Gentle reader,
For as long as anyone can remember, driving into Downtown Los Angeles from the East you’d see the jaunty rooftop ventilation fans of the Friedman Bag Company standing at attention like good little industrial soldiers.
Their neighbors the gasometers went away, and the jolly Friedman family eventually folded up their burlap sacks, but the complex of interconnected warehouses remained in use as storage facilities until quite recently.
Although we keep a close eye on demolition permits and projects that might have a negative impact on historic resources, we were not aware of plans to start tearing down the Friedman complex for Metro’s Link Union Station project, meant to facilitate future high speed rail lines, until the east section started coming down.
Although the project required demolition of historic resources—the oldest portion of the complex was erected by R.B. Young around 1902 for the Kahn-Beck Company, makers of fine macaroni, candy and crackers—the matter never came up before the Cultural Heritage Commission where the community and Commissioners could have weighed in.
There was an Environmental Impact Report, which buried the familiar Friedman name in the supporting documents, along with a determination that a structure the City previously called out as eligible as a National, State and local landmark was, in Metro’s admittedly biased opinion, in no way significant and could be torn down.
And while it’s probably too late to stop Metro from tearing down the additions, they need to obtain a demolition permit like everybody else must when taking down a building, especially an historic building like R.B. Young’s.
When the Pickle Works / Citizens Warehouse (1888), an early Arts District live-work success story, was torn down after the city left it open to vandals and arsonists, the MTA project required a demolition permit and according to the LADBS inspector, this Metro project does, too.
Troubling, too, was hearing from a worker on site that the old building is so heavily bricked that even the curbs and gutters are fired clay, but the contract did not allow any of this valuable material to be salvaged—everything is bound for the landfill.
This seems obscenely wasteful. Builders pay top dollar for vintage brick and old growth timber, and the dump is no place for it.
If you care, please send an email to LADBS inspector Roger Bruce at roger.bruce@lacity.org and let him know that demolition continues at 821 E. Commercial despite his notice to comply on 2/21/2025, and asking that the work be stopped until it is permitted.
A little time might be what it takes to find a way to keep that good old brick out of the dump. If anyone reading this has a contact at Metro, please ask them or pass it on.
Will this project actually be completed? Two weeks ago, as the demolition contractors were carving away at the eastern part of the structure, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy held a press conference in Union Station’s ticketing hall across the freeway, criticizing California High Speed Rail as a boondoggle and announcing a review of $4 Billion in committed Federal funds.
And is the project safe? Also buried in the supporting documents of the project EIR, in Appendix A - Notice of Preparation and Comment Letters Received, is an alarming letter from Susan MacAdams (on page 67-81) and embedded below.
She states that the very premiss of the proposed redesign is a miss and a public safety threat: “raising the tracks fifteen feet at a cost of over two billion dollars at Union Station is unfeasible because of track criteria…. [it] will require replacing ten bridges over the LA River… [it] would raise the tracks at Union Station higher than the tracks along the Los Angeles River. This is not feasible because the tracks at Union Station are kept intentionally lower… to prevent accidents. At present trains from the station cannot accidentally roll out onto the mainline; if the tracks are raised fifteen feet at the station, then accidents along the river could occur… No need for an EIR to study this arrangement. A more economical solution exists without raising the track bed and should be considered as part of the EIR.”
Metro didn’t listen to her, but they should, and so should Angelenos, because she’s not simply a concerned citizen, but an expert on Union Station infrastructure, a track engineer, manager for three Metro lines and the former High Speed Rail Planning Manager at Metro (2009-2011).
MacAdams has been sounding the alarm about the Link US project for years, in letters responding to the project locally, to Federal High Speed Rail auditors, and in this front page article in California Rail News: “Metro: Transit Provider or Developer? –– LA Union Station Quandary.”
She writes: “Safety Concerns — Raising the platforms by fifteen feet also creates serious safety issues: platform tracks would be higher than the mainline tracks. This violates a fundamental principle of railyard design; runaway trains from the station become a risk, potentially causing major accidents on the mainline freight and passenger routes along the Los Angeles River. This sort of accident occurred at Lac-Megantic, Canada, garnering international attention. Brakes were not properly set, allowing the train to roll down the grade and derail, with a great loss of life and property. There is a possibility that a passenger train could roll out of Union Station and collide with a freight train carrying hazardous materials along the mainline tracks.”
Also in that story, MacAdams asks if the project seeks to elevate the rails not because it’s better for transit purposes, but because it would create usable space for a privately developed retail mail next to Union Station.
It’s an excellent question.
Union Station sits in Council District 14, which at the time this project was approved was under the malevolent control of confessed racketeer Jose Huizar, who is presently serving 13 years at Lompoc for his crimes.
Not half a mile from Union Station, Huizar worked with councilmember Gil Cedillo to stymie landmarking of the useful, historic Parker Center building east of City Hall, then had it demolished at great taxpayer expense, with the intent that the City parcel would be privately developed. After Huizar’s arrest, the City quietly cancelled these plans, because “it became apparent that the… Project may no longer be in the best interest of the City.” (PDF link).
All large public projects within CD 14 that date from Jose Huizar’s term in office ought to be subject to audit, to determine if they are in the best interest of Angelenos and if they are safe. These include the abandoned, bankrupt and we believe unusable Oceanwide Plaza towers, that were mentioned in the case against Huizar co-conspirators, but not made part of the prosecution.
We just can’t trust the process, because too many making decisions about land use in the City have been personally corrupt, or complicit in enabling corruption.
City Council has refused to investigate itself, even as billions of dollars of our money disappear into boondoggles like High Speed Rail and LAHSA’s failed homelessness response. Two separate City Council motions (1, 2) seeking to review projects implicated in the criminal case against Huizar, councilmember Mitch Englander and others have stalled in committee.
Friedman Bag Company is just an old building by the railroad tracks. But if we had not stopped to figure out why it was coming down with no demolition permit on file with LADBS, we wouldn’t know about an unsung Los Angeles angel, Susan MacAdams, who is no longer getting paid to look out for Union Station and those who use the rails or live, work and play around them, but who continues to be our staunch advocate.
We hope her wise counsel can be heeded, before it’s too late.
Come explore Los Angeles in good company: this Saturday’s tour is Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice, a true crime and weird social history walk through some of the most beautiful and peculiar landmarks in Downtown Los Angeles, telling strange tales of freak shows, ghouls, nuts, mummies and a slumming Rolling Stone or two. Join us for a time travel trip you won’t soon forget!
Yours for Los Angeles,
Kim & Richard
Esotouric
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Our work—leading tours and historic preservation and cultural landmark advocacy—is about building a bridge between Los Angeles' past and its future, and not allowing the corrupt, greedy, inept and misguided players who hold present power to destroy the city's soul and body. If you’d like to support our efforts to be the voice of places worth preserving, we have a tip jar, vintage Los Angeles webinars available to stream, in-person tours and a souvenir shop you can browse in. We’ve also got recommended reading bookshelves on Amazon and the Bookshop indie bookstore site. And did you know we offer private versions of our walking tours for groups big or small? Or just share this link with other people who care.
UPCOMING WALKING TOURS
• Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice Downtown L.A. (Sat. 3/8) • Bunker Hill, Dead and Alive (Sat. 3/15) • Raymond Chandler’s Noir Downtown Los Angeles (Sat. 3/22) • Franklin Village Old Hollywood (Sun. 3/30) • John Fante’s Downtown L.A. (Sat. 4/5) • Angelino Heights & Carroll Avenue (Sat. 4/12) • Elmer McCurdy’s Main Street Revival (4/15) • Leo Politi Loves Los Angeles (Sat. 4/19) • Downtown Los Angeles is for Book Lovers (Sat. 4/26) • Human Sacrifice: The Black Dahlia, Elisa Lam, Heidi Planck & Skid Row Slasher Cases (5/3) • Charles Bukowski’s Westlake (5/10) • Highland Park Arroyo Time Travel Trip (5/17) • The Run: Gay Downtown History (5/24) • Evergreen Cemetery, 1877 (5/31) • Angelino Heights & Carroll Avenue (6/7) • Raymond Chandler’s Noir Downtown Los Angeles (6/14) • Miracle Mile Marvels & Madness (6/22) • Westlake Park Time Travel Trip (6/28) • Film Noir / Real Noir (7/12) • The Real Black Dahlia (7/19) • Broadway (7/26)
CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS
Rancho Los Amigos tree advocacy win! Supervisor Janice Hahn's office, prior to Tuesday’s hearing, writes: “The item has been referred back to the department. The project will not move forward at this time.” Thanks to all who commented—you made a difference. The rare and massive Rusty Leaf Figs are safe!
We paid the trees a visit to tell them the good news later that night, as seen above.
Scoop! Although the interior of the landmark Pacific Palisades Business Block (Clifton Nourse, 1924) was gutted in the Palisades fire, Bank of America was able to retrieve the scorched safety deposit boxes—and a friend just opened their box to find all the treasures intact!
The Guardian reports on volunteer efforts to rescue Altadena's Batchelder tiles—though these gorgeous birds are actually by Calco! Many great artisans thrived in L.A.'s 1920s population boom, turning hearths into art galleries.
Altadena community volunteers Save The Tiles get all the attention—deservedly!—but 100 year old brick is also precious, and after the tile is safe, our pal Jaime Castro has been deconstructing the chimneys for future use.
Grocery Outlet, a small chain budget supermarket with a large liquor section, will be moving into the shuttered Rite Aid at Gower Gulch. This is great news for keeping the quirky, old Western movie set themed mini mall humming along for another 48 years!
Landmark nomination submitted for Marco Place Court, an unusual 1925 Pueblo Revival bungalow court on a Venice walk street. Sold in January for $2.4M, it’s six RSO units on a double lot.
Landmark nomination submitted for the Spanish Colonial Revival RSO Sam Sharpe Triplex (Max Maltzman, 1928). Maltzman typically worked on a much grander scale. Peep inside here.
The Lawrence and Martha Joseph Residence and Apartments, better known as the Hobbit Houses, are a late Storybook Style masterpiece—both landmarked as HCM #624, and protected by an LA Conservancy easement. And they, and their rent controlled tenants, can be yours!
Everyone mourns the loss of old Bunker Hill, and we’ll tell that tale on next Saturday’s tour, but the CRA did a number on the Temple Street district, too.
The FBI may have folded up its local tent, but the District Attorney is on a public corruption tear. With just weeks until Councilmember Curren Price enters his plea, 11 warrants were served in and around Huntington Park City Hall. These schemes only work when everyone is on the take. Huntington Park budget analyst Teresa Garcia was not, got scared she might be implicated in what became the DA's Operation Dirty Pond, so she saved documents—and got arrested!
The Salt Lake Park aquatic center in the Huntington Park case was to be built in the same community green space where a robot cop roams the paths. We watched this tough little kid stand it off in 2021. Maybe the device should have been deployed to City Hall… or maybe not.
Just announced: a new Angel City Press edition of Arnold Hylen's scarce Los Angeles Before the Freeways (Dawson's Book Shop, 1981), with unpublished photos and text by Bunker Hill historian Nathan Marsak. Available from Amazon or indie booksellers.
New photo exhibit just installed in the History Genealogy room at LAPL Central: John Parkinson: Architect of the Metropolis. Cool show curated by his biographer Stephen Gee, but see it quick, before any more of the mounting tape fails.
On 3/11, Echo Park NC's PLUC hears from the owner's rep who seeks to turn the landmarked, RSO 1463-1469 Scott Ave bungalow court into a small lot subdivision. Residents were blindsided. Is the plan to sell off apartments that people live in?
Eater LA adds context to Unite Here's beef with Richard Riordan's trust over the Original Pantry: a labor dispute filed, then dismissed due to lack of union cooperation. What's going on and can this landmark and its jobs be saved?
Wild video of urban explorers snooping around the Hotel Alexandria, falling off a roof, accessing the derelict ghost wing. Includes a great view of the Counsellor 5¢ Cigar ghost sign on 510 S Broadway and a flooded basement oil seep.
Commercial real estate portal CoStar reports on Hollywood tenants' successful effort to landmark Clinton Manor Court, to protect their beloved homes from upzoning that threatened to destroy garage workspaces—one of them the birthplace of Mattel Toys!
Preservation pal C.C. de Vere (Empty Los Angeles) has crafted a tribute in miniature to the landmark Topanga Ranch Motel, one of our State Parks treasures lost in the Palisades fire. Auction proceeds go to Pasadena Humane. Bids are open until 3/15.
A Boney Island Lifeline? At the Cultural Heritage Commission on Thursday, Commissioner Diane Kanner read from last week’s Los Angeles Times article about the City Attorney's and LADBS's assault on the Boney Island treehouse, expressed outrage it’s slated for demolition and suggested landmarking it to save it. "It's whimsy and the Commission has designated whimsies in the past, like Grandma Prisbry's and the Garden of Oz." Commission president Barry Milofsky said it reminds him of now lost landmark Dan Van Meter's Tower of Wooden Pallets and the Watts Towers. But they cannot vote on this without having it on an agenda, which cannot happen until 3/20. But they can tell owner Rick Polizzi they want to help save it, and maybe he won't demolish the treehouse before their hearing. We hope it can be saved.
Just listed: a rare opportunity to live on the 1300 block of Carroll Avenue. The 1907 Craftsman Edward and Marie Thomas Residence is more subdued than the flamboyant Victorians, as befits a German born plumber who made his fortune in the young city.
Infuriating story about why the owners of the Alhambra Lounge, beloved San Pedro dive bar and one of the oldest bars in California, felt they had no choice but to close down. The City is out of control, squashing good people like bugs.
Help speak up for Walker's Cafe, a San Pedro landmark featured in Chinatown, boarded up for years while flipper investors seek entitlements for a huge house in back. Tuna Street might be revived, and Walker's can, too!
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