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You Can’t Eat the Sunshine returns with an all-new Quarantine format, inviting folks who are passionate about Los Angeles history and historic preservation to join us for a conversation about the places that matter more than ever, as much of Los Angeles shelters in place under Mayor Eric Garcetti’s "Safer At Home" directive.

Our special guest on June 5th, 2020 is Kemal Cilengir, a street photographer and activist who has spent the past week running on adrenaline and fumes, documenting the Black Lives Matter protests in Los Angeles following the murder of George Floyd.

If you’ve ever wondered what compels a regular Angeleno to charge into the heart of a chaotic and dangerous street protest, camera in hand, then tune in for a bare knuckles trip into the Spring 2020 action, from Downtown Los Angeles to the Fairfax District to Santa Monica–and back again to document the emotionally tough scenes of the morning after.

Kemal loves his native Los Angeles, and has dedicated himself to telling stories that are overlooked by the mainstream media, even as network reporters phone it in from the safety of a helicopter or behind police lines. His Black Lives Matter protest photo essays paint astonishing scenes of strife, hope and courage in the heart of our city.

Weird fact: Kemal was in the same Santa Monica High School class as, and ran track with, Donald Trump’s policy advisor Stephen Miller. It’s probably nature and not nurture, but even his erstwhile classmate Kemal doesn’t know what that guy’s freaking problem is.

Links to learn more about our guests, the episode’s topics, and us:

Kemal Cilengir is the creator of Streetwise L.A., a documentary blog that included a remarkable collaboration with formerly homeless Skid Row journalist Amos (aka Chicago). You can follow Kemal’s work on Instagram and L.A. Taco.

Esotouric is our historic Los Angeles tour company, presently not operating due to the pandemic. We have a newsletter, a YouTube channel, a selection of books and maps celebrating Los Angeles history, and can be followed on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Closely Watched Trains

Our campaign for transparency around the American Cinematheque’s proposed sale of the Egyptian Theatre to Netflix. Petition update: In a pandemic, as rioters fill the streets, Netflix quietly purchases the Egyptian Theatre. Our Richard Schave is quoted in this Indiewire piece that doesn’t just reprint the corporate press release, but digs deeper into a troubling Hollywood land grab.

Nine years after the low income tenants were evicted and Robert Stacy-Judd’s National Register Aztec Hotel entered a period of anxious uncertainty, Monrovia’s Planning Commission says it can welcome nightly guests. (Aztec discussion begins at 16:50.)

Good Eats in Isolation

Zonzon Organic produces small batch Tunisian tomato sauce and shakshuka in its Arts District cannery. For orders of $35 and up, they will deliver in Los Angeles.

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Welcome everyone, and thank you for listening to our podcast, You Can’t Eat The Sunshine, for the week of May 25th, 2020.

We are on day 69 of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Safer At Home Directive.

Our guest this week is Dave Judson, the 4th Generation owner-operator of Judson Studios, crafting stained glass in the Garvanza section of Highland Park since 1897.

With most of the studio’s hands-on work paused by the coronavirus, we’ll talk with Dave about the recent release of his book Judson: Innovation in Stained Glass, the history of the family business, how the landmark studio building has evolved, our shared adventures in the field seeking lost Judson glass installations in landmark buildings, and the new South Pasadena workshop where artisans bring their medieval craft into the 21st century with computerized kilns for crafting massive fused glass panels for commissions around the world.

We’ll also talk about: the wild Los Angeles City Planning Commission hearing when the fate of our threatened landmark Los Angeles Times buildings took an astonishing turn, corrupt councilman Jose Huizar twists in the wind, the ghastly new proposal to demolish Taix French Restaurant for the world’s worst mixed use project and why we think it’s not for real, how to score primo organic California olive oil without breaking quarantine and stray musings on LACMA redevelopment. So stay tuned!

Links to learn more about our guests, the episode’s topics, and us:

Judson Studios’ website is here , with recent work on view. This is the website of Judson’s in-house glass fusing master Narcissus Quagliata. You can order Dave Judson’s new book Judson: Innovation in Stained Glass on Bookshop (supporting independent booksellers) or from Amazon. Here’s a 3-D tour of the King Edward Hotel interiors, while we eagerly await the installation of the restored stained glass awning.

Times Mirror Square landmarking is just one of the campaigns under the Pereira in Peril umbrella, which includes the Save LACMA nonprofit. Learn more about the recent off-the-rails Planning Commission hearing in our newsletter and blog post. See Richard, and our little white cat Numa, talking about land use and public corruption on Spectrum 1. Here are photos of the threatened buildings created for the Historic American Building Survey (HABS).

Taix Square redevelopment is also discussed in our newsletter, and on R.I.P. Los Angeles. Sign the Friends of Taix petition here.

Bella Vista Farms in the foothills of the Diablo Mountain range is our source for organic extra virgin orchard blended California olive oil in bulk.

What is Richard Reading? In a Dark Wood Wandering: A Novel of the Middle Ages by Hella S. Haasse, available on Bookshop (supporting independent booksellers) or from Amazon.

Esotouric is our historic Los Angeles tour company, presently not operating due to the pandemic. We have a newsletter, a YouTube channel, a selection of books and maps celebrating Los Angeles history, and can be followed on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Download Podcast Episode!

You Can’t Eat the Sunshine returns with an all-new Quarantine format, inviting folks who are passionate about Los Angeles history and historic preservation to join us for a conversation about the places that matter more than ever, as much of Los Angeles shelters in place under Mayor Eric Garcetti’s “Safer At Home ” directive.

Our special guests on May 8, 2020 are rare book dealer and historian Howard Prouty, Vintage Los Angeles curator Alison Martino and Jeff Mantor, proprietor of the historic Larry Edmunds Bookshop on Hollywood Boulevard.

The episode takes us through Hollywood’s literary and retail history to highlight the importance of the Larry Edmunds Bookshop, which is today the last store standing on what was once a legendary Bookseller’s Row. The shop is the beneficiary of a flood of worldwide goodwill since the recent launch of its GoFundMe campaign.

We begin with Howard Prouty’s reminiscences of his 1970s visits to Hollywood bookstores, as a wide-eyed kid from Nebraska who had already built a relationship with the Larry Edmunds Bookshop as a mail order customer. He hops in the time machine to give us a sense of 1930s Hollywood bookland, populated with legendary characters like Louis Epstein (Pickwick Books), the genial salon host and rotten businessman Stanley Rose, and Rose’s one-time partner Larry Edmunds, plus cameos from celebrated patrons like Nathanael West and Raymond Chandler.

Then check in on Jeff Mantor, proprietor of the Larry Edmunds Bookshop, a Hollywood landmark now in its 82nd year. Jeff shares his personal history with the shop and other lost bookstores on the Boulevard, lets us know how the GoFundMe campaign is going, and shares plans for bringing “The Lare” into the 21st century to create a virtual community where film fans around the world can mingle until the lights come on again, and afterwards.

And we talk with Alison Martino of Vintage Los Angeles about the Larry Edmunds Bookshop’s role as a key location in the recreated urban landscape in Quentin Tarantino’s, “Once Upon A Time in… Hollywood,” some of the other legacy businesses featured in the film that are currently struggling to survive, and memories of being a pre-teen memorabilia collector, sneaking into Hollywood to score rare posters and books from Larry Edmunds, and to the great Westwood shops, too.

Links to learn more about our guests, the episode’s topics, and us:

Jeff Mantor is the proprietor of the Larry Edmunds Bookshop. The store has a GoFundMe campaign, two Instagram accounts (LarryEdmunds1938, the_larebrary and a website. Join Leonard and Jessie Maltin for Cinephile Game Night in support of the bookshop on Saturday, May 9, 2020.

Howard Prouty is a dealer in rare and cool books, trading as ReadInk, Specializing in Unusual, Uncommon and Obscure Books in many (but not all) fields, with particular interest in American Culture [Popular and Unpopular], Art, Literature, Life and People from the 1920s through the 1960s. (ReadInk on Facebook. He has a pretty interesting day job sleuthing and reeling in acquisitions for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ Margaret Herrick Library.

Alison Martino manages the Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page, where Angelenos have strong feelings about thedemolition ofLACMA’s Bing Theatre and theloss of Stan’s Donuts. You’ll also find her celebrating historic L.A. landmarks on Spectrum’s weekly SoCal Scene. Her website is AlisonMartino.com

Hollywood Reporter: “Quentin’s Really Into Margaritas” – A Guide to Tarantino’s L.A. Secrets in ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’

The Way it Was: Fifty Years in the Southern California book trade with Louis Epstein of Pickwick Books, including his last memories of Stanley Rose.

Video from our debut LAVA Literary Salon at Musso & Frank Grill with Dan Fante.

Esotouric is our historic Los Angeles tour company, presently not operating due to the pandemic. We have a newsletter, a YouTube channel, and can be followed on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Download Podcast Episode!

You Can’t Eat the Sunshine returns with an all-new Quarantine format, inviting folks who are passionate about Los Angeles history and historic preservation to join us for a conversation about the places that matter more than ever, as much of Los Angeles shelters in place under Mayor Eric Garcetti’s “Safer At Home” directive.

Our special guest on May 5, 2020 is the preservation juggernaut John Girodo, who recently stepped down from his post on the board of Hollywood Heritage to spearhead the landmarking activities of the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles. The episode is a wide ranging ramble through the history of historic preservation in Hollywood, highlighting notable activists, lamenting public corruption, sharing redevelopment horror stories and the addressing the challenges facing quarantined Angelenos who love the history and landmark buildings of this threatened community.

On the agenda:

• Thoughts about the GoFundMe campaigns of the scrappy Larry Edmunds Bookshop and Arena Cinelounge and the well-heeled Amoeba Music, and the late lamented Aron’s Records.

• LeFrak’s project proposed to surround the Art Deco Attie Building (Playmates) and its beloved “You Are The Star” mural.

• The campaign for transparency around the American Cinematheque nonprofit’s efforts to sell the landmark Egyptian Theatre to Netflix.

• Proposed restoration of the Earl Carroll Theatre’s jaw dropping neon facade.

• How the CitizenM Hotel and Hollywood Center (formerly Hollywood Millennium). mega project stand to overwhelm the Capitol Records building and concerns about fast tracked permitting during the pandemic.

• John Girodo’s dream to turn the overgrown ruins of the Little Community Church of Hollywood (HCM #567) into a pocket park and the mysterious disappearance of essential pages in the landmarking file.

• The threatened garden court apartment buildings at 6220 Yucca, the incredible work done in his second floor apartment by performance art citizen activist John Walsh, life and death Metro Red Line whistleblowing, how history is whitewashed when free weeklies disappear from the internet and the literal collapse of Hollywood Boulevard.

• The abiding influence of Hollywood Heritage’s one-man un-wrecking crew Robert Nudelman.

• And what we all learned while helping to clean out John Walsh’s apartment after his death.

It’s a long, candid conversation, and one you won’t want to miss if you love Hollywood and care about keeping this unique corner of Los Angeles cool and culturally vibrant, despite the relentless efforts of international development, chain retail and our corrupt City Hall.

Links to learn more about our guest, the episode’s topics, and us:

John Girodo’s efforts ensured the landmarking of Musician’s Union Local 47 and the Earl Carroll Theatre, both designed by L.A. Times architect Gordon B. Kaufmann. He previously joined us for Episode #127: Fighting For the Soul of Los Angeles. Have a Hollywood preservation problem and need to talk to John? We’ll pass a message along.

Esotouric is our historic Los Angeles tour company, presently not operating due to the pandemic. We have a newsletter, a YouTube channel, and can be followed onTwitter, Facebook and Instagram.

As the American Cinematheque nonprofit seeks to sell the public resource Egyptian Theatre to Netflix; we seek transparency. Related: Oscars eligibility rules are changing in the face of coronavirus crisis.

Attie Building’s You Are The Star mural (Thomas Suriya, 1983)

Susan Goldsmith’s 1998 New Times feature about John Walsh’s work rooting out corruption in the Los Angeles subway project, “The Freak Who Stopped The Subway.”

Kim’s big score from John Walsh’s record collection: The Dream World of Dion McGregor, He Talks in His Sleep (background, hear it.)

Earl Carroll Theatre restoration project.

John Girodo’s efforts ensured the landmarking of Musician’s Union Local 47 and the Earl Carroll Theatre, both designed by L.A. Times architect Gordon B. Kaufmann. He previously joined us for Episode #127: Fighting For the Soul of Los Angeles. Have a Hollywood preservation problem and need to talk to John? We’ll pass a message along.

Esotouric is our historic Los Angeles tour company, presentlynot operating due to the pandemic. We have anewsletter, a YouTube channel, and can be followed onTwitter,Facebook andInstagram.

As the American Cinematheque nonprofit seeks to sell the public resource Egyptian Theatre to Netflix; we seek transparency. Related: Oscars eligibility rules are changing in the face of coronavirus crisis.

Attie Building’s You Are The Star mural (Thomas Suriya, 1983)

Susan Goldsmith’s 1998 New Times feature about John Walsh’s work rooting out corruption in the Los Angeles subway project, “The Freak Who Stopped The Subway.”

Kim’s big score from John Walsh’s record collection: The Dream World of Dion McGregor, He Talks in His Sleep (background, hear it.)

Earl Carroll Theatre restoration project.

Little Country Church of Hollywood Historic Cultural Monument Application (#567) — Incomplete

1601 N LAS PALMAS Project being built in the parking lot behind the Egyptian Theatre. Calls for the demolition of the Arena Cinema building (originally a market converted to multiple screens as extension of the Egyptian theatre in the 1980s). The project calls for retention of the brick storefronts (Baroque Books) on the West side of Las Palmas; with new construction on top.

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A note on the audio quality: this episode is a bit tinny, due to the learning curve on setting up multi-guest remote podcasting, and the present difficulty in quickly obtaining alternate mics and mixers. Please be patient with us. We’re working on it!

You Can’t Eat the Sunshine returns with an all-new Quarantine format, inviting folks who are passionate about Los Angeles history and historic preservation to join us for a conversation about the places that matter more than ever, as much of Los Angeles shelters in place under Mayor Eric Garcetti’s “Safer At Home” directive.

Our special guests on April 21, 2020 are Carolyn Zanelli and Spencer Jones of Save Normandie Avenue, Nathan Marsak (The Cranky Preservationist / RIP Los Angeles) and Steven Luftman (Friends of Lytton Savings / Dept. of Urban Secrets), talking about the challenges of fighting to preserve the architectural integrity of their landmark “Little New York Street” (the 700 block of South Normandie) during quarantine, hopeful signs of cooperation from developer Jameson Properties, and how you can help save a unique L.A. time capsule by simply emailing City Council (instructions below). Plus, Nathan riffs on his long fantasized zombie apocalypse, density and Yimbyism in post-pandemic Los Angeles.

Links to learn more about our guests, the episode’s topics, and us:

Carolyn Zanelli and Spencer Jones are longtime residents of the 700 block of South Normandie, Koreatown’s Little New York Street. When they learned that a massive, modern building was planned for the surface parking lot opposite their apartment, they launched Save Normandie Avenue, an advocacy organization seeking an historically appropriate design for the infill project proposed for the block.

Nathan Marsak is an architectural historian, writer and preservationist. His current blog is RIP Los Angeles home of the Cranky Preservationist videos, and you can whet your whistle for his forthcoming Bunker Hill book by poking around the On Bunker Hill blog.

Steven Luftman is a preservationist and community activist. His website is the Dept. of Urban Secrets, with information about campaigns to Save Lytton Savings and to landmark the Mendel & Mabel Meyer Courtyard Apartments, Wallace Beery House and South Genesee Duplexes.

Esotouric is our historic Los Angeles tour company, presently not operating due to the pandemic. We have a newsletter, a YouTube channel, and can be followed on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

The Cranky Preservationist Visits Carolyn and Spencer on the 700 Block of South Normandie.

Want to help Save Normandie Avenue? Please visit this link as soon as possible (before April 29), to give emailed Public Comment. A sample email is below.

For more info, see the City Council file: Los Angeles City Council File: 20-0087 – 738 South Normandie Avenue / Categorical Exemption (CE) / California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) / Appeal

Sample email for Public Comment (feel free to add to this, or simply copy it and sign your name):

Dear City Council,

The proposed development by Jamison Properties at 738 South Normandie potentially jeopardizes the historical significance of the entire street, because it is entirely out of character with the existing block, which has not had any new construction in eight decades.

The block, which sits in the Normandie Mariposa Historic District, was built at the same time as the Ambassador Hotel, a landmark which was demolished after a long preservation battle. Today, it is one of the city’s most popular film locations, due to its time capsule appearance.

I am asking that CD10 Councilman Herb Wesson and the rest of City Council allow the CEQA appeal for 738 South Normandie, to help preserve the historic fabric of the block by ensuring that any new construction respects the existing historic structures and blends in, rather than standing out. Please do the right thing and help preserve Koreatown’s Little New York Street.

Sincerely

(My name, my zip code)

Download Podcast Episode!

A note on the audio quality: this episode is a bit tinny, due to the learning curve on setting up multi-guest remote podcasting, and the present difficulty in quickly obtaining alternate mics and mixers. Please be patient with us. We’re working on it!

You Can’t Eat the Sunshine returns with an all-new Quarantine format, inviting folks who are passionate about Los Angeles history and historic preservation to join us for a conversation about the places that matter more than ever, as much of Los Angeles shelters in place under Mayor Eric Garcetti’s “Safer At Home” directive.

Our special guests on April 16, 2020 are Alison Martino (Vintage Los Angeles), Rob Hollman (Save LACMA) and Steven Luftman (Friends of Lytton Savings / Dept. of Urban Secrets), talking about how to be a preservationist while under quarantine, and about the recent loss of two iconic Los Angeles landmarks: Stan’s Donuts in Westwood Village, shuttered forever due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and LACMA’s Bing Theatre, the first of William Pereira’s 1965 buildings to be demolished for museum director Michael Govan’s reckless, unpopular and unfunded redevelopment scheme.

Video interludes:

Visiting with Huell Howser at Stan’s Donuts

“The Death of LACMA’s Bing Theatre” by artist Gary Baseman

Pereira in Peril: LACMA campus tour with Alan Hess & Richard Schave (October 2016)

Save LACMA Board Members Oppose Wilshire Air Rights Gift To LACMA (November 2019)

City Hall Testimony Against LACMA Crossing Wilshire and Barton Phelps critiques Peter Zumthor (December 2019)

Links to learn more about our guests, the episode’s topics, and us:

Alison Martino manages the Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page, where Angelenos have strong feelings about the demolition of LACMA’s Bing Theatre and the loss of Stan’s Donuts. You’ll also find her celebrating historic L.A. landmarks on Spectrum’s weekly SoCal Scene. Her website is AlisonMartino.com

Steven Luftman is a preservationist and community activist. His website is the Dept. of Urban Secrets, with information about campaigns to Save Lytton Savings and to landmark the Mendel & Mabel Meyer Courtyard Apartments, Wallace Beery House and South Genesee Duplexes.

Rob Hollman is President of the California Public Benefit Corporation Save LACMA, and you’ll want to subscribe to receive his spicy newsletter updates.

Esotouric is our historic Los Angeles tour company, presently not operating due to the pandemic. We have a newsletter, a YouTube channel, and can be followed on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Our advocacy for preserving LACMA’s historic campus is just one part of the broader Pereira in Peril campaign. Visit the webpage for links to reporting on all the threatened Pereira buildings and videos from walking tours and landmarking hearings.

Esotouric: South L.A. LACMA Satellite Site in Violation of Sweetheart City of Los Angeles Lease?

Esotouric Scoop: Before The April 9 Vote, Increasingly Urgent Citizen Emails Beg County Supervisors To Reconsider Govan/Zumthor LACMA Plan

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Join us this month as we visit with Gregg Sutter, who for 33 years was the researcher and assistant to writer Elmore Leonard, to learn about the motivations behind the new Esotouric bus adventure, Elmore Leonard in Hollywood.

We’ll also talk with Jona Bechtolt and Claire Evans (members of the band Yacht), Tom Carroll (Tom Explores Los Angeles), Carmen Zella (creative director of Now Art LA) and legacy systems software engineer Doug Dunn, about their long, shared road to restore and reactivate The Triforium, Joseph Young’s polyphonoptic 6-story interactive multimedia installation, dedicated in 1975 at Fletcher Bowron Square in the heart of the Los Angeles Civic Center.

Plus a reprieve for the endangered Pickle Works, re:code LA goes rogue and long, a stealthy announcement for the Civic Center Design Guidelines public meeting, the tragic demolition of Parker Center begins, Wilshire Boulevard Temple gets a tilted neighbor, celebrating the bicentennial of Redlands’ zanja irrigation system, city to open a women’s shelter in Julia Morgan’s Hollywood Studio Club, demo permit sought for landmarked Lytton Savings, Bob Wolfe’s California voter guide, newly landmarked CBS Television City sold and classic comedy lover Chris Bungo spreads the word about Councilman Paul Koretz’ campaign to save the Our Gang house on Motor Avenue.

So stay tuned.

URLs for Interviews

LAVA Sunday Salon: Preservation in L.A.’s Civic Center – Joseph Young’s Triforium & Topographic Map & Richard Neutra’s Hall of Records (October 2017) – video link

Elmore Leonard in Hollywood Bus Tour (debuts November 10)

Triforium Project website

Now Art LA Triforium page

Curbed L.A. reports on activating the Triforum

Friday’s Triforium concert (ticket link)

Upcoming Events

Forensic Science Seminar: Arson & After

Closely Watched Trains

The Pickle Works is saved!

Re:code LA update: 948 Pages of Power Grab – City Planning Commission hearing

There is no official URL for the Civic Center Design Guidelines Public Meeting happening November 8th at 6:00pm (project link, meeting notice image, take the survey)

A long goodbye for a very fine building: Parker Center, deconstructed. Los Angeles, you shouldn’t have!

OMA-Designed expansion to break ground at Wilshire Boulevard Temple

Redlands’ zanja irrigation system turns 200 with tours coming in March

Women’s homeless shelter to open in 1920s Hollywood landmark designed by Julia Morgan

Townscape Partners files papers seeking to demolish the Historic-Cultural Monument Lytton Savings. They didn’t even have the class to offer the community an opportunity to move it somewhere else, or at least salvage the art, stained glass and other valuable elements.

Our friend Bob Wolfe, who drafted the brief that helped knock the destructive Proposition #9 (splitting California in 3) off the ballot, weighs in with a very detailed California voter guide.

File under: this is why we landmark. CBS Television City reportedly selling to Hackman Capital for over $700M. But this Pereira (previously) in Peril is partially protected by its recently obtained HCM status.

Help save the Our Gang Tabor House on Motor Avenue: send an email to Councilman Paul Koretz, who nominated the demolition-threatened charmer for protected landmark status. We did!

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Join us this month as we meet some of the interesting people working at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino. We visit with Tsuha Roshi, an 86th generation Zen Master at the newly established Fusho Zen Institute, who uses music as a tool to help understand and realize human potential. We also talk with Erin Chase, assistant curator of architecture and photography at The Huntington, about her upcoming jewel box of an exhibition, Architects of a Golden Age: Highlights from The Huntington’s Southern California Architecture Collection, our November bus tour about the show, and the history of the collection, which parallels the rise of the historic preservation movement.

We’ll also discuss unexpected threats to historic rent-controlled buildings under L.A.’s new transit density policy, Alhambra’s Fosselman’s Ice Cream Parlor gets a new look for the company’s centennial, Alan Hess advocates for William Pereira’s Chandler Wing at Times Mirror Square and our landmark nomination for Times Mirror Square wins a unanimous yes vote from the Cultural Heritage Commission, Peter Adum’s new novel about pre-redevelopment San Pedro, our State Department invitation to speak with journalists from 20 nations about this podcast, change comes to Monterey Park’s Venice Room and an update on the Arts District’s derelict and endangered 19th century Pickle Works building.

So stay tuned!

URLS for Interviews & Upcoming Events

Fusho Zen Institute (upcoming events, Zen and Music)

Richard’s Birthday Bus for 2018

Exhibition: Architects of a Golden Age: Highlights from The Huntington’s Southern California Architecture Collection

Forensic Science Seminar: Arson & After

Closely Watched Trains

Are older rent-controlled buildings in trouble under LA’s new transit density policy?

Fall Exhibition: Architects of a Golden Age: Highlights from The Huntington’s Southern California Architecture Collection

Alhambra’s Fosselman’s Ice Cream to get new look for 100th birthday

Op-Ed: It’s time to recognize Pereira’s LA Times building

Landmark effort for Times Mirror Square breezes through cultural heritage commission

A New Day Yesterday by Peter Adum

Is this the end of the Venice Room as locals know it?

Pickle Works update (Division 20 Portal Widening & Turnback Facility Project Final EIR)

Group photo after our talk to the International Visitors Council of Los Angeles

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Join us this month as we talk with Harry Chandler about his family’s newspaper empire and our upcoming Historic Cultural Monument hearing seeking to landmark the Los Angeles Times compound. We also visit with Carolyn Strickler, who was company historian and manager of the Los Angeles Times History Center from 1979-1990, for a crash course in the personalities and powers of the postwar L.A. newspaper world.

We’ll also discuss the Tower Theatre’s new chapter as an Apple store, possible redevelopment of Langer’s Deli, a partner files suit to force a sale of the L.A. Weekly, new life for Chinatown’s Golden Pagoda / Hop Louie, a shakeup at the Gamble House, memorializing Parker Center on the eve of its likely demolition, City Controller observes L.A. has little to show for $1 Billion in developer tax incentives since 2005, In Skid Row SRO news The Baltimore Hotel is purchased and the King Edward’s stained glass is being restored, Tail o’ the Pup isn’t a museum piece after all, Los Angeles Times Globe Lobby emptied of historic resources ahead of landmark hearing, PLUM Committee rejects four recognized landmarks clearing the way for a huge Hollywood redevelopment project, renovation work visible at West Adams’ Fitzgerald House, ASU leases Julia Morgan’s Herald-Examiner Building, and “True Love / True Crime on an American Bus” receives the Special Jury Prize at the Sidewalk Film Festival.

So Stay Tuned!

Upcoming Events

Chester Turner Forensic Science Seminar

Closely Watched Trains

Derelict Tower Theatre on Broadway leased as an Apple store.

Troubling rumblings from Langer’s Square suggest the historic deli may not be around much longer, despite the owner’s attempt at positive spin.

Those of us who have been boycotting the L.A. Weekly suspected much of this, but this week’s lawsuit by one of the previously anonymous owners lifts a rock concealing a whole lot of sleaze. Legalized weed attracts such lovely people.

The spirits of old Chinatown are smiling: the Golden Pagoda / Hop Louie, closed since 2016, is coming back to life!

After 28 years, Gamble House director departs over unspecified “differences of approach” with USC.

Controller: L.A. has OK’d $1 Billion in tax incentives to developers since 2005. That assistance needs more scrutiny.

As demolition began pending a judge’s determination on preserving the building, our Richard Schave went on Take Two to talk about what made Welton Becket’s 1955 Parker Center such a progressive LAPD HQ. (interview starts at 40:00). See also, this history lesson.

As the half-empty Skid Row landmark Baltimore Hotel is purchased by the Healthy Housing Foundation and reactivated, come take a time travel trip through a site packed with weird history. The L.A. Times Bomber, Tiger Woman and Rolling Stones were here! (Across the street at the King Edward, the stained glass is being restored.)

When Tail o’ the Pup was donated to Valley Relics—a San Fernando Valley museum with no connection to the Hollywood landmark—we felt blue. Now 1933 Group has acquired the iconic storefront, and is looking for a place to install it. A little confused how it went to a non-profit, then to a business, but happy the Pup is coming back to town.

Los Angeles Times Globe Lobby emptied of historic resources ahead of landmark hearing.

The Cultural Heritage Commission determines which Los Angeles buildings merit preservation designation. City Council’s PLUM Committee (somewhat mysteriously) makes land use decisions. But last week, PLUM played judge, jury & executioner for four recognized landmarks, clearing the way for a huge Hollywood redevelopment project.

The Cranky Preservationist, who loves Los Angeles and HATES what you’re doing to it, returns! Episode 16: Fitzgerald House Blues, in which a wrecked West Adams landmark finally get shown a little love! (On YouTube and Facebook)

The short documentary about our L.A. history tours and preservation activism, “True Love / True Crime on an American Bus” (directed by Nicholas Coles) received the Special Jury Prize at the Sidewalk Film Festival! We hope to be able to invite folks to an L.A. screening soon.

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Join us this month as we talk with architect and historian Alan Hess about the ongoing Pereira in Peril campaign and our work together seeking to landmark Times Mirror Square, which from 1935 until just last month was headquarters of the Los Angeles Times. We’ll also talk with Alison Bruesehoff, director of Rancho Los Cerritos in Bixby Knolls, Long Beach, joined by her colleagues Tessa Cavenah (Annual Fund Manager) and Sarah Fitzgerald (Historical Curator), to learn about their recently launched “Open Doors” campaign. This campaign aims to raise six million dollars over the next three years to increase public access to the historic 1844 adobe home and gardens; present new exhibits; preserve archives; and raise additional support for educational programs that weave history, social sciences, arts, and STEM-focused initiatives for the 6000+ students it serves every year.

We’ll also discuss how Times Mirror Square landmarking nomination clears first hurdle, new plans for Downtown streetcar see costs rise to $300 Million, the ugly forced closure of historic Ports O’ Call Restaurant has taken a tragic turn, proposal for West Hollywood hotel project would obliterate Route 66 roadhouse Barney’s Beanery, the “preservation settlement” with The Committee to Defend Roosevelt High and Councilman Gil Cedillo is a demolition, Hollywood’s Silent Movie Theater gets a remodel, “Peace on Earth” sculpture is moved as part of Music Center Plaza remodel, the City of Los Angeles wants to hire a Tourism Czar, Cerro Gordo, the ghost town in eastern Sierras is sold, LACMA’s Michael Govan update on progress for fundraising on Peter Zumthor’s proposed museum redesign.

So Stay Tuned!

URLS for episode

Alan Hess’ website

Pereira In Peril

City commission will consider bid to declare Los Angeles Times buildings historic-cultural monuments

HCM application Times Mirror Square

Rancho Los Cerritos

The Virtual Tour of the Children’s Room at Rancho Los Cerritos

Rancho Los Cerritos Kicks Off “Open Doors” Fundraising Campaign

Upcoming Events

Chester Turner Forensic Science Seminar

Closely Watched Trains

Pereira in Peril status report: Times Mirror Square landmarking nomination clears first hurdle, as historic resources are removed from the Globe Lobby. Also, Curbed L.A. published a list of the most endangered buildings in L.A. which included several of our Pereira causes and stated “Led by groups like the Los Angeles Conservancy, the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles, and Esotouric, LA has a strong community dedicated to historic preservation.”

New plans for Downtown streetcar see costs rise to $300 Million

The ugly forced closure of historic Ports O’ Call Restaurant has taken a tragic turn, as the general manager takes his own life. Shame on the Port of L.A. for treating the legacy tenants so shabbily. Peace to Jim Ryan and those who loved him.

Proposal for West Hollywood hotel project would obliterate Route 66 roadhouse Barney’s Beanery

The “preservation settlement” with The Committee to Defend Roosevelt and Councilman Gil Cedillo is a demolition, which is why no legit preservation group seeking to save Roosevelt High School’s landmark Building R has signed off on it

Hollywood’s Silent Movie Theater gutted as owners attempt to rebrand the venue, which became toxic after Cinefamily staff spoke out about abuse. It’s not a protected landmark, so there’s no requirement to preserve historic resources

Jacques Lipchitz sculpture “Peace on Earth” is moved as part of Music Center Plaza remodel

CIty of Los Angeles wants to hire a Tourism Czar

Cerro Gordo, the ghost town in eastern Sierras which funded Los Angeles’ growth in the late 19th century is sold

The Department of Public Works envisions the Los Angeles River in 20 years

LACMA’s Michael Govan weighs in on progress for fundraising for Peter Zumthor’s proposed museum redesign

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Join us this month as we talk with Dr. Louise Ivers, architectural historian and preservationist, about her new book, The Remaking of a Seaside City: Mid-Century Modern Architecture in Long Beach, California. We also visit with Kenneth Small and Robert Ray, Head of Special Collections and University Archives at San Diego State University, to hear about their exhibition, “Revisiting Visionary Utopia: Katherine Tingley’s Lomaland – Theosophy in Contemplative Community, Education and the Arts.”

We’ll also discuss the return of the Los Angeles Times to local, private ownership, Hollywood’s Villa Carlotta reopens for short-term tourist rentals as evicted tenants protest, the city reveals the much higher true costs for the Parker Center demolition project, a nice piece in Los Angeles Magazine about our forensic science seminars, West Hollywood approves the enormous Robertson Lane project (which moves and carves up the National Register landmark Factory building) and the developer launches a misleading website using the name of the Save the Factory preservation campaign, your chance to be the owner of the legendary Cerro Gordo silver mining ghost town, we’re not pleased by Frank Gehry’s relentless attempts to demolish Kurt Meyer’s lyrical, landmarked Lytton Savings Bank, the Wiggins Settlement ensures that half the Hotel Cecil remains low-income housing, CBS Television City moves off the Pereira in Peril list and is now a protected city landmark and Thomas Mann’s house was saved from demolition and now it has a library once again.

The Prodigal
(‘The Kingdom of Heaven is Within You’)
Reginald Machell (1854-1927)
Oil on two separate canvases, c. 1895
Hand-carved frame by the artist
Reginald Machell placed the Hermetic axiom “The knowledge of IT is a divine silence, and the rest of ^ all the senses” centrally in his painting, “The Prodigal.”

URLs for podcast

Revisiting Visionary Utopia exhibit

Revisiting Visionary Utopia exhibit press release

Enso Meditation

Robert Ray contact page

Ken Small’s email fohatdharma [AT] gmail.com

Dr. Louise Ivers’ new book The Remaking of a Seaside City: Mid-Century Modern Architecture in Long Beach, California is available from The Historical Society of Long Beach.

UPCOMING EVENTS

September 23 forensic science seminar on the Chester Turner cold case investigation.

Closely Watched Trains

The Los Angeles Times returns to local, private ownership. The future of the paper’s unlandmarked historic Downtown campus remains uncertain.

Villa Carlotta was a special Hollywood community, its tenants protected by rent control. This week, the building reopened as a transient joint. Evicted residents protested the ribbon cutting. Our podcast about Villa Carlotta, when tenants were being made miserable in their homes is here.

The enormous, true costs are revealed for the proposed replacement tower on the Parker Center site as the city fast-tracks removal of the protected artwork, including Joseph Young’s great “Theme Mural of Los Angeles,” ahead of proposed demolition (video). Our Save Parker Center campaign is here.

Some nice press for our grimmest events: Los Angeles Magazine: Inside the Forensics Seminars Where Laypeople Learn About L.A.’s Most Gruesome Crimes – Esotouric’s Forensic Science Seminars are not for the faint of heart.

West Hollywood approves the enormous Robertson Lane project, which moves and carves the National Register landmark Factory building into a meaningless morsel. The developer also registered a website using the name of the preservation group the fought to “Save the Factory” from such insensitive development.

Cerro Gordo silver shaped the west. Now you can shape the ghost town’s next century—if you’ve got $925,000 and a dream. We hope this unique time capsule finds another great steward to follow in the Patterson family’s footsteps.

Shame on Frank Gehry, who has gone to the courts to secure permission to demolish Kurt Meyer’s lyrical, landmarked Lytton Savings Bank. Meyer put his architecture career on hold to save Central Library; this fine architect and Angeleno deserves better. Our podcast interview about Meyer and Lytton is here.

Thanks to the Wiggins Settlement and the efforts of LA CAN, the Hotel Cecil will remain a schizophrenic building, with just over half the rooms dedicated as SRO low-income units and the remainder renovated hotel rooms. Elisa Lam sleuths will meet some interesting people. (PDF link.)

File under Pereira in Peril, and otherwise: CBS Television City is now a protected city landmark. Cheers to our pal Alan Hess, who wrote the LA Conservancy’s landmarking nomination, and to CBS for coming to the table to craft a preservation solution for the future of its historic broadcast production campus. And the citizens of Fullerton aren’t taking the risk to their Hunt Branch library lightly. Can this gorgeous gift from Norton Simon be saved?

Thomas Mann’s house was saved from demolition, and now it has a library once again.