LFIA Book Offer:
Los Feliz - An Illustrated Early History
Get your copy here!
Read more about
the book here
LFIA News Archive 2008
The LFIA has been working with the Greek Theatre for several months to alleviate the noise of artists’ trucks arriving and leaving at all hours of the night. Although the Greek informs the artists ahead of time that their trucks may not arrive before 7:00 am, many disregard their request. In response to LFIA bringing the problem to their attention, the Greek Theatre has implemented a new signage program. On concert nights only, these mobile signs will be placed at Los Feliz and Hillhurst/Vermont and at the Vermont park gate and median for those of their performers who may try to set up early or break down concerts after curfew. They will be removed by the following day. (11-10-08) 
The
Cultural Heritage Commission met at 10:00 am Thursday, October 30 to discuss
the Historic-Cultural Monument nomination of Griffith Park. Room 350 of City
Hall was packed with more than 100 supporters and a few members of the press.
Daniel Paul of ICF Jones & Stokes, the consulting firm hired by the Griffith J. Griffith Charitable Trust to prepare the application, presented the Commission with the additional information regarding the history of the landscape of the park that they had requested. Paul described the park as a “landscape park” and referenced Griffith’s own book, “Parks, Boulevards, and Playgrounds.” Griffith’s intent was to give the people access to nature. Clare Darden of the Griffith Trust spoke in favor of the nomination on behalf of Griffith’s great-grandson, Van Griffith, who was unable to attend the meeting.
When Councilmember Tom LaBonge asked everyone in the room who supported the nomination to stand up, everyone stood! He thanked Daniel Paul and Clare Darden of the Griffith Trust for all the work they have done for the park. Tom commented that oversight is so important. Although he still has concerns about the infrastructure in the park, he supports the nomination. He said we should do the right thing and restore the park naturally. ... [continued here]
Many of you may have old photographs tucked away in
shoeboxes in your closet or up in the attic. These are Los Feliz golden
moments we want to preserve. Wedding pictures taken at the Mulholland fountain,
graduation photos at the Greek Theatre or family snapshots taken in front
of your house. So we can record and document our Los Feliz past, we are asking
residents to share their old family and community photographs for the Los
Feliz Improvement Association’s Photo Project. LFIA is hosting its
annual Photo Day, Saturday, November 1, from 2-5 p.m. at the Los Feliz Library,
1874 Hillhurst Ave. We will scan your photographs right on the spot—so you don’t
have to part with them.
We are primarily looking for photos taken prior to 1980 to show how the
community has grown and changed since the early 1900s. We are interested
in anything relevant to Los Feliz at the time, buildings, landscapes, landmarks
and people. ... [continued
here]Alarmed by proposals over the last few years to commercialize Griffith Park by building hotels, restaurants, tramways and numerous parking structures, Col. Griffith J. Griffith's heirs submitted a 350 page Application which just barely passed its first vote for continued review at a recent meeting of the Cultural Heritage Commission. Approval of the Application by the Commission and then by the City Council would bring Griffith Park the same status now enjoyed by many other parks and treasured Los Angeles locations. While it would not prevent further development, it would help to ensure that historical aspects of the Park are preserved and that the people of Los Angeles have notice and opportunity to be heard on significant developments. ... [continued here]
The second step in the process to be designated a Historic-Cultural
Monument is to have the Cultural Heritage Commission tour the nominated property.
They toured Griffith Park on September 4. Griffith Park is the largest property
ever nominated in the city. Planning such a tour was a real challenge since
the Park offers much more than can be appreciated in three hours. The tour
was lead by Daniel Paul, the principal author of the application from the firm
of Jones & Stokes. Commission President Richard Barron, a preservation
architect, Commissioner Roella Louie, a former Director of Public Art for the
Cultural Affairs Department and graduate of Marshall High School, and Commissioner
Glen C. Dake, a landscape architect and former deputy for Eric Garcetti, attended
the tour. Commissioner Oz Scott, a television director, did not attend. The
fifth Commissioner, Mia Lehrer, a local landscape architect who has done work
for Rec. & Parks, recused herself to avoid any impression of a conflict
of interest. ... [continued
here]
Los Feliz Cleanup Saturday, August 23: LFIA Board member
Angela Stewart rakes debris along Franklin Ave. Eight LFIA volunteers picked
up trash, swept, painted out graffiti, and pulled down illegal signs in the
commercial areas on Vermont Ave. and Hillhurst Ave. and the curve at Western
Ave. Three large bags of trash were removed from the two-block section of
Franklin Ave. alone. Keep Los Feliz clean by using trash cans. Watch
the calendar section for the date of the next LFIA Beautification Committee
cleanup. Together we can keep Los Feliz beautiful! (August 2008)
Van Griffith is interviewed by ABC and KFWB.
Anyone who has spent any amount of time in Los Feliz is aware of the
cluster of hospitals on Sunset Blvd. near Vermont Ave. One of those hospitals
is Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles, a giant resource in pediatrics right
on our collective doorsteps, so to speak.
The hospital is currently undertaking a fundraising effort dubbed “Los Feliz - A Communities That Cares”. The main goal is funding construction of the new Patient Tower near the corner of Sunset Blvd and Lyman Place, which is set to open in 2010. This spring a group of LFIA Board members visited the hospital. ... [continued here]
Exciting
and wonderful things are happening in Griffith Park! The Griffith J. Griffith
Charitable Trust has submitted a City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument
(HCM) application to designate the park a monument! The application itself
was signed by Van Griffith, the great grandson of Griffith J. Griffith who
along with his wife Tina deeded the land to the City of Los Angeles on Christmas
Day in 1896. What a Christmas gift!Colonel Griffith anticipated the growth of Los Angeles and the need for a public park accessible to all. He stated that “Sunlight and air are the first requisites of sanity and health...public parks are a safety valve of great cities and should be made accessible and attractive...give nature a chance to do her good work and nature will give every person a greater strength in health, strength and mental power.” See what a walk in the park will do for you! ... [continued here]
There is exciting news in Los Angeles! Griffith Park has been nominated
for Historic-Cultural Monument status! The Griffith J. Griffith Charitable
Trust hired the firm of ICF Jones and Stokes to prepare the application which
was signed by Van Griffith, Colonel Griffith’s great-grandson. The
application was delivered to the City’s Office of Historic Preservation
on May 15. Monument status would help preserve the Griffith Park that we
all know and love.
The HCM application - all 350 pages of it availabe for download in one big pdf here - identifies and describes in great detail all of the historic structures in the Park. It describes the wilderness area of the Park with its native plants and animals. In addition, it identifies numerous examples of “Park Style” retaining walls and culverts built be federal assistance programs in the 1930s. ... [continued here]
LFIA President Marian Dodge took advantage of a photo op with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on the anniversary of the Griffith Park Fire to urge him to retain Park Rangers. The city is currently facing massive budget deficits. The Mayor’s proposed budget would have cut 50% of the Park Rangers who provide so many services in our regional parks. Dodge explained that Rangers help prevent fires, which is a lot cheaper than fighting fires. The Mayor said he would review the matter.
LFIA, along with twenty other people, spoke in support of retaining Park Rangers at the Budget and Finance Committee’s hearing on May 1. LFIA also spoke in their support at the Arts, Parks, Health, and Aging Committee on May 7. When the budget was discussed at the full City Council on May 16, Councilmember Parks, the Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, assured us that the Park Ranger positions had been restored. The following day, the Mayor addressed a group of Neighborhood Councils and credited the influence of the Los Feliz Improvement Association in getting the Ranger positions restored. Making your opinion known can make a difference!
The groundbreaking for the long-awaited beautification of the Vermont Triangle at Vermont Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard was held on May 9. Rosemary DeMonte (GGPNC), Angela Stewart (LFIA), Nyla Arslanian (GGPNC) helped Councilmembers Eric Garcetti and Tom LaBonge with the shoveling. The landscaping will feature native sycamores and plants with street lights styled after the Frank Lloyd Wright lights at Barnsdall Park. The project is scheduled for completion in October, 2008.
The beautiful deodar cedar canopy bordering Los Feliz Boulevard is designated as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #67. Originally planted as a joint venture of the Los Feliz Improvement Association and the Los Feliz Woman’s Club in 1916, the trees are a special charge of LFIA’s Beautification Committee. Native to the Himalayas, the cedars can grow to 80 feet tall and comprise two varieties, Cedrus atlantica and Cedrus deodara.
The trees are continuously monitored for disease and vandalism. They are susceptible to stress and eventual death from drought or over-irrigation. The mounding of soil around the base of the tree allows fungal diseases to develop and can kill a tree. Thus, the trees occasionally require replacement. In March, the LFIA was instrumental in planting two new saplings. Several bare spots are waiting for new deodars to be planted. Individuals may donate trees to be planted along the boulevard. Contact LFIA Beautification Chair Tom Ford at beautification@lfia.org. [This story was first published in the Spring-Summer 2008 issue of our newsletter, the Los Feliz Observer. All issues are available for download here.]
A poem lovely as a tree
And you won’t
be seeing this one for long. On April 2, 2008, the Board of Public Works
approved a permit to remove five protected native oak trees on the lot at
3662 Cadman Drive adjacent to Griffith Park. The Board stated that the property
owner had the right to reasonably develop his property. Since this 100-year-old
oak covers almost the entire property, he is allowed to remove it and the
others.LFIA spoke in favor of saving the tree. It was noted that planting four small trees will hardly mitigate the loss of this beautiful specimen tree. There are many other difficulties involved in the development of this particular lot. The realtor should have disclosed all of these issues to the buyer. The street is substandard so the owner must donate three feet to the city to widen the street. To provide access for emergency vehicles the owner will have to build several retaining walls to create a “hammerhead” turn around stub driveway between his property and the next. He also has to sink 15 concrete piles 46 feet into the ground at the back of the lot to stabilize the steep slope below the house on Shannon.
CD 4 supported Urban Forestry’s recommendation to allow removal of the trees. The owner will be required to plant four 36-inch-box oaks for each tree removed for a total of twenty trees. Since only a few of the trees will fit on the lot after the home is built, the rest will be planted in Griffith Park. That is some compensation for the loss of the oaks.
Saturday morning, April 5, the owner began clearing the lot.
When the LFIA Schools Committee envisioned creating
the Thomas Starr King Middle School Gifted/High Ability Technology Arts Magnet
there was no way that we could have imagined the wonderful ways that the
teachers and students would utilize their talents to make this program thrive. This
will be all the more obvious at the upcoming 5th edition of the school's
Annual Animation & Film Festival which is scheduled for Sunday June 22nd
at the Vista
Theatre from 9:45 am to 12 noon. The LFIA
has provided some financial support for this endeavour.
For me, the
best part about the film festival is that it is not only open to every
magnet student but also every 8th grade student at King that takes History/Journalism
from Mr. Brandon Cabezas, Expressive Poetry Films from Ms. Connie Martin,
or the Computer Animation Class from Mr. Kirk Palayan.
In addition to that
it is held at the beautiful Vista Theater in our community. I encourage
everyone to visit the festival's website at www.animationandfilmfestival.com and
click on the stars for more information. Bring your school age children
to the Vista Theater in June to see for yourself the great ways that King
students are expressing themselves.
Mary
Rodriguez, LFIA Schools Committee Member
It seems that nearly every successful Hollywood
production spawns a sequel, and in that “Give ‘em
more of what they like” spirit, the Los Feliz Improvement
Association
is pleased to announce that it will reprise its highly popular “Night
at the Movies.” The program, scheduled for Monday,
February 11, 2008 at the Autry National Center, will
feature more clips of popular (and obscure) films shot in Los
Feliz and Griffith Park. As it is a general meeting, this event
is open to all LFIA members whose dues are current. We look
forward to seeing you there!Beautification Cleanup
Cleanup will be followed by a luncheon. For more information contact beautification@lfia.org.
Library Architecture & Beyond Series
"Los Angeles in Maps"
6:45
Los Angeles Central Library curator, Glen Creason, will tell you all about Los Angeles history based on the library's extensive collection of old maps. This is a must-see for those who are fascinated by maps and LA history.
The library is located at 1874 Hillhurst Ave. on the corner of Franklin Ave. For more information, please call the library at 323-913-4710 during regular business hours. Doors open at 5:45 p.m.
Skylight Books will have copies for purchase and signing. Event is sponsored by Merchants of the Los Feliz Village BID and the Friends of the Los Feliz Library.
1965 Hillhurst, Los Angeles CA 90027