Poetry at Coffee Ouse

DEPARTMENT OF EXECUTIVE OFFICES CITY PLANNING OFFICE OF HISTORIC RESOURCES S. GAIL GOLDBERG, AICP DIRECTOR 200 N. SPRING STREET, RooM 620 Los ANGIUS, CA 90012-4801 CITY OF Los ANGELES (213) 978-1271 (213) 978-1200 CALIFORNIA VINCENT P. BERTONI, AICP DEPUTY DIRECTOR CULTURAL HERITAGE COMMISSION (213) 978-1272 RICHARD BARRON EVA YUAN-MCDANIEL PRESIDENT DEPUTY DIRECTOR ROELLA H. LOUIE (213) 978-1273 VICE-PRESIDENT FAX: (21 3) 978-1275 GLEN C. DAKE MIA M. LEHRER OZ SCOTT INFORMATION (213) 978-1270 www.planning.lacity.org FELY C. PINGOL ANTONIO R. VILLARAIGOSA COMMISSION EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT MAYOR (213) 978-1294 Date .JAN 2 7 2010 Los Angeles City Council Room 395, City Hall 200 North Spring Street Los Angeles, California 90012 ATTENTION: Patricia Lattimore, Legislative Assistant Planning and Land Use Management Committee CASE NUMBER: CHC-2009-2840-HCM VENICE WEST CAFE 321 S. OCEAN FRONT WALK At the Cultural Heritage Commission meeting of January 7, 2010, the Commission moved to include the above property in the list of Historic-Cultural Monument, subject to adoption by the City Council. As required under the provisions of Section 22.171.10 of the Los Angeles Administrative Code, the Commission has solicited opinions and information from the office of the Council District in which the site is located and from any Department or Bureau of the city whose operations may be affected by the designation of such site as a Historic-Cultural Monument. Such designation in and of itself has no fiscal impact. Future applications for permits may cause minimal administrative costs. The City Council, according to the guidelines set forth in Section 22.171 of the Los Angeles Administrative Code, shall act on the proposed inclusion to the list within 90 days of the Council or Commission action, whichever first occurs. By resolution, the Council may extend the period for good cause for an additional 15 days. The Cultural Heritage Commission would appreciate your inclusion of the subject modification to the list of Historic-Cultural Monuments upon adoption by the City Council. The above Cultural Heritage Commission action was taken by the following vote: Moved: Commissioner Louie Seconded: Commissioner Scott Ayes: Commissioners Barron Absent: Commissioners Dake and Lehrer Vote: 3-0 gol, Commission Executive Assistant Cultural Heritage Commission Attachment: Staff Report with Findings c: Councilmember Bill Rosendahl, Eleventh Council District James Adelstein Charles Fisher and Alan Leib DEPARTMENT OF EXECUTIVE OFFICES CITY PlANNING CITY OF Los ANGEL S S. GAIL GOLDBERG, AICP OFFICE OF HISTORIC RESOURCES CALIFORNIA 200 N. SPRING STREET, ROOM 620 DIRECTOR Los ANGElES, CA 90012-4801 (213) 978-1271 (213) 978-1200 VINCENT P. BERTONI, AICP DEPUTY DIRECTOR CULTURAL HERITAGE COMMISSION (213) 978-1272 RICHARD BARRON EVA YUAN-MCDANIEL PRESIDENT DEPUTY DIRECTOR ROELLA H. LOUIE (213) 978-1273 VICE-PRESIDENT FAX: (213) 978-1275 GLEN C. DAKE 4 MIA M. LEHRER ozscon ANTONIO R. VILLARAIGOSA INFORMATION MAYOR (213)978-1270 www.planning.ladty.org FEL Y C. PINGOL COMMISSION EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT (213) 978-1294 Date JAN 2 7 2010 James Adelstein 200 N. Laurel Avenue CERTIFIED MAIL Los Angeles, CA 90048 RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED CASE NUMBER: CHC-2009-2840-HCM VENICE WEST CAFE 321 S. OCEAN FRONT WALK As you will note from the attached copy of our communication to the Los Angeles City Council, the Cultural Heritage Commission has moved to include the above-referenced property in the list of Historic Cultural Monuments, subject to adoption by the City Council. In due course, our transmittal will be given a council file number and will be referred to the Council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee for review and recommendation. If you are interested in attending the Council Committee meeting, you should call Ms. Patricia Lattimore (213) 978-1074 for information as to the time and place of the Committee and City Council meetings regarding this matter. Please give Ms. Lattimore at least one week from the date of this letter to schedule this item on the Committee Agenda before you call her. i gel, Commission Executive Assistant Cultural Heritage Commission /fcp Attachment: CHC Declaration Letter to Council and Staff Report with Findings C: GIS Charles Fisher and Alan Leib Los Angeles Department of City Planning RECOMMENDATION REPORT CULTURAL HERITAGE COMMISSION CASE NO.: CHC-2009-2840-HCM ENV-2009-2859-CE HEARING DATE: January 7, 201 0 Location: 321 S. Ocean Front Walk TIME: 10:00 AM Council District: 11 PLACE: City Hall, Room 101 0 Community Plan Area: Venice 200 N. Spring Street Area Planning Commission: West Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Neighborhood Council: Venice 90012 Legal Description: Lot 227, BLK 3 of Golden Bay Tract PROJECT: Historic-Cultural Monument Application for the VENICE WEST CAFE REQUEST: Declare the property a Historic-Cultural Monument APPLICANT: Charles Fisher and Alan Leib 140 S. Avenue 57 Los Angeles, CA 90026 OWNER: James Adelstein, Vice President 200 N. Laurel Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90048 RECOMMENDATION That the Cultural Heritage Commission: 1. Declare the property a Historic-Cultural Monument per Los Angeles Administrative Code Chapter 9, Division 22, Article 1, Section 22.171.7 2. Adopt the report findings. S. GAIL GOLDBERG, AICP . - Di~t::kr Ken Bernstein, AICP, Manager Lambert M. Giessinger, Preservation Architect Office of Historic Resources Office of Historic Resources Attachments: June, 2009 Historic-Cultural Monument Application ZIMAS Report 321 S. Ocean Front Walk CHC-2009-2840-HCM Page 2 of 4 FINDINGS The building reflects "the broad cultural, economic, or social history of the nation, State or community" for its association with the Venice West Cafe (1958-1966) and the development of 1 mid-20 h century Bohemian counter-culture in the Venice community of Los Angeles. 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. SUMMARY Constructed in 1922 and located on the Venice Boardwalk, this one-story commercial building exhibits character-defining features of Commercial Vernacular architecture. Located at the intersection of Dudley Avenue and Ocean Front Walk, the flat-roofed subject building follows a rectangular plan with a slightly rounded corner. Eleven storefronts are located are located on the building's exterior, four facing the boardwalk and seven on Dudley Avenue. A small parapet at the top of the building is surmounted by a concrete cap. The building is sheathed primarily in rough brick with white glazed brick used to accentuate the roofline, storefronts, and window openings. Windows are metal and wood single and multi-pane fixed casement and clerestory windows. The entry features a recessed square porch with plate glass windows to the left side and a flat wooden offset to the right door. The original builder or possible architect is unknown. In 1958, Stuart Perkoff, a poet, opened the Venice West Cafe at storefront #7 of the subject building to cater to the emerging Bohemian scene in Los Angeles, specifically in the Venice community. The "Beat Generation" in Venice evolved in response to disillusionment with the Korean War, particularly among veterans. There, they found an escape from established business and political norms, were free to write and recite poetry, and explore the genre of jazz. In 1962, John Haag acquired ownership of the Venice West Cafe with the goal of maintaining it as a catalyst for Bohemian culture and his personal politics. After he began to advertise poetry readings at the Cafe, several plain clothes police officers attended one of his events and arrested him for supplying entert,ainment without a city permit. The case against Haag, a former Communist and a committed leftist, was eventually thrown out, though it effectively turned the cafe owner into a popular figure for the Beats. In 1965, the city passed an ordinance targeting the playing of drums on city beaches, despite Haag's efforts to mobilize the community in protest. The act was largely seen as an attempt to prevent the Beats from using their bongos in the area. After the owner of the building attempted to evict him from the space, Haag quietly closed the Cafe in 1966. He later became the co-founder of the Peace and Freedom party and was a candidate for state office for over two decades. Between 1958 and1966, the Venice West Cafe appears to have served as a local symbol of the growing counter-cultural movement of the 1950s-1960s. By featuring jazz, the owners ensured 321 S. Ocean Front Walk CHC-2009-2840-HCM Page 3 of 4 racial integration in the Cafe. Local artists displayed their work on the interior walls, and poets, such as Allen Ginsberg and Jim Morrison (future vocalist for The Doors), read their work to intimate audiences. Perkoff himself wrote the words "Art is Love is God" on the walls to indicate the type of setting he hoped to produce. The Cafe's unadorned interior space appears to have not changed significantly since the business first opened in 1958. Though various alterations have been made to some of the subject building's commercial units, the Venice West Cafe space remains intact.

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