Gentle reader,
Earlier this month, we told you about the National Register eligible bungalow court near Paramount Studios that had been emptied out with demolition permits sought, after the Las Vegas developer’s proposed boutique hotel was rejected in the planning process.
The bungalows remain wide open, heavily tagged—and while you might not see them in this video we shot on Saturday afternoon, there are people inside most of the unlocked units.
Buildings like these, buildings that their owners would like to demolish, provide shelter to folks who have no place else to go. But the people who stay in vacant buildings are not safe there, and the buildings aren’t safe, either.
After our visit, we sent an email to our contacts in the office of Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, which we’ll share with you below.
If you care about this pretty bungalow court and the need to protect existing affordable housing for Angelenos, won’t you send an email (Councilmember.Soto-Martinez@lacity.org) or call the office (213-473-7013) and ask that they act immediately to protect 5212 Melrose Avenue?
Dear CD 13 staff,
We went over to 5212 Melrose on Saturday afternoon, and were alarmed by the state of the property.
The chain link fence, covered with green cloth that is heavily tagged, has been pulled open, allowing easy access from the sidewalk. All doors to the units are swinging wide open and we saw about five people moving around in the bungalows.
These unsecured RSO units are at immediate risk of catching on fire and endangering the people sheltering inside, the RSO bungalow court immediately behind it, the many cats living on the property and the adjacent businesses, Osteria La Buca, 82 Market, Mi Ranchito Veracruz and Hercules Custom Furniture. A fire in these unremediated 1920s buildings would expose the neighborhood to dangerous toxins, including asbestos.
We are asking that CD13 direct LADBS to secure these bungalows with wood and proper fencing, to protect these desperately needed RSO units and the neighborhood before it's too late. Please!
As bad as it looks right now, we truly believe that the Melrose bungalow court can be saved and again provide safe and dignified homes for Angelenos. But for that to happen, people who care need to pressure the city to do something, quickly. So if you can take a moment to call or email, we would be very grateful. Bungalow courts are the greatest, and it’s crazy to throw them away!
Now as a sort of palate cleanser after the upsetting video at the top of this post, please enjoy a peep at the astonishing restoration work happening at the Million Dollar Theater at 3rd & Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles. Projectionist Tom Ruff has been carefully steaming more than a century of nicotine and grime off the plaster screens, and revealing stunning original colors. See it for yourself on February 10, when the Rocky Horror Picture Show is screened.
This Saturday’s walking tour is Bunker Hill, Dead and Alive, and we’re joined by historian Nathan Marsak and native son Gordon Pattison on a time travel trip that celebrates the lost Victorian neighborhood that we can’t ever forget, and the rather fine modern buildings that replaced it. Join us, do!
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
• Bunker Hill, Dead and Alive Walking Tour (Sat. 2/3) • Westlake Park Time Travel Trip Walking Tour (Sat. 2/10) • Angelino Heights & Carroll Avenue Time Travel Trip Walking Tour (Sat. 2/17) • The Real Black Dahlia Crime Bus Tour (Sat. 2/24) • SOLD OUT Know Your Downtown L.A.: Tunnels To Towers To The Dutch Chocolate Shop Walking Tour (Sat. 3/16) • The Run: Gay Downtown History Walking Tour (Sat. 3/23) • Franklin Village Old Hollywood Walking Tour (Sat. 3/30) • John Fante’s Downtown Los Angeles Birthday Walking Tour (Sat. 4/6) • Raymond Chandler’s Noir Downtown Los Angeles Walking Tour (Sat. 4/13) • Human Sacrifice: The Black Dahlia, Elisa Lam, Heidi Planck & Skid Row Slasher Cases Walking Tour (Sat. 4/20) • Downtown Los Angeles is for Book Lovers Walking Tour (Sat. 4/27) • Alvarado Terrace & South Bonnie Brae Tract Time Travel Trip Walking Tour (Sat. 5/4) • Charles Bukowski’s Westlake Walking Tour (Sat. 5/11) • Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice Walking Tour (Sat. 5/18) • Evergreen Cemetery, 1877 Walking Tour (Sat. 5/25) • POP – Preserving Our Past Downtown Los Angeles Walking Tour (Sat. 6/1)
We visit the endangered 5212 Melrose Avenue Bungalow Court