That Sound You Hear? It's Preservationists & Tiki Enthusiasts, Sobbing.

Gentle reader...

Bang! Boom! Splat!

That's how it's felt the past few days, as several bundles of bad preservation news have come over the transom.

First, photos emerged of fencing surrounding Dr. Jones Dog & Cat Hospital, Wurdeman and Becket's streamline moderne masterpiece at the west end of West Hollywood, as the developers move forward with their plans to built a glass and steel mediocrity. This despite the dogged efforts of citizen preservationists Kate Eggert and Krisy Gosney which were picked up by the Los Angeles Conservancy.

Then, down Orange County way, tiki-lovers gasped at news that the sprawling Don the Beachcomber (originally Sam's Sea Food and Hawaiian Village) is closing, its large PCH lot slated for unspecified redevelopment. The interior fixtures will be salvaged for use in some new venue, but there's no way to replicate the sense of space and creativity of an original mid-century exotica environment on the coast highway.

And on at the east end of the Sunset Strip, a court reversed the decision to require Frank Gehry to integrate Kurt Meyer's landmarked Lytton Savings into the development on the site. This despite the dogged efforts of citizen preservationists Steven Luftman and Keith Nakata which were picked up by the Los Angeles Conservancy.

And yet, despite these grim setbacks, we're optimistic, overall. We live in a golden age of historic preservation, where people who care (like Kate, Krisy, Steven and Keith) can band together with like-minded citizens and have a positive effect on public policy.

It's more possible than not that we'll lose Dr. Jones Dog and Cat Hospital and Lytton Savings, but neither building will fall without notice. And for every preservation battle fought in the public eye, new people learn that it is possible to preserve the places they care about, and to give voice to beauty, history and community. The tools exist, and when you're right, you can win. If you're looking for a local cause to champion, you'll find it on our Historic Preservation Hotspots Map.

As of this sunny Thursday morning, all three of these threatened sites still stand, and in the case of Lytton Savings (now Chase Bank) and Don the Beachcomber, you can even go inside and soak up the atmosphere. If you do, give these fine spaces our love, and a pat for good luck.

We're back on the bus on Saturday with a true crime tour through Downtown Los Angeles, Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice. Next Saturday, it's The Real Black Dahlia (three seats left!). Plus, just added: a second springtime date for The Lowdown on Downtown tour on May 19, a rare chance to explore the astonishing tiled Dutch Chocolate Shop. Join us, do!

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RECENTLY TOURED

On last Saturday's Pasadena Confidential tour, on the day of the nationwide March For Life protests, our tour guests joined us in a moment of silence for the victims of the 1940 South Pasadena school shooting perpetrated by principal Verlin Spencer.

LAVA'S FORENSIC SCIENCE SEMINAR - SUN. 5/20

Four times a year, we gather in the teaching crime labs of Cal State L.A. to explore the history and future of American forensic science. On May 20, join us for an inquiry into the Grim Sleeper serial killer investigation. Your $36.50 ticket benefits graduate level Criminalistics research.

COMING SOON

HOTEL HORRORS & MAIN STREET VICE - SAT. 3/31... 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.)

THE REAL BLACK DAHLIA - SAT. 4/7... Join us on this iconic, unsolved Los Angeles murder mystery tour, from the throbbing boulevards of a postwar Downtown to the quiet suburban avenue where horror came calling. After multiple revisions, this is less a true crime tour than a social history of 1940s Hollywood female culture, mass media and madness, and we welcome you to join us for the ride. This tour usually sells out, so don't wait to reserve. (Buy tickets here.)

THE LOWDOWN ON DOWNTOWN - SAT. 4/14... 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. (Sorry, tour is sold out with waiting list. Tour repeats May 19.)

GROWING UP WITH RAY BRADBURY TALK - 4/19... In association with the new exhibition Dreaming the Universe: The Intersection of Science, Fiction, & Southern California at the Pasadena Museum of History, come join our Richard Schave in conversation with Ramona Bradbury, talking about life at home with her famous writer father Ray Bradbury. You'll have a chance to ask questions, and see the exhibition. Space is limited for this special event. (Buy tickets here.)

BLOOD & DUMPLINGS - SAT. 4/21... 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.)

CHARLES BUKOWSKI'S L.A. - SAT. 4/28... Come explore Charles Bukowski's lost Los Angeles and the fascinating contradictions that make this great local writer such a hoot to explore. Haunts of a Dirty Old Man is a raucous day out celebrating liquor, ladies, pimps and poets. The tour includes a visit to Buk's DeLongpre bungalow, where you'll see the Cultural-Historic Monument sign that we helped to get approved, and a mid-tour provisions stop at Pink Elephant Liquor. (Buy tickets here.)

Additional upcoming tours: Raymond Chandler’s Los Angeles (5/5), Special event: Crawling Down Cahuenga: Tom Waits’ L.A. (5/12), The Lowdown on Downtown (5/19), Weird West Adams (6/2).

OUR HISTORIC L.A. PODCAST

In Episode #125: a last visit to the Caravan Book Store to talk with second generation bookman Leonard Bernstein, plus public policy maven Donald Spivack on the two biggest challenges facing Los Angeles. Click here to tune in. New: find stories on the map!

AND FINALLY, LINKS

He found a proof sheet of unpublished Beatles photos at a garage sale. Then things got interesting.

Managed with an eye to increasing the value of its board members’ collections, MOCA melts down (again).

Indonesian tourist attraction replicates Chris Burden's Urban Light, itself an uncredited riff on Sheila Klein's Vermonica.

Simply spectacular! Andrew McNally's 1888 Altadena mansion seeks a loving caretaker for the next century.

Raymond Chandler made nothing up, and the real coin at the heart of The High Window, the Brasher Doubloon, just changed hands at a premium.

Scott Wiener's SB 827 seeks to hand California over to developers. Such broad brush upzoning would be a nightmare for renters, historic preservation and quality of life. We believe city planning should be done by planners, not by politicians backed by real estate interests. We also think it’s awful that a supposedly progressive politician has created such a time sink for citizen activists on both sides of the issue when there are so many profound threats to organize around in California and beyond.

At Grand Central Market, legacy vendor Chiles Secos abides.

Viva the California dream, however nutty... and Mad Mike pulled it off with a little help from Albert Okura (the Chicken Man), one of the most fascinating people we've talked to for our You Can't Eat The Sunshine podcast.

A well-deserved revival for Lois Weber, the silent film visionary who advocated for progressive change and captured John Parkinson’s Pershing Square as it ought to be restored. See the great park in Weber’s 1916 feature Shoes.

We hope all the lovely foxes and other creatures are safe as fire crews fight a spreading blaze on Santa Cruz Island. Here's our field report from a hike back in time last spring.

yrs,
Kim and Richard
Esotouric