History

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Historic Broadway Sign District Workshop

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LAVA – The Los Angeles Visionaries Association invites lovers of Los Angeles architecture, historic preservation and the grand Broadway corridor to attend the first public presentation and workshop on the proposed Historic Broadway Sign District.

As work begins on Strategy One, Phase One of the City’s Broadway Streetscape Master Plan, LAVA has hosted a series of free walking tours and discussions meant to provide information on the historic built environment and air concerns about the current fast pace of change, which has already resulted in severe damage to one historic facade. We are very interested in learning about the City’s proposed guidelines for signage, and in providing informed feedback to help ensure that new, restored and recreated signs are historically accurate and visually pleasing contributions to this unique National Register district.  

Please join LAVA members at this event, which is hosted by Councilmember Jose’ Huizar’s Bringing Back Broadway and the City of Los Angeles.

Event schedule: 6:00pm – Informal discussion / 7:00pm – Presentation

The Historic Broadway Sign District will:

  1. allow a variety of sign types that will contribute to the historic nature of the Broadway district
  2. allow for the recreation and restoration of historic signs
  3. encourage the use of neon
  4. improve pedestrian way-finding
  5. reduce blight and help achieve revitalization goals
  6. encourage the restoration and rehabilitation of historic buildings
  7. provide revenue-generating opportunities for buildings that have undergone rehabilitation

Your feedback is an important part of the process. All are welcome to attend. For more information, contact: bringingbackbroadway@lacity.org

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The Flâneur & The City: Broadway On My Mind walking tour #10

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To sign up for this free event: First register as a user on this site, or login, and then return to this page. Refresh the page and the signup tab will appear just to the left, above this paragraph. Click “signup” and reserve your spot. No plus-ones; each guest must register individually.

Join us the latest installment of The Flaneur & The City: Broadway On My Mind walking tour series. (This tour series was originally titled Broadway Streetscape Master Plan Awareness walking tour.)  

About This Tour:

This month’s tour will be the second of several tours which focus on the architect Robert Brown Young, whose career spans the 19th & 20th centuries, the residential and commercial. His work on Broadway is the perfect introduction to understanding Young and his iconic structures. One of the buildings to be tackled this month is the O.T. Johnson Block.

Our goal with these tours is to explore the history of the built environment on Broadway, while seeking to understand the scope of the work of Strategy One, Phase One of the Broadway Streetscape Master Plan and the “Road Diet,” which has recently begun.

Press clippings: the walking tour series is featured in Mike Sonksen’s KCET Departures report, “Punk Rock, Poetry, and Public Policy.” 

Video from previous Broadway On My Mind walking tours: tour #1, tour #2, tour #3, tour #4, tour #5, tour #7.

ABOUT THE TOUR SERIES: In July 2013, LAVA launched a series of monthly walking tours along Broadway meant to raise consciousness about the Broadway Theater and Commercial District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the pending implementation of Strategy One, Phase One of the City of Los Angeles’ Broadway Streetscape Master Plan (PDF). Each walking tour will follow and depart from the free LAVA Sunday Salon.

Stretching from 2nd Street to Olympic, the District contains the most intact collection of Beaux-Arts buildings in Los Angeles, and the largest collection of historic theaters anywhere in the United States.

As Broadway’s vast scope and scale can be overwhelming, on each walking tour we will look closely at several different historic buildings, in order to acclimatize the observer to better understand and appreciate the whole. We will also be looking at the historic streetscape, with attention paid to street lights, sidewalks (terrazzo in particular), basement hatches, sidewalk vents, glass blocks, manhole covers, granite curbs and signage.

Motivation for this tour series:

With City Council’s June 2013 approval of funding for Strategy One, Phase One of the Broadway Streetscape Master Plan, we believe that it is it is imperative to develop a greater public awareness and understanding of Broadway’s architectural and scenic qualities, and to bring the informed voices of the community into discussion of the proposed changes and alterations. We believe that no element of Broadway’s streetscape can be altered without causing a transformation of the whole, requiring careful consideration before any permanent or semi-permanent changes are made. Broadway’s architectural character is defined not by any single feature (uniform height limits, predominance of theaters) or single landmark building (Eastern Columbia, Bradbury Building, Los Angeles Theater), but upon the concord of all of it, and the strength of the impression which all together they provide. No feature or building is of dominant importance, but each contributes, and all are vitally fused together into our National Register landmark district. Many of the salient architectural and streetscape features which will be the focus of this tour series are proposed to be impacted by the yet-unfunded Strategy One, Phase Two of the Broadway Streetscape Master Plan. The evolving situation demands public input and public awareness. We hope that you will join us on the tour series to better understand Broadway and become an advocate for its continued preservation, stewardship and vibrancy.

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LAVA’s 37th Sunday Salon

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Join LAVA for our revived free monthly Sunday Salon series. We return to South Broadway, to the mezzanine of Les Noces du Figaro, which was recently opened by the family behind Figaro Bistro in Los Feliz. This handsome space was formerly Schaber’s Cafeteria (Charles F. Plummer, 1928), and the mezzanine features wonderful views of the Los Angeles Theatre.

On the last Sunday of each month, LAVA welcomes interested individuals to gather in downtown Los Angeles (noon-2pm), for a structured Salon featuring formal presentations and opportunities to meet and connect with one another. If you’re interested in joining LAVA as a creative contributor or an attendee, we recommend Salon attendance as an introduction to this growing community. We also recommend the eclairs.

Read about the original Sunday Salon at Clifton’s Cafeteria here.

Presentation One: 24 writers: 20th Century Science Fiction

Milt Stevens, a long time Science Fiction fan who for a bit over fifty years has been a member of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society — the world’s oldest science fiction club, and which for many years met down the street at Clifton’s Cafeteria — will talk about 24 writers who are major influences on 20th century SF. By Milt’s own admission his presentation will be anecdotal and by no means comprehensive. Some of the writers to be discussed are Jack Williamson, Kurt Vonnegut, Leigh Brackett, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Murray Leinster, Octavia Butler, Philip K. Dick, Poul Anderson and Ray Bradbury.

Presentation Two: The Magical World Of Jack Parsons

The fascinating story of Jack Parsons — follower of Aleister Crowley, pioneering rocket scientist, and early member of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society — has become increasingly well known in recent years. But few have examined his beliefs and practices. To really understand the man who summoned the goddess Babalon into physical manifestation, you need to start with the law of Thelema, proceed through Ordo Templi Orientis, Qabalah and Enochian magick, and continue to the reception of Liber XLIX and the transformation of Witchcraft for a new Aeon. Join Craig Berry, an initiate of Ordo Templi Orientis, on a journey through the magical world of Jack Parsons.

The Salon will be followed by a free walking tour, The Flaneur & The City: Broadway on My Mind walking tour #10. Please visit the tour series Landing Page for videos and descriptions of past tours and the goals of the series.

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Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice crime bus tour

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From the founding of the city through the 1940s, downtown was the true center of Los Angeles, a lively, densely populated, exciting and sometimes dangerous place. After many quiet decades, downtown is making an incredible return. But while many of the historic buildings remain, their human context has been lost.

This downtown double feature tour is meant to bring alive the old ghosts and memories that cling to the streets and structures of the historic core, and is especially recommended for downtown residents curious about their neighborhood’s neglected history.

The Hotel Horrors portion is a true crime and oddities tour featuring some of the wildest, weirdest, goriest and most memorable happenings in historic hotels like the Alexandria, St. George, Barclay and Cecil. Get on the bus to see inside some of these legendary locales and find out where Night Stalker Richard Ramirez liked to stay and the hotel that saw a visit from the Skid Row Slasher, and where two traveling chocolate salesmen laughed so hard they fell backwards out a window to their deaths. You’ll also explore the fiery curse that repeatedly leveled the St. George Hotel. Included are some light hearted stories to help the blood and gore go down.

The Main Street Vice portion is a social history tour celebrating the ribald, racy, raunchy old promenade where the better people simply did not travel, but kicks were had by all who did. Burlesque babes and dirty picture parlors, mummified western outlaws and old time tattoo parlors, wax museums and pawn brokers, “professors” offering sex lectures and magazine peddlers with nudie Marilyn Monroe calendars under the counter, sophisticated steak houses and nickel donut dives — these were the pleasures and the people to be found along Main during the first half of the 20th century, a street that every Angeleno knew offered more (yet less) of what could be seen anywhere else. On this tour, we’ll visit the scenes of some more unforgettable debaucheries and share stories of crime, smut, passion and commerce.

Climb aboard for a time travel journey back to the downtown that’s not there anymore, and the surprising amount of gems that survive.

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East Side Babylon crime bus tour

retro
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Go East, Young Crime Fiend!

For years, the devoted and demented crime historians of Esotouric have been stockpiling hideous 20th century crime tales from the east side of the Los Angeles River, and waiting for the perfect moment to spring them upon an unsuspecting world. That moment has arrived. On the EAST SIDE BABYLON tour you’ll discover fascinating, little-known neighborhoods and the grim memories they hold. Come visit Boyle Heights, where the Night Stalker was captured and a mad dad ran amok. Roam the hallowed lawns of Evergreen, L.A.’s oldest cemetery and home of some memorable haunts and strange burials. Visit East Los Angeles, where a deranged radio shop employee made mince meat of his boss and bride–and you can get your hair done in a building shaped like a giant tamale. Explore the ghastly streets of Commerce, where one small neighborhood’s myriad crimes will shock and surprise. Visit Montebello, for scrumptious milk and cookies at Broguiere’s Farm Fresh Dairy washed down with a horrifying case of child murder. All this, and so much more on EAST SIDE BABYLON, Esotouric’s exploration of L.A.’s most horrifying forgotten crimes.

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The Flâneur & The City: Broadway On My Mind walking tour #9

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To sign up for this free event: First register as a user on this site, or login, and then return to this page. Refresh the page and the signup tab will appear just to the left, above this paragraph. Click “signup” and reserve your spot. No plus-ones; each guest must register individually.

Join us the latest installment of The Flaneur & The City: Broadway On My Mind walking tour series. (This tour series was originally titled Broadway Streetscape Master Plan Awareness walking tour.)  

About This Tour:

This month’s tour will be the first of several tours which focus on the architect, Robert Brown Young, whose career spans the 19th & 20th century, residential and commercial. His work on Broadway is the perfect setting to begin to understand Young and his iconic structures.

Our goal with these tours is to explore the history of the built environment on Broadway, while seeking to understand the scope of the work of Strategy One, Phase One of the Broadway Streetscape Master Plan and the “Road Diet,” which has recently begun.

Press clippings: the walking tour series is featured in Mike Sonksen’s KCET Departures report, “Punk Rock, Poetry, and Public Policy.” 

Video from previous Broadway On My Mind walking tours: tour #1, tour #2, tour #3, tour #4, tour #5.

ABOUT THE TOUR SERIES: In July 2013, LAVA launched a series of monthly walking tours along Broadway meant to raise consciousness about the Broadway Theater and Commercial District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the pending implementation of Strategy One, Phase One of the City of Los Angeles’ Broadway Streetscape Master Plan (PDF). Each walking tour will follow and depart from the free LAVA Sunday Salon.

Stretching from 2nd Street to Olympic, the District contains the most intact collection of Beaux-Arts buildings in Los Angeles, and the largest collection of historic theaters anywhere in the United States.

As Broadway’s vast scope and scale can be overwhelming, on each walking tour we will look closely at several different historic buildings, in order to acclimatize the observer to better understand and appreciate the whole. We will also be looking at the historic streetscape, with attention paid to street lights, sidewalks (terrazzo in particular), basement hatches, sidewalk vents, glass blocks, manhole covers, granite curbs and signage.

Motivation for this tour series:

With City Council’s June 2013 approval of funding for Strategy One, Phase One of the Broadway Streetscape Master Plan, we believe that it is it is imperative to develop a greater public awareness and understanding of Broadway’s architectural and scenic qualities, and to bring the informed voices of the community into discussion of the proposed changes and alterations. We believe that no element of Broadway’s streetscape can be altered without causing a transformation of the whole, requiring careful consideration before any permanent or semi-permanent changes are made. Broadway’s architectural character is defined not by any single feature (uniform height limits, predominance of theaters) or single landmark building (Eastern Columbia, Bradbury Building, Los Angeles Theater), but upon the concord of all of it, and the strength of the impression which all together they provide. No feature or building is of dominant importance, but each contributes, and all are vitally fused together into our National Register landmark district. Many of the salient architectural and streetscape features which will be the focus of this tour series are proposed to be impacted by the yet-unfunded Strategy One, Phase Two of the Broadway Streetscape Master Plan. The evolving situation demands public input and public awareness. We hope that you will join us on the tour series to better understand Broadway and become an advocate for its continued preservation, stewardship and vibrancy.

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Kim Cooper’s “The Kept Girl” reading and book signing

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LAVA co-founders Kim Cooper and Richard Schave invite you to join them at Vroman’s Bookshop for a reading and book signing for The Kept Girl (Esotouric Ink), Kim’s debut novel of 1929 Los Angeles. Kim will read a selection from the book, answer questions and write something sweet inside your copy. Vintage attire is encouraged, but not required.   

The Kept Girl is inspired by a sensational real-life Los Angeles cult murder spree which exploded into the public consciousness when fraud charges were filed against the cult’s leaders in 1929. The victim was the nephew of oil company president Joseph Dabney, Raymond Chandler’s boss. In the novel, Chandler, still several years away from publishing his first short story, is one of three amateur detectives who uncover the ghastly truth about the Great Eleven cult over one frenetic week. Informed by the author’s extensive research into the literary, spiritual, criminal and architectural history of Southern California, The Kept Girl is a terrifying noir love story, set against the backdrop of a glittering pre-crash metropolis.

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The Flâneur & The City: Broadway On My Mind walking tour #8

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THE TOUR IS CANCELLED. RICHARD HAS SCHEDULING CONFLICTS. WE WILL BE BACK NEXT MONTH IN MAY.

May’s Broadway On My Mind Tour.

Join us next month for the latest installment of The Flaneur & The City: Broadway On My Mind walking tour series. (This tour series was originally titled Broadway Streetscape Master Plan Awareness walking tour.)  

About This Tour:

As the date for this tour approaches the focus of it will be announced. Our goal with these tours is to explore the history of the built environment on Broadway, while seeking to understand the scope of the work of Strategy One, Phase One of the Broadway Streetscape Master Plan and the “Road Diet,” which has recently begun.

 

Press clippings: the walking tour series is featured in Mike Sonksen’s KCET Departures report, “Punk Rock, Poetry, and Public Policy.” 

Video from previous Broadway On My Mind walking tours: tour #1, tour #2, tour #3, tour #4, tour #5.

ABOUT THE TOUR SERIES: In July 2013,LAVA launched a series of monthly walking tours along Broadway meant to raise consciousness about the Broadway Theater and Commercial District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the pending implementation of Strategy One, Phase One of the City of Los Angeles’ Broadway Streetscape Master Plan (PDF). Each walking tour will follow and depart from the free LAVA Sunday Salon.

Stretching from 2nd Street to Olympic, the District contains the most intact collection of Beaux-Arts buildings in Los Angeles, and the largest collection of historic theaters anywhere in the United States.

As Broadway’s vast scope and scale can be overwhelming, on each walking tour we will look closely at several different historic buildings, in order to acclimatize the observer to better understand and appreciate the whole. We will also be looking at the historic streetscape, with attention paid to street lights, sidewalks (terrazzo in particular), basement hatches, sidewalk vents, glass blocks, manhole covers, granite curbs and signage.

Motivation for this tour series:

With City Council’s June 2013 approval of funding for Strategy One, Phase One of the Broadway Streetscape Master Plan, we believe that it is it is imperative to develop a greater public awareness and understanding of Broadway’s architectural and scenic qualities, and to bring the informed voices of the community into discussion of the proposed changes and alterations. We believe that no element of Broadway’s streetscape can be altered without causing a transformation of the whole, requiring careful consideration before any permanent or semi-permanent changes are made. Broadway’s architectural character is defined not by any single feature (uniform height limits, predominance of theaters) or single landmark building (Eastern Columbia, Bradbury Building, Los Angeles Theater), but upon the concord of all of it, and the strength of the impression which all together they provide. No feature or building is of dominant importance, but each contributes, and all are vitally fused together into our National Register landmark district. Many of the salient architectural and streetscape features which will be the focus of this tour series are proposed to be impacted by the yet-unfunded Strategy One, Phase Two of the Broadway Streetscape Master Plan. The evolving situation demands public input and public awareness. We hope that you will join us on the tour series to better understand Broadway and become an advocate for its continued preservation, stewardship and vibrancy.

 

 

 

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An Afternoon In Old Monterey Park: El Encanto history tour

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LAVA invites you to join us for an afternoon of historic discovery at the historic and breathtaking El Encanto, perhaps the most beautiful building in the San Gabriel Valley. This is a free, drop-in event; no tickets or reservations required. If you’d like to support LAVA’s free programming, click here.

El Encanto was built in 1927 by Peter N. Snyder, the visionary Greek developer known as the “Father of the East Side,” as a leasing office and community center for his ambitious development Midwick View Estates. Nestled in a natural valley on Atlantic Boulevard south of Garvey, it was to be the Beverly Hills of the East Side. The covenants on the lots required the fashionable Spanish Colonial revival as the architectural style, and Snyder took the lead with several showcase hillside homes that he built himself. The centerpiece of the Midwick View Estates’ opening ceremonies, El Encanto is ideally placed perpendicular to Atlantic Boulevard opposite “The Cascades,” a series of tiered fountains and statuary which recalls the ancient beauty and aesthetics of Snyder’s native Greece. Sadly, the stock market crash and great depression killed all chances for this development to thrive but through some astonishing quirk of good fortune, El Encanto survived almost untouched.

Tile historian Brian Kaiser and El Encanto’s own Richard Gorman will lead two tours, each beginning at fifteen minutes after the hour. Richard will discuss of the history of the site and its varied uses over the decades, as well as its current role as office for the Monterey Park Chamber of Commerce. Brian will give an overview of Southern California ceramic tile technology and design in the 1920s, and how El Encanto is a rare intact specimen of that golden age, with some very intriguing glazes and stylistic choices.

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LAVA’s 36th Sunday Salon

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Join LAVA for our revived free monthly Sunday Salon series. We return to South Broadway, to the mezzanine of Les Noces du Figaro, which was recently opened by the family behind Figaro Bistro in Los Feliz. This handsome space was formerly Schaber’s Cafeteria (Charles F. Plummer, 1928), and the mezzanine features wonderful views of the Los Angeles Theatre.

On the last Sunday of each month, LAVA welcomes interested individuals to gather in downtown Los Angeles (noon-2pm), for a structured Salon featuring formal presentations and opportunities to meet and connect with one another. If you’re interested in joining LAVA as a creative contributor or an attendee, we recommend Salon attendance as an introduction to this growing community. We also recommend the eclairs.

Read about the original Sunday Salon at Clifton’s Cafeteria here.

Because of the scope and scale of the program, this month’s Sunday Salon will not follow our usual varied two-act structure, but will focus almost entirely on Electronic Music. The program will include the history of the genre, some theoretical discussion, a performance and a hands-on demonstration. We will break for about ten minutes about an hour into the presentation.  

Our focus is on Electronic Music, and the sub-genre known as Circuit Bending. Circuit Bending is the creative rewiring of pre-existing circuits to make new media. Often these circuits are found in inexpensive children’s toys and “obsolete” devices. Important aspects of Circuit Bending are the D.I.Y (Do It Yourself) autodidactic nature of immediate exploration into new electronic sounds and the ability to engage in instrument building without the need for an electrical engineering degree. The artists presenting today, Andy Ben, Jeff Boynton and Mona Jean Cedar, explore the implications of Circuit Bending through a variety of contexts, including performance, documentary video and education.

For Mona Jean Cedar (poet, dancer and sign language interpreter) and Jeff Boynton (electronic musician), “Circuitry and Poetry” arose out of a desire to create collaborative artwork. Jeff’s initial impulse was to create interactive electronic instruments that would respond to Mona’s hand and body movements. This did not happen immediately due to the steep learning curve of electronics, but it led to the discovery of the “black art” of Circuit Bending. This was the jumping off point, and eventually Jeff was able to develop interfaces that would allow Circuit Bent instruments to respond to light, sound and movement. Mona had already been creating work in which poetry and movement was composed specifically for how well they will work with sign language. Presenter Andy Ben is a musician and technologist and film maker who is interested in the digital convergence and post consumer culture.

The LAVA Sunday Salon will also feature a short presentation by the scholar and writer Fanny Daubigny about the American translator Louise Varèse and her work with 19th century French poetry. (Louise Varèse was the wife of Edgar Varèse, whose compositions are considered a cornerstone of electronic music.)

The Salon will be followed by a free walking tour, The Flaneur & The City: Broadway on My Mind walking tour #9. Please visit the tour series Landing Page for videos and descriptions of past tours and the goals of the series.

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