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26th Annual Preservation Award WinnersCongratulations to the recipients of the Conservancy’s 2007 Preservation Awards, which recognize outstanding achievement in the field of historic preservation. Recipients range from community grassroots efforts to major development projects and encompass restoration, rehabilitation, adaptive reuse, historic landscape projects, and efforts to advance preservation planning, education, or program development. A brief description of each project is below.
Each year’s awards are selected by an independent jury of leading experts in architecture, preservation, and community development. Many thanks to our 2007 jurors: Ayahlushim Hammond (chair) of Thomas Properties Group, David L. Crippens of DLC & Associates; Architectural Historian Elizabeth Edwards Harris; Steven M. Nakada, AIA, of Nakada+ Associates; and Jan Ostashay, Historic Preservation Officer for the City of Long Beach.
We presented the awards at a luncheon on May 10 at downtown’s Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles. We are very grateful to City National Bank for sponsoring the luncheon for the sixth consecutive year. 2007 Preservation Award Recipients |
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This year’s President’s Award honors Hamid Behdad, PE (Professional Engineer), for his extraordinary leadership, dedication, and success in fostering the adaptive reuse of historic buildings in Los Angeles. A native of Iran, Behdad came to the United States in 1985. He arrived in Los Angeles in 1989, worked as a structural engineer with the city’s Department of Building and Safety, and was eventually assigned to the mayor’s economic development team. His background in Building and Safety, coupled with his training as an engineer, made him ideally suited to the immense task of implementing the city’s new Adaptive Reuse Ordinance. The 1999 ordinance streamlined the process of rehabilitating vacant or underused buildings in downtown L.A., many of them historic. From the Old Bank District in the mid-1990s to the Pacific Electric Lofts in 2006 -- and many in between -- Behdad fostered the transformation of historic buildings into thousands of needed live-work lofts and housing units. Behdad was appointed director of adaptive reuse projects for the City of Los Angeles in 2003, and the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance expanded citywide soon thereafter. When Behdad left the public sector in December, the adaptive reuse program had stimulated an estimated $6 billion in economic investments, with the completion of 4,252 loft units, 4,100 more under construction, and 3,200 more in development. Behdad now serves as president of Central City Development Group, which is currently developing a high-rise “green” condominium building. Although no longer the city’s adaptive reuse “czar,” Behdad is still making Los Angeles a better place, one building at a time. |
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When the city of Glendale received its first historic district nomination in 2003, an element of its historic district ordinance, which required each district to create its own preservation guidelines, led to considerable confusion. City leaders recognized the need for comprehensive, citywide guidelines to streamline the process while helping homeowners care for their historic properties. Creating the guidelines proved challenging, given misperceptions about the effect of historic designation on private property rights; skyrocketing land values fueling the teardown trend; and the increasing diversity that can lead to cultural differences in the regard for historic properties. The project team involved the community, including opponents of historic district designation, to ensure fairness and gain consensus. The result was a clear, easy-to-use set of design guidelines that blend preservation principles with practical tips, enhancing Glendale’s preservation policy, providing valuable education to residents, and serving as a model for other communities. |
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Owner/Client: City of Los Angeles One of L.A.’s most visible and beloved landmarks, Griffith Observatory had been nearly loved to death by its seventy million visitors since opening in 1935. The observatory needed a full building renovation, restoration of its historic features, upgrades to current standards for education and public use, and more space to exhibit the many astronomical discoveries that had occurred over the past seventy years. And it all had to be done without changing the observatory’s iconic, historic appearance. Historic elements were cleaned, repaired, and restored, and most of the 40,000-square-foot expansion was discreetly placed underground. The volunteer Friends of the Observatory raised half of the project's $93 million budget, the most private funding ever raised for a preservation project in Los Angeles. As a result of the tireless work of hundreds of people, the “hood ornament of Los Angeles” shines once again as a state-of-the-art civic facility for scientific education, research, and the joy of discovery. |
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City of Huntington Park |
As the city of Huntington Park prepared for its hundredth birthday, demolitions, insensitive infill projects, and incompatible alterations to historic buildings jeopardized the city’s unique character. The city celebrated its centenary by adopting a historic preservation ordinance designed to protect Huntington Park’s past and future. The ordinance establishes the city’s first Historic Preservation Commission and outlines its rights and responsibilities in safeguarding the city’s historic resources. It also specifies criteria and procedures for designating historic resources and districts, incentives for preserving historic properties, and much more. Key to the ordinance’s success were the unwavering commitment of city leaders, dedication of city staff, and support of the community. Now ninety-five percent Latino, Huntington Park is a prime example of the effect shifting demographics can have on historic resources. With this ordinance as its road map, the community can now add its own layer of history onto the rich heritage of Huntington Park.
Marquez Filling Station
Owner, Architect, & Preservation Architect: Scott Prentice, Architects
Landscape Architect: Fran Hotchkiss Landscape Design
Structural Engineer: Murashige & Onishi
M/E/P Consultant: ACME Environmental Group
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Scott Prentice, Architects |
The Marquez Filling Station in Santa Monica Canyon was built in 1924 on land owned by the same family since a Mexican land grant of 1839. The station operated continuously until 2004. When descendents of the Marquez family prepared to sell the property the following year, the filling station became threatened with demolition, spurring a preservation effort that led to the station’s designation as a city landmark despite the owner’s opposition. The property was ultimately acquired by a neighbor, who adapted the structure for use as an architectural studio. The project also used “green” strategies for efficiency, material use, and site sustainability, and has applied for certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. The project also saved an increasingly rare example of Southern California roadside architecture while illustrating that even relatively small pieces of history matter.
The Poster Neutra
Owner/Developer: Not-A-Box Housing, Inc. – Mike Resnick
Architects: John Blanton; Steven Heisler
Landscape Architect: Darren André Landscape Design and Planning
Contractor: ER Construction
Historic Preservation Consultant: Daniel Paul
M/E/P Consultant: Steve King Design
Curator, Modernism for the Masses: John McIntyre
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| Larry Underhill |
“People think I only design homes for the rich, but the promise of my architecture is housing for the masses; I’ll take your commission.” So replied Richard Neutra to David and Grace Poster in the late 1950s. The young couple had asked Neutra to design a modest apartment building in a working-class neighborhood in North Hollywood. Despite its small size and budget, the eight-unit Poster Apartments elegantly incorporated Neutra’s hallmarks of expansiveness, interior openness, and integration with nature. Yet the building had fallen into severe decline when purchased in 2005. A team including Neutra’s original project architect set out to restore the apartments while keeping them affordable. In addition to renewing a rare example of modernist multifamily housing, the project proved the feasibility and viability of preservation over demolition. Now called the Poster Neutra, the building provides beautiful homes at rents below the city average -- serving as a tangible reminder of the promise of mid-century modernism.
Rose Towers
Project Lead: Mike Zion
Contractors: All Repairs and Maintenance; Original Richard
Pre-Construction Legal Services: Wade Johnson, Attorney
Legal and Financial Services: Paragon Equities
Financial Preservation Support: Long Beach Navy Memorial Heritage Association
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Corey Shaw |
Designed by George D. Riddle, the 1928 El Cordova apartments filled an early need for affordable housing in Long Beach. They also beautifully exemplified Spanish Colonial Revival-style courtyard housing. Renamed Rose Towers in 1955, the building became “own-your-own” units and later condominiums, but always with a strong, diverse community of residents. What began as a cosmetic restoration of Rose Towers’ exterior in 2002 expanded considerably as the homeowners’ association discovered extensive wood rot, water damage, and structural problems. The project required years of painstaking research and planning, countless volunteer hours, and invaluable “sweat equity” contributed by homeowners. Financing included the innovative use of Mills Act tax credits for multi-family housing. Despite unforeseen delays and expenses, the project was completed on time and within budget. By carefully restoring a historic resource, strengthening the community, and spurring neighborhood revitalization, the restoration of Rose Towers is a prime example of grassroots preservation at its best.
Sun Mun Way Lofts
Owner/Developer: Dan Bernier and Amy Finn Bernier
Architect: Amy Finn Bernier
Contractor: RMG Construction, Inc. Rolando Martinez
Construction Manager: Dan Bernier
Exterior Painter & Woodworker: Peter Carpenter
Interior Painter: C. L. Winsten
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Bryce Duffy |
Located in Chinatown’s historic Central Plaza, the building at 949 Sun Mun Way has a vivid history dating to 1939. The colorful, neon-lined building housed several restaurants, notably the Rice Bowl and Lim’s Café. The legendary Madame Wong’s punk and new wave club occupied the top floor in the 1970s and ‘80s. After the club closed in 1985, the building fell into decline and suffered greatly from two decades of deferred maintenance. As Chinatown’s revitalization started to take root, a couple purchased the property in 2003 and began adapting it for use as residential and creative office space. The project team brought the building back to life as lofts and storefronts while reclaiming its colorful past, and the owners moved their family into one of the lofts. Once again a vibrant part of the community, Sun Mun Way Lofts has played a key role in the continued revitalization of Central Plaza and Chinatown.
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Palace Theater Built in 1911 as the third home of the Orpheum vaudeville circuit in Los Angeles, this theater at Sixth St. and Broadway, a work of architect G. Albert Lansburgh is now the oldest remaining original Orpheum theater in the country. Loosely styled after a Florentine Renaissance palazzo, the façade of this brick and concrete structure features terra cotta flowers, fairies and theatrical masks illustrating the spirit of entertainment. Downtown developer Tom Gilmore has recently purchased the Palace and plans to re-introduce live entertainment. Photo courtesy of Tom Zimmerman |
