WAHA E-News, 3-12-2007

WAHA sponsors a Chester Place Book Signing & Stroll on March 24, and that's not all! There's plenty to do this week in the neighborhood, plus a "Saving L.A." conference this Sunday.

By Laura Meyers

1). SHERWIN WILLIAMS PAINTER'S BREAKFAST
Wednesday, March 14 6:30 to10:00 a.m. Sherwin Williams, 1367 W. Venice Blvd. (one short block east of Hoover)

WAHA members and other house restorers have been invited to attend Sherwin Williams' annual Painters Breakfast. Everyone is welcome. The store will be having different vendors and food for all. Sherwin Williams is one of WAHA's Member Discount vendors, so please do support this event. 213-365-2471

2). CHESTER PLACE BOOK SIGNING AND TOUR - HOLD THE DATE!
Saturday, March 24 2 to 5 p.m. Mount St. Mary's Doheny Campus

WAHA is sponsoring a reception, book signing and author talk with Don Sloper, writer of the new Arcadia Press book, " Los Angeles's Chester Place," at the historic William Bayley Residence ( 10 Chester Place) on the Mount St. Mary's campus, followed by a stroll through the historic enclave. Look for details in the WAHA Matters newsletter (in members' mailboxes March 13-14) and on the WAHA website, www.WestAdamsHeritage.com, but please do mark your calendar now.

Reservations requested: RSVP to mike@craftsmanhomes.com or to 323-301-9815.

3). UNNC SPECIAL ELECTION
Meet the Candidates Thursday, March 15 6:30 p.m. South Seas House, 2301 West 24th Street (at Arlington)
Election Saturday, March 17 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. South Seas House

The United Neighborhoods of the Historic Arlington Heights, West Adams and Jefferson Park Communities Neighborhood Council (UNNC) is holding a special election to allow for participation in the neighborhood council of non-residents who qualify to run for and vote in UNNC's election. There are eight candidates running for four At-Large seats on the UNNC Board. All eligible stakeholders may vote for up to four of the eight candidates who are running. A UNNC stakeholder is defined as anyone who lives, works, owns property or otherwise identifies themselves as a stakeholder in the community.

UNNC's boundaries are, generally, Pico on the north, Crenshaw on the west, Rodeo Road on the south, and an eastern border that includes Normandie, Western and Arlington. You can find a map of UNNC's boundaries and learn more about the election at www.UNNC.org.

4). THE LUCK OF THE ( WEST ADAMS) IRISH
Saturday, March 17 6 to 11 p.m. The Pink Lady, 1007 W. 24th Street ( University Park)

Every year the Casa de Rosas Board sponsors, and Drs. Ann and Ed Dorr host, a St. Patrick's Day party for those people who help support the Sunshine Mission/Casa de Rosas shelter and low income housing for women. This charity helps many women.

But to continue the work of Casa de Rosas your donation is needed. Funding is severely lacking. Indeed, Los Angeles County funded no homeless shelter programs for women in a recent funding cycle. Your donation makes a real difference as Casa de Rosas struggles to provide food and shelter in a safe and supportive environment.

Please help Case de Rosas, Los Angeles oldest continually operating shelter for women by either sending a donation and attending the Patrick's Day event and enjoying the traditional Irish faire, or by simply sending your donation. (Suggested donation: $40.00 per person.)

Please RSVP to Casa de Rosas at 213-747-7419 and send your donation to Casa de Rosas, 2600 South Hoover Street, LA, CA. 90007, to the attention of Executive Director Marilyn Ross. Casa de Rosas is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and your donation is tax deductible as allowable by law.

5). SAVING L.A. CONFERENCE
Sunday, March 18 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Los Angeles Theatre, 615 S. Broadway (downtown Los Angeles)

If you want to save Los Angeles' history, preserve the historic character of your neighborhood, discover more about your ethnic or cultural roots or find out more about the history of your family, consider attending the first annual "Saving L.A." conference this Sunday at the historic, circa 1931 Los Angeles Theatre. Presented by the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, conference speakers, panels and vendors will explore how to save Los Angeles' physical, cultural and social history. The conference is co-sponsored by the citywide Los Angeles Neighborhood Councils Congress (LANCC), the City of Los Angeles Planning Department, and the Los Angeles Conservancy with the aid of the Getty Institute. West Adams Heritage Association will have a booth there.

Los Angeles City Planning Director Gail Goldberg will speak in the main auditorium of the theater at 11:15 a.m. on how the city can assist neighborhoods in preserving their historic elements, among other pertinent issues. Ken Bernstein (manager of the historic resources section in the city's Planning Department - will next discuss the citywide historic resources study funded by the Getty Institute. Other seminars will cover neighborhood preservation issues such as HPOZs, Mansionization, and financial incentives for historic preservation.

Equally important, there will be dozens of booths where every aspect of historic preservation will be discussed such as how to preserve the histories of all the ethnic, racial, and cultural groups of Los Angeles along with how to record and preserve individual, family, and neighborhood histories.

Books on LA's history and historic preservation will be for sale, books signings will held, and several displays of Los Angeles historic memorabilia will be on view -- including a the first sneak mini-preview of the new Los Angeles Museum -- the first museum in the city's history devoted to the history of all of Los Angeles.

For more information and updates, visit www.SavingLA.blogspot.com (which will soon have parking instruction for Pershing Square) or contact Brady Westwater at bradywestwater@gmail.com.

6). WAHA AND UNNC SEEK TO SALVAGE HOMES FROM A NEW SCHOOL SITE

The West Adams Heritage Association along with United Neighborhoods Neighborhood Council (UNNC) have been working diligently with the LAUSD to move or salvage the homes slated for demolition at the new Washington Street School located on Washington just west of Arlington. While initially rebuffed, the community rallied with the help of school board member, Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte, to force the LAUSD to work with us to help save the houses.

The goals are two-fold -- salvaging our historical heritage and keeping these items out of landfills.

While the plans are still being worked out, we have toured the homes and made a list of houses to move and items to salvage, including windows, doors, hardware, built-ins and cabinets, siding, flooring, etc., from structures that will not be moved. We will e-mail you again with details, but there will probably be a specified day when workers will remove house parts for salvage, and a list of material available.

Importantly, WAHA and UNNC are working with community members to move at least two of the houses. There are still some wonderful little bungalows that are available for moving if you have room in the back of your house. (756 square footages - 36 feet by 24 feet)

If you are interested, you must act now. Please be aware there are many governmental hoops to go through and probably no more than 3 or 4 months to do so.

1. Contact Eric Bronson (eb@birdmarella.com) and tell him you are interested. He will notify you of important dates and time frames.

2. You can view the bungalows at 3rd and Washington- they are the fenced in bungalow court just south of Washington. We will attempt to arrange an opening of the houses with the LAUSD in the near future.

3. Please be aware that it will cost around $13,000 to move the house to your lot - more if you are far from the location. Electrical and utility lines are around $600 dollars to move if needed. These bungalows are likely small enough not to require movement of the lines. In addition, a foundation meeting current codes would be required, which itself will likely cost in excess of $12,0000, as well as upgrades to the electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems.

4. There are more expenses in moving the houses, including city and permit fees. Those fees can be very expensive, especially if you have zoning issues on your lot. Zone changes take time and money. (It is very important for you to visit the Dept. of Building and Safety to find out the limits of what you can do on your lot. Get the facts first.)

Please watch WAHA's website for updates.

7). SUBMIT YOUR NEWS

We welcome your contributions to the WAHA E-News and West Adams Heritage Association's monthly publication, "West Adams Matters." Please understand that we do have deadlines. Material for the print newsletter should be submitted no later than the 1st of the prior month (i.e.: April 1 for the May issue). If your event is scheduled for early in a month, we suggest you request coverage for the prior month (i.e.: May issue for a June 3 event), because it's entirely possible that not all of our members will have received their newsletter by then (we do try hard…). We reserve the right to edit submitted material. For the WAHA E-News, we prefer to only send it out once or twice a month. Please don't wait until two days before an event to let us know about it. It may not be sent out. EXCEPTION: If you suddenly hear of an important city hearing or other public meeting that is important to West Adams, we will endeavor to send out a special bulletin. Submit your material to Laura Meyers, editor, lauramink@aol.com.