City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning Office of Historic Resources

JULY 2010 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 Cultural Heritage Commission Works to Preserve Historic Bridges

With the release of the Environmental Impact Report this project would result in an adverse effect and loss of (EIR) for the proposed widening of the North Spring the bridge’s landmark designation. Street Bridge (HCM #900), the Cultural Heritage The monumental Los Angeles River bridges between Commission has expressed concerns about the po- Downtown and Griffith tential loss of his- Park are some of the toric status for this City’s most iconic land- and other landmark marks, with 14 bridges L.A. River bridges. designated as Historic- The bridge project Cultural Monuments, as proposed would including the North widen the deck by Spring Street Bridge. 20’ feet on each side, Constructed in 1927 near nearly doubling the the original site of Los size of the current Angeles’ founding, the bridge. It would North Spring Street remove historic rail- bridge sits in one of the ings, light fixtures, most historically rich and brackets, ob- areas of the city, located scure the double- The N. Spring Street Bridge is one of two Historic-Cultural Monu- between two of the oldest ment bridges faced with potential loss of historic status arch span over the Los Angeles River river, and incorpo- Bridges: the North Main rate new additions that mimic the historic features Street Bridge (1910) and the North Broadway-Buena lost through the widening. The EIR concluded that

(Continued on page 2) Inside this issue:

HPOZ Program Moves to the OHR LAX Theme Building 2 Rehabilitation

As part of a major reorganization of Bureau, who spent a small amount of SurveyLA Year 1 Survey’s the Department of City Planning, the time on HPOZs while also handling 3 City’s staffing for Historic Preserva- other planning assignments. Launched tion Overlay Zones (HPOZs), or his- Because HPOZ review requires spe- OHR Receives State Grants 3 toric districts, will come under the full cialized knowledge of historic preser- direction of the Office of Historic vation, the reorganization will concen- Thank You, Gail Goldberg 4 Resources for the first time in August. trate the HPOZ planners in a single 4 The City’s HPOZ program has experi- division, under the direction of the Survey LA Wins Planning enced explosive growth in recent OHR. Five planners will staff the 25 Award years, increasing from eight HPOZs in HPOZs on a full-time basis rather 4 1998 to 25 districts today. Since 2006, than the previous system which had as Interns Join OHR the OHR’s staff has provided policy many as 16 planners devoting a frac- City Acquires Oakridge 5 direction and training to the HPOZ tion of their time to HPOZs. program; however, the day-to-day Estate The new section will report to the staffing and case processing for OHR’s Manager Ken Bernstein, and 6 HPOZs has been provided by plan- New HCMs ners from the Community Planning (Continued on page 2) Page 2 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 Historic Bridges (Continued)

(Continued from page 1) trict 1 to continue developing alternatives that would protect the historic designation of the bridge while meeting the goals of Vista Bridge (1911). The North Spring Street Bridge has been the project. determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, The Commission and the OHR are also closely monitoring the is listed in the California Register of Historical Resources, and proposed demolition and replacement of the Sixth Street was designated as Historic-Cultural Monument #900 in 2008. Bridge (HCM #905), constructed in 1932. The bridge, nearly At hearings held on April 15 and June 3, the Cultural Heritage 2/3 of a mile long, is the largest and longest bridge constructed Commission heard from community stakeholders and voted to over the L.A. River. Unfortunately, the bridge is suffering approve letters to the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineer- structurally from Alkali Silica Reaction (ASR), a chemical reac- ing (BOE) detailing the Commission’s opposition to the pro- tion that is causing destruction to the bridge’s concrete. ject as currently proposed. These communications also pro- While it appears likely that the ASR will require replacement of posed further study of alternatives that would safeguard the the bridge’s concrete, the Cultural Heritage Commission has historic designation of the bridge, such as a separate pedes- requested that BOE fully evaluate a reconstruction alternative trian/bicycle bridge or a more modest widening with sufficient consistent with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards, akin to retention of historic fabric. the approach taken in Pasadena during the early 1990s with the The staff of the Office of Historic Resources (OHR) is now Colorado Street Bridge over the Arroyo Seco. If reconstruc- working closely with representatives of BOE and Council Dis- tion is not feasible, the Commission has requested that BOE consider partial preservation alternatives that maximize reten- LAX’S LANDMARK THEME tion of the bridge’s key historic features. BOE may be bringing the bridge project to the board of Public Works and City Coun- BUILDING REOPENS cil for approval during August. The landmark Theme Please contact Edgar Garcia, Preservation Planner with the Building, home to the Office of Historic Resources, at 213-978-1189 for more infor- Jetson-esque Encounter mation regarding the current efforts to preserve the city’s his- Restaurant, reopened toric bridges. on July 10 with a rib- bon-cutting ceremony attended by Mayor An- HPOZ Move (continued) tonio Villaraigosa, Cul- tural Heritage Com- missioner Roella H. Photo: Michael Zara (Continued from page 1)

Louie, and the OHR’s Preservation Architect Lambert Giessinger. The building was will be under the direction of City Planner Craig Weber, who closed to the public for nine years for security reasons follow- has several years of experience in staffing HPOZs. He will ing the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and went oversee four other full-time HPOZ planners: Matthew Glesne, through a significant seismic retrofit and upgrade after a 1,000– Steven Wechsler, Antonio Isaia, and Nora Dresser. pound piece of stucco fell from an arch in 2007. One of the first major tasks for the new HPOZ Section is to The structure is one of the most recognized buildings in the take forward 17 Preservation Plans for approval by the City United States, featuring four 135-foot high parabolic steel Planning Commission this fall for those HPOZs that currently arches intersecting each other at 90 degree angles, and is sur- lack such plans. The Department of City Planning has given rounded by a courtyard with plaques commemorating the each HPOZ Board a three-month period, ending on August 1, opening of the new jet-age airport in 1961. The Theme building to craft tailored design guidelines that build upon a citywide was completed in August 1961. template. The new Plans will greatly assist the OHR and the Boards in providing expeditious review for those proposals that In 1992, the Cultural Heritage Commission considered the in- are clearly in conformance with these guidelines. clusion of the Airport Theme Building as an excellent and en- during example of modern futuristic architecture fulfilling its Please welcome the new HPOZ staff as they begin their work role of symbolically representing Los Angeles as an interna- in the coming weeks; they are eager to learn more about the tional city. It was declared Historic-Cultural Monument No. unique architectural heritage and community concerns within 570 in 1993. each neighborhood. Page 3 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3

SurveyLA Year 1 Surveys OHR Receives Two Launched State Grants for 2010-11

SurveyLA’s initiation phase has The City of Los Angeles has been awarded two Certified Local come to a close and the imple- Government (CLG) grants this year by the State Office of His- mentation phase has now be- toric Preservation. The grants total $50,000 and will be used gun. During this phase, historic to assist the OHR in completing SurveyLA, the citywide his- preservation professionals will toric resources survey. work with the OHR to com- The first grant focuses on plete field surveys throughout developing the industrial Los Angeles over a multi-year Weatherwolde Castle, HCM context for SurveyLA’s period. The field surveys #841, Tujunga Historic Context State- follow the Phasing Plan de- ment. The context will veloped for SurveyLA, which is organized by Community Plan provide field surveyors Area (CPA). The first phase of survey work, begun earlier this with the information they month, is headed by Historic Resources Group of Hollywood need to identify and and includes the following three CPA’s: Hollywood; West Ad- evaluate industrial re- ams-Baldwin Hills-Leimert; and Sunland-Tujunga-Lake View sources in themes relating Terrace-Shadow Hills-East La Tuna Canyon. to industrial types and Surveyors at work in the field Field surveyors are working in teams of two throughout these architectural styles, key areas and are conducting the industries and industrial firms that shaped Los Angeles, and surveys from the public right- industrial work culture including ethnic and gender groups that of-way using tablet PCs and formed the work force. digital cameras. The OHR has The second grant will help the OHR implement the SurveyLA been working with several or- Public Participation and Outreach Program. The program fo- ganizations and individuals in cuses on working with neighborhood groups and individuals to these areas to identify potential collect specific information about potential historic resources historic resources to be in- that should be included in the field surveys. Clark Library, HCM #28, cluded in the surveys. This is the fourth consecutive year that Los Angeles has re- West Adams It is not too late to participate; ceived CLG grants, and Los Angeles is the only local govern- if you have any information ment in California to receive two grants. about historic resources in these or other areas of Los Angeles please contact Janet Hansen at 213-978-1191. For detailed in- formation on the Phasing Plan and the specific neighborhoods covered by the Phase 1 surveys see the “Follow SurveyLA” page of the SurveyLA website at www.surveyla.org.

What is SurveyLA?

SurveyLA: The Los Angeles Historic Resources Survey Project is the first-ever comprehensive inventory of our city’s historic resources.

The survey findings will have a multiplicity of benefits and uses: it will help direct future growth, shape the revision of Los Angeles’ 35 Community Plans, streamline environmental review processes, provide opportunities for public education, assist in disaster planning, and spur heritage tourism and the marketing of historic neighborhoods and properties.

The J. Paul Getty Trust and the City of Los Angeles have entered into a grant agreement for SurveyLA under which the Getty has committed to providing up to $2.5 million to the project, subject to matching requirements by the City. Field surveys and evalua- tions will occur from 2010 through 2012. The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) is also providing technical and advisory support for SurveyLA. For more information visit the SurveyLA website, www.SurveyLA.org. Page 4 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 Thank You, Gail Goldberg!

S. Gail Goldberg, AICP, who has served as the City of Los port of historic preservation as a key component of planning Angeles’ Director of Planning since 2006, announced her retire- and economic development. ment on June 30. Under her tenure, the Office of Historic Re- Ms. Goldberg, who was formerly Planning Director in San sources became Los Angeles’ first full-service historic preserva- Diego, will remain in Los Angeles and continue to be deeply tion office and a Certified Local Government for preservation. engaged in planning issues here. The staff of the OHR and the The Office of Historic Resources owes a great debt of gratitude Cultural Heritage Commission look forward to continuing to to her for her visionary leadership and for her consistent sup- work with her as she takes on new challenges.

SurveyLA Wins Planning OHR Interns Make a Award Difference

The Survey LA Public Participation Program has won the Edu- The OHR is benefiting from the work of five new interns this cation Award from the Los Angeles Chapter of the American summer: Planning Association, given at the APA’s annual awards cere- Aileen Babakhani recently arrived in Los mony, held this year on June 23 at North Hollywood’s El Por- Angeles with extensive experience in cultural tal Theatre. heritage in Iran. She has a Master’s Degree in historic restoration and rehabilitation The SurveyLA Public Participation Program includes several from the University of Tehran, and later distinct but integrated components, many of which are available served on the faculty of the University of for viewing on the SurveyLA web site: the SurveyLA Video, Mazandaran, Iran, teaching history of archi- multilingual brochures (in Spanish, Korean and Chinese), the tecture, conservation methods, and survey MyHistoricLA Guide to Public Participation in SurveyLA, and documentation of historic buildings. the SurveyLA web site, the Office of Historic Resources' E- She worked full-time in Tehran for the Iranian Cultural Heri- Newsletter, and the SurveyLA Volunteer Program and Vol- tage and Tourism Organization as a senior expert on restora- unteer Speakers Bureau. tion and conservation of historic buildings and sites. Taken together, the Public Participation Program represents the Steve Duncan is a Master’s student in first initiative Public History at UC Riverside, with a con- ever to engage centration in Urban History. He is a communities in graduate of Columbia University, where he historic preser- majored in Urban Studies and English. In New York, Steve worked as a founder and vation in every editor of Opus Publishing, which devel- corner of Los oped city maps and guides for New York. Angeles. This He has been a photographer and author for Undercity.org on program previ- industrial archaeology and urban history and has been an on- ously won a camera host for Urban Explorers on the Discovery Channel. Preservation Dan Riggin brings a strong architec- Award from the Ken Bernstein, Rita Moreno, & Janet Hansen accepting the 2010 APA-LA Education Award tural background to the OHR, where he Los Angeles is assisting the office’s work on the Conservancy HPOZ program and HPOZ Preserva- (see April 2010 issue). tion Plans. Dan is a graduate of the The Office of Historic Resources thanks the American Plan- University of Southern California with a ning Association for this significant honor. B.A. in Architecture and a Master’s in Building Science, with a Historic Preser- vation Certificate. He has work experi- ence in several architectural firms, including Gruen Associates and Shlemmer Algaze Architects.

(Continued on page 5) Page 5 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 City of Los Angeles Acquires Historic Oakridge Estate

The City of Los Angeles has acquired Oakridge, City Historic- entire nine-acre estate last December with Quimby funds (fees Cultural Monument # 484, which is perhaps the last remaining collected from local development projects). vestige of the North San Fernando Valley’s era of celebrity- Councilmember Greig Smith spearheaded the acquisition and is owned ranchettes. working closely with a new community advisory board, the Oakridge, located at 18650 Department of Recreation and Parks, the Bureau of Engineer- Devonshire Ave. in North- ing, and the Office of Historic Resources to develop plans for ridge, was designed in 1937 by reuse of the property. Councilmember Smith and the City de- architect Paul R. Williams, the partments envision Oakridge as a City park, community event first African-American architect space, and, potentially, a showcase for the San Fernando Val- admitted to the American Insti- ley’s storied Hollywood past. tute of Architects. The home, one of Williams’ few works in the San Fernando Valley, was designed for actress Barbara Stanwyck in a French-English re- vival style. Stanwyck had entered into a business venture with Zeppo Marx to buy 140 acres at this location to breed thor- oughbred horses – a venture that they called Marwyck Ranch, located in an area then considered the “Horse Capital of the West.” By 1940, Stanwyck had married actor Robert Taylor and sold the ranch to actor Jack Oakie (pictured at right) and his wife, Victoria. Interns (Continued) The Oakies entertained Holly- wood celebrities at the home for decades. While most of the (Continued from page 4) ranch property was sold off for Luis Torres is the OHR’s Getty Multicul- development, the Oakies retained tural Summer Intern, supported by a grant ownership of nine acres sur- from the Getty Foundation. Luis, a resi- rounding the Oakridge home. dent of South Los Angeles, graduated in Jack Oakie died in 1978, and Vic- June with a Bachelor of Architecture degree toria Oakie donated the home to from Cal Poly Pomona, where he won nu- the University of Southern California in 2003, more than a dec- merous awards and scholarships. He has ade after she successfully nominated her home for Monument been an active participant in community status. activities with the Los Angeles Urban League, Habitat for Hu- In recent years, several acres behind the main home and its manity, and St. Francis Community Center. improved grounds had been proposed for a residential subdivi- Alycia Seaman Witzling has a Master’s sion. The residential project would have kept intact the house Degree in Urban and Regional Planning itself, as well as approximately two acres of its grounds, includ- from UC Irvine, and a B.A. in International ing the front and rear Relations from UC Davis. She served for yard, swimming over three years as a Senior Field Represen- pool, tennis courts, tative for California Assemblymember Lloyd and oak and pepper E. Levine. She has also worked as an Envi- trees. However, af- ronmental Planning Intern for the Port of ter two successive Long Beach and as a Student Professional Worker for the De- developers experi- partment of City Planning, where she helped develop the pro- enced financial prob- posed Cornfields/Arroyo Seco Specific Plan (CASP). lems, the City was able to purchase the Page 6 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 Los Angeles’ Newest Historic-Cultural Monuments

Frank C. Hill House (201 South Coronado Street), film producer Leon Barsha. Clad in HCM#980. smooth stucco with unadorned wall ex- This one-story split-level single- panses, the building’s exterior is charac- family home in the Westlake com- terized by horizontal ribbons of steel munity, built in 1910, was designed casement windows. in the Craftsman style by Albert R. Spreckels Building (322-24 West Walker and John C. Vawter for Seventh St. and 708-16 South Hill St.), HCM#984. attorney and businessman Frank C. Built in 1922 and located in the Down- Hill. Walker later partnered with town area, this seven-story commercial Percy A. Eisen to design landmarks such as the Oviatt Build- building exhibits character-defining ing (HCM #195). This L-shaped bungalow has a low pitched features of Beaux-Arts style architec- gable roof with flared tips often seen in Japanese architecture. ture. The building was constructed for Margaret and Harry Hay House (332 North Oakcrest the real estate firm of Dunn & Williams Drive), HCM #981 of San Francisco, which sold the build- Constructed in 1939 and located ing in 1924 to prominent real estate entrepreneurs John and in the Hollywood Hills, this two- Adolph Spreckels. The building is a well-preserved example of story single-family home was Beaux-Arts style commercial architecture and was significantly designed in the International associated with the commercial and financial development of Style by master architect Gregory Downtown. Ain. The house was commis- Sun Realty Company Building (629-33 South Hill Street), sioned by Harry Hay for his HCM#985. mother, Margaret Hay. Harry Hay, a writer, teacher, political Built in 1930 and located in Downtown Los activist and gay rights advocate, was a founder of the Mat- Angeles, this 13-story commercial building tachine Society, the earliest homosexual rights group in the exhibits character-defining features of Art United States (1950); early meetings of the Society took place Deco style architecture. The building is rec- at this house. tangular in plan with a primary façade clad in Gless Farmhouse (131 South Boyle Street), HCM#982. green terra cotta facing S. Hill Street. The The Gless Farmhouse in Boyle recessed center bay’s decorative terra cotta Heights, built in 1887, is an enduring parapet features highly stylized geometric example of Queen Anne style archi- sunburst, chevron, and floral designs. tecture and is associated with several Lento Brick Court (1288 West Sunset Boulevard), HCM pioneer members of the Gless Family #986 who were influential in the early de- Lento Brick Court, located in Echo velopment of Boyle Heights. This Park, was designed in 1928 by Con- two-story residential building’s exte- rad Martin Ellington and Frank B. rior features clapboard and fish scale siding, decorative spin- Chambers. This complex is an excel- dlework and brackets, a two-story square tower lighted by lent example of courtyard housing, cutaway bay windows, and raised wraparound porches. with Renaissance Revival style fea- Barsha House (302 North Mesa Road), HCM#983. tures. Exhibiting a “U court” plan Built in 1938 and located in the Santa Monica Canyon area of arranged on a downward slope, the Pacific Palisades , the house was designed by master architect site consists of five buildings, two two-story and three one- Richard Neutra (with P. Pfisterer listed as a collaborator) for story, with ground-level storefronts on Sunset Blvd.

Office of Historic Resources Staff: Office of Historic Resources Ken Bernstein, Manager Department of City Planning Janet Hansen, Deputy Manager 200 N. Spring Street, Room 620 Lambert Giessinger, Preservation Architect Los Angeles, CA 90012 Edgar Garcia, Preservation Planner (213) 978-1200