Gentle reader,
In our last newsletter, we anticipated passion and fireworks when the potential landmark designation of Marilyn Monroe’s house came up for a vote before City Council’s PLUM Committee on Tuesday.
It was actually a fairly sedate hearing compared to the Cultural Heritage Commission, where the property owners appeared to argue against, and members of the preservation and Marilyn Monroe fan communities appeared in favor, and one commissioner grew tearful describing the experience of standing in the room where the star died.
We spoke up at PLUM, as did political gadfly Wayne Spindler through his infamous Goat Puppet, as did the Monroe Preservation Group’s attorney Amy Minteer and homeowners Brinah Milstein and Roy Bank’s representative George J. Mihlsten.
Mihlsten was there to ask that PLUM reject historic designation, explicitly so that the house could more easily be chopped up and moved elsewhere. We have our doubts that a poured concrete house actually can be moved off site.
But this is what the property owners want, Mihlsten claims it’s what the Los Angeles Conservancy and Monroe Preservation Group and neighborhood groups want, and as we learned from a letter uploaded to the Council File three days ago, it’s what Graceland’s co-owners Authentic want, too.
But there was only one person that the PLUM Committee needed to hear from before making their decision: Jeff Khau, Planning Deputy for councilwoman Traci Park.
Park initiated landmarking of the Marilyn Monroe house when it was saved from illegal demolition in September, and it is traditional for councilmembers to defer to their colleagues for matters within their council districts.
If Traci Park had decided she wanted the landmarking halted to make it easier to move the house, now was the time to say so.
Jeff Khau was quick and succinct: “Regarding the Marilyn Monroe HCM nomination: office continues to support recommendation for designation put forth by the Planning Department and the Cultural Heritage Commission.”
A vote was quickly held, unanimous yes! And the matter of Marilyn Monroe’s house becoming a protected landmark will next go to full City Council for a vote that’s merely a formality. Barring a meteor landing on City Hall, the property will be designated!
What happens after that is anyone’s guess, but we’ll keep on reporting and be grateful that for once a special place is getting almost all the love it deserves.
So that was fun. But we haven’t seen the last of attorney George J. Mihlsten. He is also representing Catholic Charities in its effort to gain court permission to demolish the exquisite and culturally significant B’nai B’rith Lodge building in the Westlake District.
Tomorrow, Friday March 8 in full City Council, the last item on the agenda is the City Attorney likely going into closed session to brief the council on the top secret settlement agreement that has been hashed out at the direction of Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant.
We have been begging our elected officials to make the settlement public before they vote on it, because secret deals to demolish potential National Register landmarks are not how land use decisions ought to be made in a democracy. It would set a dangerous precedent where any wealthy property owner could use the courts to circumvent cultural protections and rational planning.
Tomorrow will be one last chance for City Council to do the right thing, and we encourage anyone who shares our concern to come out and make in-person public comment, to call in and comment, and/or to call your council office and let the person who answers the phone know you want the secret Catholic Charities settlement that is agenda #27 to be made public before a vote. If making public comment, the agenda link explains how.
Want to know more about the B’nai B’rith Lodge’s cool and layered history and efforts to protect it? This webpage has all you need to know, or you can watch the webinar above that tells the tale up through June 2022.
Yours for Los Angeles,
Kim & Richard
Esotouric
Psst… If you’d like to support our efforts to be the voice of places worth preserving, we have a tip jar and a subscriber edition of this newsletter, 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 and bus tours for groups big or small? Or just share this link with other people who care.
UPCOMING BUS & WALKING TOURS
• SOLD OUT Know Your Downtown L.A.: Tunnels To Towers To The Dutch Chocolate Shop (Sat. 3/16) • The Run: Gay Downtown History (Sat. 3/23) • Franklin Village Old Hollywood (Sat. 3/30) • John Fante’s Downtown Los Angeles Birthday (Sat. 4/6) • Raymond Chandler’s Noir Downtown (Sat. 4/13) • Human Sacrifice: The Black Dahlia, Elisa Lam, Heidi Planck & Skid Row Slasher Cases (Sat. 4/20) • Downtown Los Angeles is for Book Lovers (Sat. 4/27) • Alvarado Terrace & South Bonnie Brae Tract (Sat. 5/4) • Charles Bukowski’s Westlake (Sat. 5/11) • Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice (Sat. 5/18) • Evergreen Cemetery, 1877 (Sat. 5/25) • POP – Preserving Our Past (Sat. 6/1) • Westlake Park (Sat. 6/8) • Highland Park Arroyo (Sat. 6/15) • Film Noir / Real Noir (Sat. 6/29) • Angelino Heights & Carroll Avenue (Sat. 7/13) • Know Your Downtown L.A.: Tunnels To Towers To The Dutch Chocolate Shop (7/27)
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