Gentle reader,
The city we love is dissolving like a sandcastle at high tide.
Wildfire, mudslide, blight, arson and bulldozers poised to crush useful, beautiful and long vacant historic structures that stand in the way of some speculator’s upzoned profits. Our supposed leaders squabble like school kids. Federal contractors cut down living trees in the burn zones. Legacy businesses lock their doors.
But there are still moments of such grace and hope in Los Angeles, and they come from the people.
On Saturday, while leading The Real Black Dahlia tour in historic Skid Row, Kim noticed a yellow zippered Amazon delivery box with artsy writing on the lid:
PREGO CAT / PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN!!! / IF NOT… LEAVE HER BE!!!
Peeping inside, she locked eyes with a beautiful, green-eyed orange tabby cat.
Time, tide and trolly wait for no man when a tour is underway. But there was enough time to snap a photo and post it to social media.
And over the next hour or so—unbeknownst to us, as we finished telling the tragic tale of how the homeless, depressed and self destructive Beth Short was kidnapped and killed by person or persons unknown after spending her last hours of freedom in the neighborhood in 1947—a small army of cat lovers dropped everything to coordinate the rescue of the little cat on the sidewalk at 7th and Main Streets.
Checking the comments after the tour, it made us misty to think how many kind souls stepped up to help a creature that was so vulnerable, and to wish that Beth Short might have found friends like this in life.
When the Luxe Paws team was able to assess the cat’s condition, they discovered she was not pregnant, and not even a she!
The sweet neutered male tabby is safe and looking for a foster home. If you’d like to look after this lucky little guy, or chip in with some donations for cat food, vet care and rescue supplies, visit this Luxe Paws link. And you can also support NELA Cats, the other feline rescue on the scene.
Had we not gone south on Main to talk about the illegally wrecked historic sign on the south facade of the Hotel Cecil, we would have missed the cat entirely! So that’s one good thing to come out of leaseholder Matt Baron’s wanton destruction, at least.
But there wasn’t time to feel warm and fuzzy. Also in our Instagram inbox was an urgent alert from preservation pal @d__t_fox: a demolition notice had been posted outside one of the strangest places on Sunset, the Hollywood Center Motel!
We bid farewell to our gracious tour guests, packed up our gear and raced over to Hollywood, parking in front of the demolition threatened Las Palmas Apartments, where the beautiful pink magnolia tree still blooms in hopes she and the 84 rent controlled apartments can be saved.
The mysterious, non-operational Hollywood Center Motel, with its pre-consolidation Queen Anne William A. and Sarah Avery house “El Nido” (built around 1901), sweet row of 1922 bungalow court duplex units and jazzy mid-century breeze block and pole sign, is just across the street. For the complicated history of this property, we defer to J.H. Graham’s 2020 blog post.
As for the status of the site, LADBS shows only an application for six demolition permits, and no proposed new project. The motel doesn’t seem to have been on the market, but it changed hands on 04/10/2023. Jeweler Andranik “Andy” Sogoyan registered the sale to Titanium Legacy LLC, an entity that has since been terminated for the recently established 6720 Sunset LLC.
If the new owner has a desire to redevelop the parcel, that’s his right. But we don’t believe six historic residential / motel units ought to be torn down for nothing, especially right after tens of thousands of historic buildings were destroyed in the Eaton and Palisades fires.
We have already heard from people in Altadena who don’t want to build a brand new house to replace what burned, but hope to save and move an old house that might otherwise be demolished.
The main house is explicitly called out on page 110 as an Individual Resource on the Historic Resources Survey, Hollywood Redevelopment Project Area as a “Rare example of residential development that predates Hollywood’s consolidation with the City of Los Angeles in 1910.” While not a city landmark, this inclusion can grant “El Nido” the possibility of protection from immediate demolition. But it’s not automatic, and here’s where you can help.
If you care about the Hollywood Center Motel and think demolishing good buildings for nothing is bad public policy, please take a moment to call (213-473-7013) or email (councilmember.soto-martinez@lacity.org) the office of Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez and let them know you don’t want demolition permits to be granted for the historic buildings at 6720 West Sunset in Hollywood, especially with no new project planned for the site.
Maybe the new owner has a great idea for this parcel, and we’re eager to hear what that is. And perhaps these historic buildings can be moved to Altadena or to Pacific Palisades to serve as housing. Or maybe the long shuttered motel can once again shelter travelers. There are many good options, and only one terrible option: destroying something historic and useful, for nothing.
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 and mummies. Join us for a time travel trip you won’t soon forget!
And the Supervisors have rescheduled discussion of Rancho Los Amigos redevelopment to Tuesday, 3/4, which means you still can provide a brief public comment asking that the beautiful Rusty Leaf Fig trees are not chopped down by 4pm today. Full instructions are at the link.
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)
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