HISTORIC RESOURCES SURVEY HOLLYWOOD REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT AREA Prepared for Community Redevelopment Agency Prepared by Chattel Architecture, Planning & Preservation, Inc. 13417 Ventura Boulevard Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 February 2010 INTENSIVE HISTORIC RESOURCES SURVEY HOLLYWOOD REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT AREA Prepared for Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles Prepared by Chattel Architecture, Planning & Preservation, Inc. February 2010 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Chattel Architecture, Planning & Preservation. Inc. Robert Chattel, Principal/Preservation Architect Jenna Snow, Senior Associate/Project Manager Shannon Ferguson, Senior Associate Gabrielle Harlan, Senior Associate Kathryn McGee, Associate II Veronica Gallardo, Junior Associate Justin Greving, Associate I Morgan Chee, Intern Allison Lyons, Intern Tanya Sorrell, Architectural Historian, LSA Associates, Inc TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 3 Project Area Description ......................................................................................................... 3 Project Methodology ............................................................................................................... 5 Summary of Previously Surveyed and Designated Resources .............................................. 7 Regulator Setting .................................................................................................................... 8 Federal .............................................................................................................................. 8 National Register of Historic Places ............................................................................ 8 Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Treatment of Historic Properties ................ 10 State ................................................................................................................................ 10 California Register of Historical Resources ............................................................... 10 California Environmental Quality Act ......................................................................... 10 California Historical Resource Status Codes ............................................................ 12 Local................................................................................................................................ 13 City of Los Angeles Preservation Ordinance ............................................................ 13 SurveyLA ................................................................................................................... 14 Historic Context Statement ................................................................................................... 16 Survey Results .................................................................................................................... 128 Recommendations .................................................................................................................... References .......................................................................................................................... 130 Appendices Architects, Contractors, and Developers working in Hollywood California Historical Resources Status Codes Maps Tables INTRODUCTION Chattel Architecture, Planning & Preservation, Inc. (Chattel Architecture), as prime consultant, in collaboration with two subconsultants, LSA Associates, Inc. (LSA) and PCR Services Corporation (PCR), prepared historic context statements and intensive-level assessment surveys for three redevelopment project areas of the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA) – Hollywood Redevelopment Project Area (Hollywood), Westlake Recovery Redevelopment Area (Westlake), and Wilshire Center/Koreatown Recovery Redevelopment Area (Wilshire/Koreatown). While Chattel Architecture had responsibility for the Hollywood Redevelopment Project Area, PCR took responsibility for Wilshire Center/Koreatown and LSA took responsibility for Westlake. To ensure consistency, the three firms discussed progress, difficulties, and worked out solutions in weekly conference calls. In addition, all work was peer reviewed by the other two firms. The City of Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources (OHR), in partnership with the Getty Conservation Institute, has been undertaking a citywide survey (SurveyLA), starting with a comprehensive historic context statement and survey field guide. Because of the timeline of the current effort and SurveyLA, the historic resource surveys for the CRA were not able to fully utilize SurveyLA technology. However, Chattel Architecture has worked closely throughout the process with the OHR staff in order to seamlessly dovetail findings into the citywide effort. The goal of updating historic context statements and field surveys is to evaluate properties for eligibility for local, state or national designation to focus effort on preserving those buildings that best illustrate the unique narratives of each community, while allowing for appropriate economic development. Hollywood had been previously surveyed three times with resulting inconsistencies between each of the surveys. The first historic resource survey was completed in 1986; a second historic resource survey took place in 1997, which updated findings of the earlier survey; and a third historic resource survey took place in 2003. Both the 1997 and 2003 surveys were reconnaissance level surveys, which is explained in National Register Bulletin #24, “Guidelines for Local Surveys: a basis for preservation planning,” as “a ‘once over lightly’ inspection of an area, most useful for characterizing its resources in general and for developing a basis for deciding how to organize and orient more detailed survey efforts.”1 In contrast, the 1986 and current surveys are intensive surveys, which are described in National Register Bulletin #24, as “designed to identify precisely and completely all historic resources in the area... It should produce all the information needed to evaluate historic properties and prepare an inventory.” PROJECT AREA DESCRIPTION The Hollywood Redevelopment Project is 1,107-acres in size and is located approximately six miles northwest of the Los Angeles Civic Center at the foot of the Hollywood Hills. 1 Anne Derry, H. Ward Jandl, Carol D. Shull, and Jan Thorman, National Register Bulletin #24, Guidelines for Local Surveys: a basis for preservation planning, (National Park Service, 1977), revised by Patricia L. Parker in 1985, . This bulletin is available at the web site, http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/publications/bulletins/nrb24/. Map 1: Hollywood Redevelopment Project Area The project area is generally bounded by Franklin Avenue on the north, Serrano Avenue on the east, Santa Monica Boulevard and Fountain Avenue on the south and La Brea Avenue on the west. The project area consists of 3,164 parcels, 2,760 of which are developed. The following chart shows construction by decade, based on dates provided by the Los Angeles County Assessor: Hollywood and Sunset boulevards create east-west commercial spines within the project area. Commercial areas are also located along La Brea Avenue, Highland Avenue, Cahuenga Boulevard, Vine Street, Santa Monica Boulevard, and Western Avenue. For technical purposes, the field survey divided the project area approximately in half along the centerline of Vine Street, with Hollywood Team A west of Vine Street and Hollywood Team B east of Vine Street. In Hollywood Team A, mostly single-family residential neighborhoods are located south of Sunset Boulevard while almost exclusively multi-family residential neighborhoods are located north of Hollywood Boulevard. In Hollywood Team B, the Hollywood Freeway (U.S. Route 101) runs diagonally through the project area and most strongly defines most of the area, specifically how streets run over or under the freeway, are dead-ended by it, or by access to exit or entrance ramps. Single and multifamily residential properties are generally integrated within the same neighborhoods with a large residential neighborhood south of Sunset Boulevard and the freeway, and two smaller residential neighborhoods between Hollywood and Sunset boulevards, separated by the freeway. PROJECT METHODOLOGY Using the National Register multiple property submission approach and an outline of SurveyLA City-wide historic context statement, the Chattel team defined contexts and themes as a hypothesis of property types that were believed to be found in field survey. While themes and 5 contexts are consistent with those developed for SurveyLA, those significant to Hollywood are given greater emphasis, specifically property types associated with the entertainment industry context and connected themes as Hollywood is nearly synonymous with this theme. Chattel Architecture conducted a preliminary reconnaissance windshield-type survey, reviewed existing information, including the 1984 survey and historic resource assessments of individual properties, identified information/data gaps, interviewed knowledgeable persons, and performed original research. Background information was assembled from secondary sources and supplemented by primary sources, such as those located at the Los Angeles Public Library, including their photo collection and California Index; University Southern California Digital Archive; Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, 1907, 1913, 1947;