Gentle reader,
It’s not a great look when a Catholic property owner chooses the beginning of Passover to begin demolishing a 101 year old Jewish cultural landmark.
That’s what is happening right now in the Pico-Union District of Los Angeles, to the B’nai B’rith Lodge, designed by master architect S. Tilden Norton and bedazzled with custom Ernest Batchelder tile and terra cotta details.
The video above was shot this afternoon, when we stopped by with preservation pals Rev. Dylan Littlefield and Amy Green of Silverlake Conservation to check on the state of the landmark. When we did, we were horrified to discover that upon approval of the demolition permit late last week, Catholic Charities had their contractor punch huge holes in the back walls of the 1923 building and the 1940s Teamsters Hall addition!
This destruction was apparently done with no public health remediation to control dust, with a machine rather than hand wreck method, without the required fence, canopy and sewer cap, and before Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant has signed off on the settlement deal with the City of Los Angeles. (The next court date is 5/16/2024.)
If you want to learn more about the B’nai B’rith Lodge, its history and efforts to landmark and preserve it, there’s a lot of information on our advocacy page.
But right now, we just need you to send an email or make a telephone call, to the preservation nonprofit that is best situated to move quickly to get in front of a judge and get this demolition halted. That’s the Los Angeles Conservancy, and you can reach them at advocacy@laconservancy.org or (213) 623-2489.
Here’s our ask of the L.A. Conservancy: “Please file a Writ of Mandate! Ask a judge to halt demolition until historic Batchelder tiles and other artifacts can be removed from B’nai B’rith, inside and out.”
To date, nobody who cares about the building’s history and architecture has done a walk through to determine how much of the original 1920s interior is still intact—possibly under drop ceilings or drywall. Welcoming a documentary and salvage crew inside seems the least Catholic Charities can do, while they are suing the city to get permission to tear this landmark down for no new project, with the plan to just to leave it as another vacant lot in a neighborhood that’s lousy with them.
So please take a moment to call or email, and please, pass it on!
Yours for Los Angeles,
Kim & Richard
Esotouric
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UPCOMING BUS & WALKING TOURS
• Downtown Los Angeles is for Book Lovers (Sat. 4/27) • Franklin Village Old Hollywood (Sun. 4/28) • 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) • Raymond Chandler’s Noir Downtown Los Angeles (8/31)
Demolition Red Alert! Tell L.A. Conservancy To Save B'nai B'rith Before It's Too Late