Two CD13 Landmarks Preserved

NEIGHBORHOOD POLITICS--Working with our community partners, we took action this week to preserve two landmarks in the 13th Council District.

First, you may have seen the photos on social media when we flipped the switch on the Jensen’s Recreation Center sign (photo above). The 17’x28’ animated sign along Sunset Boulevard depicts a bowler throwing a strike. It contains 1,300 red, green, and white light bulbs, and is billed as the last remaining articulated incandescent sign of this type and size in the United States. The sign has been inoperable for most of the past 50 years, until now, thanks to the property owners who invested in this piece of Echo Park history. 

Also this week, the City’s Planning and Land Use Management committee moved to designate the Hollywood Reporter building as a Historic Cultural Monument, making this the 11th designation since I took office in 2013. The other designations include; a 104-year old Craftsman-style home in Silver Lake; the Black Cat Tavern, also in Silver Lake, and birthplace of the LGBT movement; the Earl Carroll Theatre and the Hollywood Palladium, a Streamline Moderne Art Deco entertainment venue; and the Tom of Finland House in Echo Park, home of the world-renowned artist with the same moniker.

Maintaining the character of our neighborhoods, and preserving history where possible, is a top priority for me. I look forward to further collaboration with historic preservationists to identify other architectural gems throughout the communities I represent.

(Mitch O’Farrell is councilmember for the 13^th District.)

-cw