See it before the wrecking crew does: a rare tour of the mid-century marvel at Sunset & Beaudry
Gentle reader...
History's a funny thing. One day, your handsome face is on the cover of Time magazine. Then just a few flips of the metaphorical calendar page later, some of your grandest buildings are being readied for the wrecker.
Such has been the fate of Southern California architect and master planner William Pereira, once lionized, now largely forgotten. But there's new hope that his important 1963 Metropolitan Water District campus might survive, as the Cultural Heritage Commission considers a last minute landmarking request, stopping the clock on the demolition sought by the property's owner.
And you can join us on Thursday, August 18 for the CHC's free public site visit to this remarkable, though sadly neglected, compound. Afterwards, next door at the restored Elysian tower, we're hosting a casual conversation on the threat facing Pereira landmarks, from the L.A. Times to the L.A. County Museum of Art. Also free, and light refreshments will be served.
To attend one or both events, RSVP at the LAVA links -- site visit (10-11am) / discussion (11am-noon) -- and please join us in the ongoing effort to restore William Pereira's reputation as one of our greatest civic visionaries.
We're on the bus this Saturday with the second in the twice yearly California Culture series, a cultural and architectural expedition through the past century in Boyle Heights and Monterey Park. Next week, it's the Lowdown on Downtown and a rare visit to the inaccessible landmark Dutch Chocolate Shop. Join us, do!
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RECENTLY TOURED
Demolition begins for the historic Pacific Electric trolley shed across from Pershing Square and we were there to say farewell.
LAVA'S FORENSIC SCIENCE SEMINAR - SUN. 11/6
Four times a year, we gather in the teaching crime labs of Cal State Los Angeles under the direction of Professor Donald Johnson to explore the history and future of American forensic science. Save the date of November 6, 2016 for our next program, with details to be announced very soon. See photos and video from the last program, Rituals: Sacred and Profane, here.
RECOMMENDED READING
As discussed in our latest podcast episode, this lushly illustrated collection of vintage tattoo artwork salvaged by tattooist / novelist Jonathan Shaw from historic ink parlors near and far. These wee drawings, some primitive, others exquisite, reveal the inner lives of four generations of cultural outsiders. You might just find your next tattoo within.
COMING SOON
BOYLE HEIGHTS & THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY: THE HIDDEN HISTORIES OF L.A.'S MELTING POTS - SAT. 8/13... Come on a century's social history tour through the transformation of neighborhoods, punctuated with immersive stops to sample the varied cultures that make our changing city so beguiling. Voter registration, citizenship classes, Chicano Moratorium, walkouts, blow-outs, anti-Semitism, adult education, racial covenants, boycotts, The City Beautiful, Exclusion Acts and Immigration Acts, property values, xenophobia, and delicious dumplings--all are themes which will be addressed on this lively excursion. This whirlwind social history tour will include: The Vladeck Center, Hollenbeck Park, Evergreen Cemetery, The Venice Room, El Encanto & Cascades Park, Divine's Furniture and Wing Hop Fung. (Buy tickets here).
THE LOWDOWN ON DOWNTOWN - SAT. 8/20... This is not a tour about beautiful buildings--although beautiful buildings will be all around you. This is not a tour about brilliant architects--although we will gaze upon their works and marvel. The Lowdown on Downtown is a tour about urban redevelopment, public policy, protest, power and the police. It is a revealing history of how the New Downtown became an "overnight sensation" after decades of quiet work behind the scenes by public agencies and private developers. Come discover the real Los Angeles, the city even natives don't know. Features a visit to the Dutch Chocolate Shop, a tiled wonderland not open to the public. (Buy tickets here).
LAVA SUNDAY SALON / WALKING TOUR - SUN. 8/28... Our free cultural lecture series recently relaunched on the basement level of Grand Central Market. For the August Sunday Salon, a merry band of musical mischief makers will bring their collection of altered thrift shop electronic toys and instruments for a hands-on Circuit Bending presentation. After the Salon, a free Broadway on My Mind walking tour explores lost tunnels and hills around Hill Street. Due to limited space, reservations are required for both of these free events.
THE BIRTH OF NOIR: JAMES M. CAIN'S SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NIGHTMARE - SAT. 9/10... This tour digs deep into the literature, film and real life vices that inform that most murderous genre, film noir, rolling through Hollywood, Glendale and old Skid Row, lost lion farms, murderous sopranos, fascist film censors, offbeat cemeteries -- all in a quest to reveal the delicious, and deeply influential, nightmares that are author Cain's gift to the world. (Buy tickets here.)
HOTEL HORRORS & MAIN STREET VICE - SAT. 9/17... Through the 1940s, downtown was the true city center, a lively, densely populated, exciting and sometimes dangerous place. But while many of the historic buildings remain, their human context has been lost. This downtown double feature tour is meant to bring alive the old ghosts and memories that cling to the streets and structures of the historic core, and is especially recommended for downtown residents curious about their neighborhood's neglected history. (Buy tickets here.)
BLOOD & DUMPLINGS - SAT. 9/24... Forget Hollywood, babe, 'cause the quintessential L.A. town is definitely El Monte, its history packed with noirish murders, brilliant thespians, loony Nazis, James Ellroy's naked lunch and the lion farm that MGM's celebrated kitty called home. See all this and so much more, including the Man from Mars Bandit's Waterloo, when you climb aboard the daffiest crime tour in our arsenal, and the only one that includes a dumpling picnic at a landmark playground populated with fantastical giant sea creatures. Special on this tour: the secret diary of Vilma, El Monte's sassy Clifton's Cafeteria camera girl. Not frequently offered, you won't want to miss this ride. (Buy tickets here).
HOLLYWOOD! - SAT. 10/1... This new tour reveals the unwritten history of the sleepy suburb that birthed the American dream factory, a neighborhood packed with fascinating lore and architectural marvels. You won’t see the stars’ homes or hear about their latest real estate deals, but we’ll show you where some colorful characters breathed their last, got into trouble that defined the rest of their lives and came up with ideas that the world is still talking about. So for unforgettable stories you won’t hear on anyone else’s Hollywood tour, climb aboard and tour Cross Roads of the World (Robert V. Derrah, 1936) and much more. (Buy tickets here).
Additional upcoming tours: Wild Wild Westside (10/8), Echo Park Book of the Dead (10/15), Raymond Chandler's L.A. (10/22), The Real Black Dahlia (10/29).
OUR HISTORIC L.A. PODCAST
Episode #114, Lures and Snares of Old Main Street, we talk tattoo archives with author and ink-slinger Jonathan Shaw, and explore the life of early Downtown L.A. macher O.T. Johnson with historian Paul Rood. Click here to tune in. New: find stories on the map!
AND FINALLY, LINKS
Ray Bradbury's back at L.A. High.
The zig-zaggy bank that replaced the Garden of Allah hotel might become a landmark (and a thorn in Frank Gehry's backside).
Anyone who cares about a free press in Los Angeles should want to see Ted Rall have his day in court.
Thwarted at the city-owned Greek Theatre, the privatization sharks circle San Pedro's Warner Grand.
Someone finally found a use for the mysterious campanile on the East side of Pershing Square: an anchor for a kinetic art piece. (Video; our photo.)
Questions raised as perpetually absent California State Historical Resources Commissioner David Phoenix shows up to vote "no" on landmark (Mitchell Camera/ The Factory) owned by business associate.
The trouble with Business Improvement Districts: they're accountable to nobody, have special access to City Hall and are incredibly white.
Pushy hotelier unsatisfied with Julia Morgan's neglected Pasadena YWCA, wants to develop pocket park honoring Jackie and Mack Robinson, too.
Density doesn't have to be hideous. This old school infill looks better than most multi-family being built in LA.
We're happy A.C. Martin's brutalist 1969 reverse ziggurat is being preserved, but the Sunkist HQ's proposed new neighbors are strictly from dullsville.
yrs,
Kim and Richard
Esotouric