Green Hollow Square Project (2012-2013)

Despite more than eighty comment letters submitted on the Green Hollow Square Project draft EIR urging for the retention of the Barry Building as part of the proposed project, the final EIR called for the demolition of the modernist landmark, which is designated as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #887.

The project also included an optional design feature for a mid-block turn lane across the Coral Tree Median in front of the project site. Allowing the removal of some coral trees and creating a new mid-block crossing would have set a precedent and could have had a cumulative impact on the continuous, uninterrupted nature of this linear monument (HCM #148).

The property’s owner, Charles T. Munger, sought to raze the Barry Building to make way for the Green Hollow Square project, which would have contained over 73,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, and office space in three new, two-story buildings on San Vicente Boulevard. As proposed, the Barry Building would have been demolished to make way for one of the new buildings -- even though the Barry Building’s scale, massing, and arrangement of retail spaces is remarkably similar to what would have replaced it.

The EIR did include a Preservation Alternative that would reuse the Barry Building for retail space while retaining its landmark designation. Despite this preservation-friendly choice being identified as the environmentally superior alternative, the EIR also made unsupported claims that this seemingly preferable option would not meet a number of the project objectives.

Should the proposed project or similar be resurected for approval in the future, the Conservancy will continue to advocate for a Preservation Alternative while asserting that many of the project objectives can indeed be met by reusing the Barry Building while avoiding needless alterations to the Coral Tree Median. .

Demolition of a Historic-Cultural Monument

Allowing the demolition of a designated HCM is exceedingly rare and sets a bad precedent. Out of more than 1,000 HCMs in Los Angeles, only around half a dozen have been demolished purely for new development. Demolishing the Barry Building would have beeen unnecessary, misguided, and detrimental to the City’s program of local landmarks.

Although Los Angeles’ current Cultural Heritage Ordinance can’t prevent the demolition of a Historic-Cultural Monument, it does allow the City to delay demolition. This delay period allows for further consideration of preservation alternatives, which has been successful in the past. As a result, there have been very few instances when a Historic-Cultural Monument has been demolished to make way for new development (excluding loss because of fire, earthquake damage, etc.).

The 1985 demolition of the Philharmonic Auditorium Building (HCM #61) remains an ever-present reminder that our city’s landmarks can be vulnerable. Despite receiving HCM designation in 1969 for its rich cultural heritage and architectural significance, this prominent landmark opposite Pershing Square was demolished for a mixed-use development project that never materialized.

Twenty-eight years after its demolition, the site remains a parking lot. If the Barry Building were demolished, its loss would call into question the City’s ability to protect our cultural heritage when clear adaptive reuse options exist.