Chc-2016-1074-Hcm Env-2016-1075-Hcm
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Los Angeles Department of City Planning RECOMMENDATION REPORT CULTURAL HERITAGE COMMISSION CASE NO.: CHC-2016-1074-HCM ENV-2016-1075-HCM HEARING DATE: May 19, 2016 Location: 101 S. Fickett Street TIME: 10:00 AM Council District: 14 PLACE: City Hall, Room 1010 Community Plan Area: Boyle Heights 200 N. Spring Street Area Planning Commission: East Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 90012 Neighborhood Council: Boyle Heights Legal Description: Kittredge’s Subdivision of a Portion of Lot 5 Block 73 Hancocks Survey, Lots FR 7 and 8 PROJECT: Historic-Cultural Monument Application for the JAPANESE HOSPITAL REQUEST: Declare the property a Historic-Cultural Monument OWNER: Luzviminda Mondonedo 3344 Oakmont View Dr. Glendale, CA 91208 APPLICANT: Little Tokyo Historical Society, Michael Okamura 319 E. Second St. Suite 203 Los Angeles, CA 90012 PREPARER: Little Tokyo Historical Society, Kristen Hayashi 319 E. Second St. Suite 203 Los Angeles, CA 90012 RECOMMENDATION That the Cultural Heritage Commission: 1. Take the property under consideration as a Historic-Cultural Monument per Los Angeles Administrative Code Chapter 9, Division 22, Article 1, Section 22.171.10 because the application and accompanying photo documentation suggest the submittal warrants further investigation. 2. Adopt the report findings. VINCENT P. BERTONI, AICP Director of PlanningN1907 [SIGNED ORIGINAL IN FILE] [SIGNED ORIGINAL IN FILE] Ken Bernstein, AICP, Manager Lambert M. Giessinger, Preservation Architect Office of Historic Resources Office of Historic Resources [SIGNED ORIGINAL IN FILE] Shannon Ryan, City Planning Associate Office of Historic Resources Attachments: Historic-Cultural Monument Application CHC-2016-1074-HCM 101 S. Fickett St. Page 2 of 3 SUMMARY The 1929 Japanese Hospital is located on the southwest corner of Fickett and First Street in Boyle Heights and was formed to provide healthcare to Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans during a period in Los Angeles history when Japanese and other minority groups were discriminated against and denied treatment at public healthcare facilities. In 1926, led by Doctor Kikuwo Tashiro, a group of Japanese doctors (Daishiro Luroiwa, Fusataro Nayaka, Toru Ozasa, and Matsuta Takahashi) combined their savings to lease land to build a hospital. The effort received overwhelming support and funding from the Japanese community. However, when the group went to formally incorporate the hospital, California Secretary of State Frank C. Jordan barred the incorporation. In his decision, Jordan cited the 1911 Treaty of Commerce that established the rights of Japanese nationals living in the United States, claiming that Japanese nationals were not allowed to incorporate and to lease land. The group of physicians hired attorney Jacob Marion Wright, a trusted ally of the Japanese community and an advocate for civil rights, to represent them in their appeal to the California Supreme Court. In the case Tashiro v. Jordan, they argued that the 1911 Treaty of Commerce was broadly ambiguous and that a precedent had already been established since many Japanese were already allowed to lease land for their stores. The California State Supreme Court agreed with the arguments and overturned Jordan’s denial of the hospital’s incorporation. Jordan went on to appeal the decision to the United States Supreme Court. In 1928, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision and in 1929, after many years of struggle, the hospital was incorporated and began construction. Japanese architect Yos Hirose designed the hospital in the Streamline Moderne style. It was originally built as a two-story, T-shaped masonry building with a flat roof and tower. It featured state of the art equipment and facilities including an x-ray lab and major operating room. Alterations to the building in 1966 and 1970 include an L-shaped addition that wraps around the north and west facades and a partial third story addition. While the building has been altered it continues to retain some character-defining features of the Streamline Moderne style such as smooth stucco exterior cladding, a flat roofline with a zig-zag parapet, a slightly projecting Streamline Moderne-inspired central entrance along the east façade, and metalwork on and above the center second-story balcony featuring torch motifs. Hirose was born in Nagasaki, Japan in 1882. He immigrated to the United States in 1903 at the age of twenty-one. From 1911-1915, he attended the Armor Institute of Illinois and earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture. Soon after completing his degree, Hirose migrated to Los Angeles and began working as an architect, draftsman, and engineer. Hirose lived in Boyle Heights and most of his work was completed in Boyle Heights and Little Tokyo. His work includes the Koyasan Buddhist Temple on First Street in Little Tokyo and Tenrikyo Junior Church of America on First Street in Boyle Heights. In the spring of 1942, Yos Hirose was interned with his fellow Japanese-Americans at Poston in Arizona. During the Japanese internment, the hospital could not be seized by third parties or the government because it had been incorporated. Arrangements were made to lease the building to the Seventh-day Adventist Church's White Memorial Hospital until the conclusion of the war. In 1962, the Japanese Hospital closed and a larger facility in Lincoln Heights, City View Hospital, was opened. Since that time the building has continued to be used as a medical facility. The Japanese Hospital was identified in the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency’s 2008 Adelante Eastside Redevelopment Area Intensive Historic Resources Survey as eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register, as well as CHC-2016-1074-HCM 101 S. Fickett St. Page 3 of 3 eligible for local Historic-Cultural Monument designation under the contexts of Ethnic/Cultural and Gender Identity and Public and Private Health and Medicine. CRITERIA The criterion is the Cultural Heritage Ordinance which defines a historical or cultural monument as any site (including significant trees or other plant life located thereon) building or structure of particular historic or cultural significance to the City of Los Angeles, such as historic structures or sites in which the broad cultural, economic, or social history of the nation, State or community is reflected or exemplified, or which are identified with historic personages or with important events in the main currents of national, State or local history or which embody the distinguishing characteristics of an architectural type specimen, inherently valuable for a study of a period style or method of construction, or a notable work of a master builder, designer or architect whose individual genius influenced his age. FINDINGS Based on the facts set forth in the summary and application, the Commission determines that the application is complete and that the property may be significant enough to warrant further investigation as a potential Historic-Cultural Monument. CITY OF LOS ANGELES Office of Historic Resources/Cultural Heritage Commission .. JMENT NOMINATION FORM 1. PROPERTY IDENTIFICATION Proposed Monument Name: Japanese Hospital I Original historic name i Other Associated Names: Japanese Memorial Hospital i . Street Address: 101 S. Fickett Street I Zip: 90033 Council District: 14 Range of Addresses on Property: 2534 E. First Street Community Name: Boyle Heights Identification cont'd: Natural Pr-;;;sed · M~n u~ -----;--~:l. ding··i--~~~ uc~ ure 1--- ~~~c t Site/Open Space ,_ Property_ Ty ~:._____ _ ___ ___ _ _ -·, Feature Describe any additional resources located on the property to be included in the nomination, here: ----------~-------- - - ·--- 2. CONSTRUCTION HISTORY & CURRENT STATUS Year built: 1929 e Factual Estimated I Threatened? Private Development ·- ___ ,,,,,. ..........,.,,,,,, . · .~--..,,.., ----- --------- ---1· ·· -~~ ·· ~· · -··· -~ .,·~ - --··~"-" --~ ~ Architect/Designer: Vos Hirose Contractor: Vos Hirose Original Use: Hospital Present Use: Hom e for the aged or others Is the Proposed Monument on its Original Site? e Yes No (explain in section 7) Unknown (explain in section 7) L. - ~· --- .. _. ---------- 3. STYLE & MATERIALS ··--1 1 Architectural Style: Streamline Moderne I Stories: 3 Plan Shape: T-shaped ---r-··-J..-....-- ,--FEATURE I PRIMARY SECONDARY -------l-- ' CONSTRUCTION Type: Concrete poured/precast lrype-: -S~lec~ - --··· --·-t---- CLADDING Material: Stucco, smooth IMaterial: Select t---- ~· - -- -- - I I I Type: Flat I Type: ROOF -+-I ~at~~~al:-· -· ·-·Se;:; ------- ~------ --- 1 Type: Double-hung ' WINDOWS I Material: -· ----- ~ aterial: Wood ----r' 1 ENTRY ____j Style: Centered I Style: DOOR j Type: Glass Type: CITY OF LOS ANGELES Office of Historic Resources/Cultural Heritage Commission ~TO Lf Fr L ..,,Q LJMENT NOMINATION FORM 4. ALTERATION HISTORY List date and write a brief description of any major alterations or additions. This section may also be completed on a separate document. Include copies of permits in the nomination packet. Make sure to list any major alterations for which there are no permits, as well. 1966 Parapet construction. External stairway added on south elevation. 1966-70 Partial third story added on east elevation. 1970 2-story addition on north and west elevations to accomodate 34 beds. Parking lot added. 1971 Addition of a storage unit on the southwest corner. 5. EXISTING HISTORIC RESOURCE IDENTIFICATION (if known) Listed in the National Register of Historic Places Listed in the California