September 2017
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neWS September 2017 • Vol 15 no 3 a remarkable Tour of Santa Monica's Sacred Places ifteen historic places of worship through - Our City’s oldest African-American Fout Santa Monica will be featured at our church, Phillips Chapel was founded in 1906. annual architectural tour on Saturday, Octo - e church adaptively reused a former school ber 7, from 1-5 pm . Sacred Places will ex - building, later remodeled in the 1940s to in - plore the beauty, history and culture of clude commemorative stained glass windows. churches, chapels and a synagogue. Sites were It was designated as a Santa Monica landmark selected for their historical significance, cul - in 2005 to honor its centennial. e large tural diversity, and location in different parts scale of Calvary Baptist Church, also serving of the City. African-Americans, reflects its former mid- Established in 1875, just months after the City population base prior to construction of City's founding, First United Methodist and the 10 Freeway. First Presbyterian both began as small Two churches with predominantly Latino wooden chapels downtown and later evolved congregations will be featured: Saint Anne, into major modern architectural landmarks. founded in 1908, which has an outdoor Also downtown, St. Augustine rose from the shrine; and Iglesia el Sermon del Monte, ashes of a disastrous fire in 1966 that de - which meets in a building originally built as stroyed the original 1887 wooden church. a Baptist church in 1919 with magnificent Nearby, St. Peter and St. Paul Coptic Church stained glass windows. offers a glimpse into ancient Eastern Ortho - is self-driving or biking tour offers sev - dox traditions. Sacred PlaceS continues on page 5 Pilgrim lutheran church Photo: Judy raffel Santa Monica conservancy receives 4th award for update on the civic resource center auditorium & Sports Field he Santa Monica Conservancy's Preser - tive reuse for the community. e City of Santa t the June 27 City Council Meeting, Tvation Resource Center received one of Monica, Fonda-Bonardi and Hohman Archi - aCouncil voted unanimously to support only two Preservation Awards presented at tects, Historic Resources Group, Minardos the “temporary” multipurpose sports field in the 47th Annual Los Angeles Architectural Group and FormLA Landscaping were also rec - place of the surface parking lot on the Civic Awards, hosted by the Los Angeles Business ognized for the Shotgun House project. Center site and to move forward with the Re - Council (LABC) on June 22, at the Beverly Since opening in 2016, the Preservation quest for Proposals (RFP) seeking a develop - Resource Center has welcomed and educated Hilton Hotel. ment team to reimagine, renovate and operate thousands of visitors, and earned awards from e ceremony honored the Conservancy for the Civic Auditorium. e motion included a the California Preservation Foundation, Los its role in saving and rehabilitating a late 1890s parking study intended to plan for the loss of Angeles Conservancy, and Governor’s Office. Shotgun House, which now serves as a LEED parking resulting from the addition of the field Gold educational center and a model of adap - e Conservancy's Preservation Resource Center was one of 45 winning projects selected and an effort to work with current users of the from a competitive pool of over 200 projects, parking, including the Courthouse, and possibly ranging from civic buildings and transportation the Coastal Commission to develop alternatives hubs to commercial office and creative retail. to provide replacement parking as needed. De - Winners were selected by a jury panel represent - veloping plans for additional field space at Me - ing a cross-section of industry experts, including morial Park was also included. representatives from top architectural firms, the We are delighted to see the commitment to City of Los Angeles, developers and engineers. issue an RFP for the Civic Auditorium recon - "e honored projects tonight provide a firmed. However, the one concern that was window into the values we hold dear and pro - not resolved was the softball field overlay pro - The Preservation resource center received a vide a path forward in how we all can improve posed in the staff report, pending additional Preservation award from the los angeles conser - our quality of life through beauty, function, and conversations with the school district. vancy on May 3. clockwise from top left: libby BuSineSS council continues on page 3 ciVic audiToriuM continues on page 4 Pachares, Ken Breisch, John Zinner, Mario Fonda- Bonardi, Peyton Hall, Kaitlin drisko, Karen Ginsberg, carol lemlein, Hilda Weiss and Susan Mccarthy. Preservation Resource Directory, see page 5 ,,, Photo: los angeles conservancy www.smconservancy.org 1 oUR MISSIon MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT e Santa Monica Conservancy is the leading t recently occurred to me that 2017 is the Conservancy's 15-year voice for preserving our historic places. i We promote understanding of the cultural, anniversary, and we have been so busy we've hardly made note of it! social, economic and environmental benefits Volume 1, Number 1 of the newsletter was published in Febru - of historic preservation through education, ary 2003 with lead articles about the "Homeowner's Freedom of assistance and advocacy. Choice Initiative," which threatened to overturn a significant provi - sion of the Landmarks Ordinance and the important Strick House JoIn US on La Mesa Drive, the only house in America designed by renown Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. It had not yet been designated e Santa Monica Conservancy exists because of the involvement and generosity of people and its future was considered uncertain as a new owner, unaware of like you. Become a member today and the home’s significance, planned to demolish it. strengthen our voice for preserving Santa e Conservancy’s first Board had nine members, with Tom Cleys as President, and else - Monica’s architectural and cultural heritage. where in the four pages the entirety of 110 individual and member households were Membership information is available on p. 7. listed! ese were the Board members at that time: Ken Breisch Arlene Hopkins Bea Nemlaha Bruce Cameron Sherrill Kushner Doris Sosin tHE BoaRD oF DIRECtoRS Tom Cleys Lori Nafshun Pam Vavra Carol Lemlein, President We have come a long way in 15 years. Looking back at just this past year, the very strong Sherrill Kushner, Vice-President historic preservation policies in the recently passed Downtown Community Plan (DCP), John Zinner, Vice-President is one thing we will remember with great pride. As I mentioned last issue, the DCP pro - Tom Cleys, Treasurer poses the strongest protections yet for the historic downtown buildings identified in the Kaitlin Drisko, Secretary Historic Resource Inventory. Michael W. Folonis, FAIA Many members may not be aware of how the Conservancy’s Board and Advocacy Com - Mario Fonda-Bonardi, AIA mittee have worked for years with the Landmarks Commission and staff to make some of Nina Fresco these new protections possible. One example is use of the California State Historical Build - Chris Gray ing Code (CHBC), which can save important historic features and provide significant cost David Kaplan savings for property owners. Many project teams have not known the historic code was Ruthann Lehrer available to them. Further, when it was requested, expensive delays in project approval Meighan Maguire often resulted. e new DCP specifies that planning staff will promote and expedite use of Libby Motika the code for HRI-listed properties, wording explicitly requested by the Conservancy. Libby Pachares For instance, without use of the CHBC, the front entrance and interior doorways of the Shot - Laurel Schmidt gun House (which meet CHBC requirements for accessibility) would have been required to be Emeritus Board Members: reconstructed to meet current code, resulting in increased costs and a loss of historic integrity. Ken Breisch, Ph.D. is effort is far from over, however, and you will continue to see our Board and other Con - Doris Sosin servancy representatives at Landmarks, Planning Commission and Council meetings– the visi - ble “tip of the iceberg” of our advocacy. e next major effort will be the update of the ContaCt US Landmarks Ordinance, which both the Landmarks Commission and the Conservancy have been trying to improve for over a decade. Website: www.smconservancy.org We do our best to keep up with preservation issues and needs, but your help in identifying E-mail: info@smconservancy.org concerns and supporting solutions is essential. ank you for making these successes possible! Voicemail: (310) 496-3146 Mail: P.O.Box 653 Santa Monica, CA 90406 Visit the Preservation Resource Center: remembering Jeanne cherry 2520 2nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90405 e are saddened to report the passing of Leadership Open Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday WCircle member Jeanne Cherry and send our heartfelt 11 am - 2 pm and by appointment condolences to her husband Jim and their family. We first met Jeanne a few years ago when we announced tHE nEWSLEttER StaFF a fundraiser at the 1913 Bundy House, the landmark home Amy Green Carol Lemlein of America’s first Wimbledon champion, May Sutton Tom Hofer Libby Pachares Bundy, and her husband, national tennis champion omas Sherrill Kushner Robin Tung Bundy. Ruthann Lehrer Hilda Weiss Jeanne not only attended, but also generously provided historical memorabilia from her own collection and that of Jeanne cherry (far left) with May is newsletter is supported in part by a the Southern California Tennis Association. She was a won - cheney, the granddaughter of May grant from the City of Santa Monica and derful supporter of the Conservancy and her presence will Sutton Bundy, as well as May's hus - the Santa Monica Arts Commission. band, nick newberry, at the Bundy be missed. Salon in 2014. Photo: rich Schmitt 2 September 2017 VolunTeer ProFile Shannon ryan By Robin Tung community building and involvement.