Ranch architecture. Of the
five homes that May built and lived in, only four still exist and
the Experimental House had an extraordinary level of integrity.
With the support of Councilmember Cindy Miscikowski, the
Conservancy submitted a City Historic-Cultural Monument application
for the property. Simultaneously, and before the Commission could
consider the nomination, the home's new owner began demolishing the
property's ancillary structures and interior partitions, and also
ripped out the site's significant landscape design. The Monument
application has now been approved by the Cultural Heritage
Commission and City Council. The Conservancy will be meeting with
the owner and her architect to review the proposed changes in order
to ensure that the project meets historic preservation standards.
JOHNIE'S BROILER --
DOWNEY
The Conservancy's Modern Committee has been working with
residents in Downey to save Johnie's Broiler restaurant, a
distinctive "Googie" coffee shop on Firestone Blvd. Johnie's
originally opened as Harvey's Broiler in 1958 before being purchased
and renamed by Cristos Smyrnotis in 1966. By this time, the site had
already become a weekend cruising destination for thousands, and had
been written about by author Tom Wolfe, in his short story "The Hair
Boys."
Last December, Smyrnotis entered into a ten-year property lease
with an adjacent used car dealership, with the understanding that
Johnie's would continue operation as a restaurant. Instead, the new
proprietors gutted the interior and began to disassemble key
elements of the faηade and signage, all without a building permit.
The City of Downey has repeatedly issued stop-work orders, and the
building remains in limbo.
The Modern Committee and the Conservancy have received a large
number of phone calls from Downey residents urging preservation of
the restaurant. Residents in Downey have formed a Save Johnie's
Broiler coalition, calling the site a "roadside icon" and "the heart
and soul of Downey." Because Downey has no local historic
preservation ordinance, the coalition has prepared a California
Register nomination for the site. Click
here to see a picture.
GETTY PRESERVE LA
GRANTS
The 1894 Far East Building in Little Tokyo, Frank Lloyd Wright's
Ennis House, the Rose Garden at Exposition Park, and the Doheny
Mansion of Mount St. Mary's College are among the 18 Los Angeles
County projects that will receive a total of nearly $1.3 million in
grants by the J. Paul Getty Trust as part of its Preserve L.A.
initiative. The Getty Grant Program has played a critical leadership
role in making funding available to preserve Los Angeles County
sites of architectural, cultural, and historic significance. Its
first Preserve LA grants were announced during 2000.
Some of the other sites that received Preserve L.A. grants
include the Lopez Adobe in San Fernando, the three historic homes at
Arcadia's County Arboretum site, the Mount Wilson Observatory, the
McCarty Memorial Christian Church in West Adams, West Hollywood's
R.M. Schindler House, the Neutra VDL Research House in Silver Lake,
and Santa Monica City Hall.
The application deadline for Preserve L.A.'s third grant cycle is
August 20th. Planning grants of up to $75,000 support the
preparation of conservation plans, including research and materials
analysis. Implementation grants of up to $250,000 are awarded to a
select number of model projects for actual stabilization and
conservation of a site. Applications may be obtained through the
Getty Conservation Institute website at www.getty.edu/conservation
or by contacting the Getty Grant Program office at 310-440-7320
