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Posts Tagged ‘City of Alhambra’

Action Alert: Voice Your Support for Community Center Reuse Design That Preserves The Alhambra Health Center

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on March 24, 2024| Leave a Comment »

An important decision will be made this coming Monday night (March 25, 2024) about one of Alhambra’s most significant historic buildings. Your input will be vital!

Voice your support for the preservation of the historic Alhambra Health Center (located at 612 West Shorb Street, Alhambra, CA 91803) at the upcoming Monday, March 25, 2024 Alhambra City Council meeting. Here are the specifics: 

Date: Monday, March 25, 2024

Time: 6:00 p.m.

Location: Alhambra City Hall, 101 South 1st Street, Alhambra, CA 91801 or online

Item 2: Alhambra Community Center Design Update

The City Council meeting agenda may be found here. The packet for Item 2 begins on Page 12 of the agenda. Renderings for the various proposed designs may be found below.

Please plan on attending either in person or via Zoom.

What Will Alhambra City Council Consider on March 25?

City Council will consider design options for completing the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) project description for a new community center to be built on the site of the former Alhambra Health Center at 612 W. Shorb Street, Alhambra. City and consultant staff will present four options, two new building designs, which both call for the demolition of the current Alhambra Health Center, and two reuse designs, which call for the preservation of all or a portion of the two-story structure. The proposed new designs are named Scheme I “Around the CampFire” and Scheme II “Overlooks”. The proposed adaptive reuse designs are named Alternative I “Flowscapes”; and Alternative II “Connecting Gems”.

We are pleased that the two proposed reuse design alternatives (Flowscapes and Connecting Gems) support the preservation of the two-story north facing portion of the original Alhambra Health Center. 

Alhambra Historical Society and Alhambra Preservation Group representatives have reviewed the proposed design proposals. We support reuse design Alternative II “Connecting Gems” and have sent a joint letter to the City Council encouraging them to vote for and adopt Alternative II. The joint letter may be viewed here.

Design Alternative II is a good compromise for the community center project. It is concurrently equitable in cost compared to the previously presented two new building designs and preserves and adaptively reuses the most historically significant portion of the Alhambra Health Center. Additionally, the layout includes a great room, spaces for community programming and provides additional parking spaces, furnishing much-needed parking relief for the surrounding Mayfair tract community.

How Can You Help?

We encourage you to attend the March 25 City Council Meeting and voice your support for design Alternative II “Connecting Gems” for the Alhambra Community Center.

You may attend the City Council meeting either in person or via Zoom. 

In Person: If you are attending the March 25 Alhambra City Council meeting at City Hall in person, fill out a blue speaker card for Item 2 and submit it to the City Clerk prior to the start of the meeting.  

Via Zoom: If you are attending the March 25 Alhambra City Council meeting via Zoom, use the “Raise Hand” feature during the public comments for Item 2. The “Raise Hand” feature may be found under Reactions on the Zoom app interface. The Zoom link may be found in the March 25 agenda.

Your attendance and vocal support of design Alternative II is imperative and will demonstrate a groundswell of support to preserve the Alhambra Health Center for adaptive reuse. It will also communicate to Alhambra leaders the importance of protecting and preserving this historic resource, which is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Do you have suggested speaking points?

Yes. Suggested speaking points can be found below. Please feel free to revise, but remember to keep your comments to five minutes and speak respectfully.

If you have any questions, please email alhambrahistsoc@att.net. We hope to see you at the Alhambra City Council meeting on March 25!

Thank you for your ongoing support!

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SUGGESTED SPEAKING POINTS

MARCH 25 ALHAMBRA CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Good evening Mayor Maza, Alhambra City Council Members and City staff:

My name is __________________________ and I am a resident of Alhambra.

I am here to voice my support for reuse Alternative II “Connecting Gems” for the proposed Alhambra Community Center, which would preserve the most historically and architecturally significant portion of the Alhambra Health Center and adaptively reuse it as a community center. 

Design Alternative II signifies a win-win-win for the community. It preserves the most architecturally significant portion of the Alhambra Health Center which eligible for the National Register of HIstoric Places, is financially feasible and gives Alhambra the community center it needs. 

The Alhambra Health Center has been a part of the Alhambra community since 1930. Like many Alhambrans, I look forward to seeing this historic resource given new life and purpose as a vibrant community center. Its listing on the California Register of Historical Resources and eligibility for National Register of Historic Places status merits its preservation and adaptive reuse. 

By voting for design Alternative II you will be honoring your unanimous 2021 decision to preserve as much of the original Alhambra Health Center as possible in the design of the community center. A vote for design Alternative II will also be consistent with your strategic planning goal of developing a comprehensive historic preservation program and prioritizing the protection and preservation of Alhambra’s historical, architectural and cultural resources. 

I respectfully request that you adopt design Alternative II “Connecting Gems” for the proposed Alhambra Community Center project. Thank you for listening and your consideration.

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Don’t Miss Alhambra’s October 13 Historic Preservation Community Meeting

Posted in Advocacy, Alhambra Historic Preservation Program, tagged , on October 6, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Things are happening fast on the historic preservation front here in Alhambra! Let’s get everyone up to date!

As you know, Alhambra Preservation Group has been advocating for more than 18 years for the creation of a comprehensive historic preservation program. We’ve advocated for three key elements to be included: (1) establish an historic preservation commission, (2) adopt a historic preservation ordinance, and (3) conduct a citywide inventory of historically, architecturally and culturally significant homes, businesses, churches and schools. 

On Monday, September 27, 2021, Alhambra’s City Council voted to create an Historic Preservation Commission – one of three new commissions established by City Council. Then, in their October e-newsletter, the City of Alhambra announced, “City of Alhambra to Establish Historic Preservation Program” stating that, “plans are well underway for the establishment of a Historic Preservation Program in Alhambra to recognize and protect important properties in the city’s history.” The City goes on to describe that Alhambra’s Historic Preservation Program will be developed in three phases: 

Phase 1: Develop a Historic Context Statement

Phase 2: Conduct a Historic Resources Survey and Seat a Historic Preservation Commission

Phase 3: Adopt a Historic Preservation Ordinance 

The City is currently in Phase 1 – the development of Alhambra’s first comprehensive, citywide historic context statement. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, a historic context statement is a written document that provides the framework for evaluating properties for their historic significance. In other words, this document will help residents understand what makes Alhambra homes, businesses, schools and churches historic, or not. 

In order to write Alhambra’s historic context statement, the City is asking for EVERYONE’S help to tell Alhambra’s story. They want to hear about the people, places and stories in Alhambra’s history that matter the most to us. 

To begin the process of gathering stories and information to write Alhambra’s first comprehensive historic context statement, the City of Alhambra is having a virtual community outreach meeting on October 13. Please plan on attending. Here’s the information:

Historic PreservationCommunity Outreach Virtual Meeting

Date: Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Time: 6:00 p.m.

Via Zoom link to be shared on www.historicalhambra.com 

We also encourage you to visit the City of Alhambra’s new historic preservation website to learn more, share your stories for Alhambra’s historic context statement, get involved in building Alhambra’s historic preservation program and join the program’s mailing list. 

“APG is very pleased to share these announcements outlining the next steps in the creation of Alhambra’s historic preservation program,” stated Oscar Amaro, Alhambra Preservation Group’s founder and president. “We urge everyone to get involved and help tell Alhambra’s story. APG has already contacted the project team to share the myriad stories we’ve discovered over the years, and we strongly urge you to do the same,” continued Amaro.

If you should have any questions, feel free to contact us at info@alhambrapreservation.org.

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Voice Your Support For A Historic Preservation Commission

Posted in Advocacy, Alhambra Historic Preservation Program, tagged , , , , on June 12, 2021| Leave a Comment »

It’s hard to believe that we’re almost half way through 2021. Like all of you, here at Alhambra Preservation Group, we’ve been trying to adapt to life post-COVID and figure out what the “next normal” will look like for our organization. We hope to have more information to share later this year.

For now, we’re writing because there are two items of interest on Alhambra City Council’s online meeting this coming Monday, June 14 at 6 p.m. We encourage you to review the agenda and provide comments.

The first item of interest is Item #8: Discussion Regarding the Establishment of New Boards and Commissions

City Council will be discussing the establishment of new boards, committee and commissions and included in this, the establishment of a Historic Preservation Committee.

“Alhambra Preservation Group (APG) strongly supports and encourages the City to establish a historic preservation commission/committee,” stated Alhambra Preservation Group President, Oscar Amaro. “This proposed historic preservation commission/committee’s responsibilities could include the identification of Alhambra’s historic resources as well as assessing properties for any potential historic significance and providing desperately needed oversight,” continued Amaro.

APG recommends that the City establish a five-member Historic Preservation Commission with each City Council member appointing one resident member. Each member’s qualifications should be based on interest or experience in Alhambra’s history, architecture, archeology or related fields. The creation of a historic preservation commission could also assist the City of Alhambra in qualifying for future state preservation-related grant funds and incentives.

How You Can Help: Send an e-mail to Alhambra City Clerk Lauren Myles at lmyles@cityofalhambra.org by 5 p.m. on Monday, June 14, identifying your comments for Item 8. Please voice your support for and urge the City Council to establish a Historic Preservation Commission/Committee.

The second item of interest is Item #23: Council Action to Accept Properties and Assets From The Alhambra Historical Society, Inc.

Unfortunately, the Alhambra Historical Society has decided to dissolve. They will be returning the Alhambra Historical Society building and associated funds to the City of Alhambra on June 30, 2021. While we are saddened to learn of the dissolution of the Alhambra Historical Society, we understand the necessity to return the building and assets to the City of Alhambra. We thank the Alhambra Historical Society board members for their decades of dedication and service.

APG supports the City of Alhambra’s creation of an account to receive any remaining funds and property as a result of the Alhambra Historical Society’s dissolution. We look forward to hearing recommendations on the future use of the building as well as remaining funds.

APG encourages the Alhambra City Council to earmark funds from the Alhambra Historical Society for historic-preservation related needs as was intended when the historical society was formed in 1966 and to consider utilizing these funds for a long overdue citywide inventory of historic resources. 

How You Can Help: Send an e-mail to Alhambra City Clerk Lauren Myles at lmyles@cityofalhambra.org by 5 p.m. on Monday, June 14, identifying your comments for Item 23. Urge our City Council to earmark funds from the Alhambra Historical Society for historic preservation-related needs and request that they consider utilizing these funds for a citywide inventory of historic resources.

We recommend that you e-mail your comments; however, if you should choose to speak on any of the items, the June 14 City Council agenda provides instructions on how to do that.

As always, thank you for your ongoing support of historic preservation in Alhambra. If you should have any questions, please feel free to contact us at info@alhambrapreservation.org.

Photo of Alhambra City Hall circa 1960s courtesy of Alhambra Preservation Group.

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Action Alert! Help Save Alhambra’s Historic Shorb Clinic

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on March 6, 2021| Leave a Comment »

We need your help to protect and preserve Alhambra’s historic Shorb Clinic and save it from demolition.

This Monday, March 8, Alhambra City Council will hear a presentation that will include three options for a future community center to be located at the current site of the former Shorb Clinic, located just south of Moor Field between South Sixth and Seventh Streets. The recommended scheme proposes demolishing the Shorb Clinic and constructing a new one. The Alhambra City Council’s March 8 agenda and related documents can be viewed here. The report and feasibility study begins on page 67 of the agenda packet.

While Alhambra Preservation Group enthusiastically supports the creation of a community center at this location, we ardently reject any scheme that proposes the razing of this historic building. We believe that this building can be rehabilitated through the historic preservation goal of adaptive reuse. APG has written a letter to City Council urging them to save the Shorb Clinic and explore its sensitive and creative rehabilitation. We encourage you to do the same – voice your support for the preservation and rehabilitation of the Shorb Clinic. You can show your support for the Shorb Clinic by following these steps:

  1. Write a letter addressed to Alhambra City Council, demonstrating your support of finding a solution for this site that creatively and sensitively reuses the current structure. You will find a sample letter below for your consideration and use.
  2. Email your letter to City Clerk, Lauren Myles at lmyles@cityofalhambra.org by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 8, 2021. In your e-mail subject line please indicate that your comments are for Item 4: Rehabilitation of the Shorb Clinic Property Into A Community Center. Your letter will then be read into the record during the City Council’s public comment period.
  3. Alternatively, if you wish to speak on this item at the meeting, please e-mail Deputy City Manager David Tran at dtran@cityofalhambra.org by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 8, 2021 indicating the item you wish to speak on (Item 4: Rehabilitation of the Shorb Clinic Property Into A Community Center) and the phone number you will use when calling or the name you will use when logging into the meeting.
  4. Plan to attend the March 8, 2021 virtual meeting. Information on how to listen in or log into the meeting can be found on the City of Alhambra’s March 8, 2021 City Council agenda.

The 1984 Alhambra Historic Resources Survey identified the Shorb Clinic as a building that should be surveyed in the future because of its potential to receive National Register of Historic Places designation – the highest honor a historically significant structure can receive in the United States. Built in 1930, the Shorb Clinic is an example of Monterey Colonial Revival architecture. This sub-genre of Spanish architecture was popular during the early 20th century. Many examples of Spanish architecture can be found throughout Alhambra, including the Sixth Street Fire Station, which is located next door to the Shorb Clinic.

It is time for the City of Alhambra to reverse its shortsighted and imprudent practice of destroying its historic resources and start preserving the homes, businesses, churches and schools that make Alhambra unique.  Please lend your voice to the preservation and rehabilitation of the Shorb Clinic and speak out against the demolition of this historic property.

If you should have any questions, please contact APG at info@alhambrapreservation.org and thank you for helping us preserve and protect Alhambra.

Photo courtesy of Alhambra Preservation Group.

SAMPLE LETTER – SUPPORT FOR THE PRESERVATION AND REHABILITATION OF THE SHORB CLINIC

Subject: March 8, 2021 City Council Meeting, Item #4 – Rehabilitation of the Shorb Clinic Property Into A Community Center

Dear Mayor Perez and City Council Members,

I support the plan to have a community center at this location and encourage the Alhambra City Council to adopt a policy of adaptive reuse in transforming the Shorb Clinic into a community center. I do not support the razing of the historic Shorb Clinic and encourage you to reject any scheme that proposes the destruction of this building.

The Shorb Clinic has been a part of Alhambra since 1930 and while it has fallen into disrepair, this building has the potential to be rehabilitated into a vibrant community center. The 1984 Historic Resources Survey identified this structure as needing future evaluation and as possibly eligible for National Register of Historic Places designation.

I respectfully request that Alhambra City Council explore the adaptive reuse of the current Shorb Clinic and reject any proposal that would demolish this historic building.

Thank you for your consideration,

(Insert Your Name Here)

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Action Needed! Council Aims to Curtail Residents’ Speech

Posted in Advocacy, City of Alhambra, tagged , , on September 6, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Alhambra.City.HallAlhambra Preservation Group strongly urges you to attend the Alhambra City Council meeting on Monday, September 9, 2019 when City Council will have a second reading of an ordinance that was initially intended to institute Rosenberg’s Rules of Order rather than Robert’s Rules of Order at City Council meetings. However, at the August 12 Council meeting when this ordinance had its first reading, Councilman David Mejia proposed two amendments, which included the following:
  1. Reduce the public comment time for agenda items from the current five minutes to three minutes per person.
  2. Prevent members of the public from turning in speaker cards for an agenda item or oral communications if public speaking for that item has already begun.
Alhambra Preservation Group is very concerned about these two amendments, and we are adamantly opposed to them.
One reason for our opposition is that often times the concepts and/or ideas that our representatives and members present at public meetings are detailed or complicated in nature, with historical data and figures. It is difficult, and at times almost impossible, to express any ideas or rebuttals in just five minutes. To reduce the public comment period by two minutes would unnecessarily restrict our right to provide important input regarding city decisions.
These amendments not only impact APG’s mission and historic preservation efforts, but they also affect every single Alhambran and their right to speak at City Council meetings on any item of concern in our city. Your attendance and voice at this meeting will send a clear message that the residents of Alhambra will not be silenced.
Here is the information on the meeting:
Date:  Monday, September 9, 2019
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Alhambra City Hall, 111 South First Street, Alhambra, CA

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Planning Commission to Consider General Plan in May

Posted in City of Alhambra, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on April 19, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Alhambra.City.HallThe City of Alhambra Planning Commission will consider the final draft of the City of Alhambra General Plan at public meetings on Monday, May 6 and Monday, May 20, 2019. Both meetings will take place at Alhambra City Hall, City Council Chambers, 111 South First Street, Alhambra, CA  91801 and will begin at 7:00 p.m.

Alhambra Preservation Group representatives will be in attendance, and we encourage all Alhambrans to attend one or both of these meetings. Members of the public will be invited to make public statements about the General Plan prior to the Planning Commission’s consideration of the final draft document. If you have any final thoughts or opinions about Alhambra’s General Plan, these public meetings are your last opportunity to let your voice be heard.

The City of Alhambra released the final General Plan on January 10, 2019. APG reviewed the final General Plan along with the final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and immediately noticed that three key implementation action items related to the development of a comprehensive historic preservation program that had been originally included in the General Plan’s draft EIR had been deleted from the final EIR.

APG representatives attended the first public hearing at the Planning Commission, and Alhambra Preservation Group addressed these deleted implementation action items. “The deleted implementation action items included (1) conducting a historic resources inventory, (2) establishing a historic resources commission and (3) taking measures to ensure that the City of Alhambra qualified as a certified local government. All of these action items are necessary to have a historic preservation program,” stated APG President Oscar Amaro. “We insist that these three implementation action items be reinstated into the final EIR and final listing of General Plan Implementation Action Items.”

APG also submitted a letter to Alhambra City Council Members and Planning Commission Members outlining the deletion of these key implementation action items and demanded that these three key items be restored to the final EIR as well as the final listing of General Plan Implementation Action Items. The letter APG submitted to the City of Alhambra may be viewed here.

Soon after the January Planning Commission meeting, the City’s General Plan process was put on hold when Councilwoman Katherine Lee requested that more residents be surveyed to gather additional input. As a result of this request, City Council voted unanimously to conduct an additional survey of 400 Alhambra residents.

The City of Alhambra began the updating of its General Plan – viewed as a long-range vision for the future of a community and sometimes referred to as a “blueprint for the future” – in the spring of 2015. The City of Alhambra’s General Plan was last updated in 1986.

For more information on the City of Alhambra’s General Plan visit the City’s web page.

Photo courtesy of Alhambra Preservation Group.

 

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A Golden Spring and Streets Await

Posted in Events, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on April 16, 2019| Leave a Comment »

626.Golden.Streets.2Spring has sprung and there’s a lot going on in our city and the San Gabriel Valley over the next few weeks. Here are just a few of the events and activities that you may want to check out:

State of the City Address, April 22 – Join City Council for the State of the City address by Mayor Adele Andrade-Stadler at the Alhambra City Council meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 22, 2019. This year Alhambra’s mayor will give the State of the City address at a City Council meeting, allowing city residents to hear the speech free of charge. In years past, the state of the city speech has been given at a $30/ticket lunch hosted by the Alhambra Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club. Kudos to Grassroots Alhambra for their role in pushing the City of Alhambra to have this address presented in a free public forum and to Mayor Andrade-Stadler for deciding to give the State of the City address at a City Council meeting, which allows all city residents to hear the status of issues facing Alhambra.

Neighborhood Clean-Up, April 27 – This year’s neighborhood clean-up will take place in southern Alhambra between West Ramona Road, West Glendon Way, South 2nd Street and South 9th Street, in the areas known as Ramona and Ramona Park. City of Alhambra staff, community service organizations and volunteers will assist with the massive one-day clean-up effort to improve the appearance of this neighborhood. The clean-up will take place on Saturday, April 27, between 8 a.m. and 12 noon.

The Neighborhood Clean-Up Command Post will be located on West Ramona Road between South 5th Street and South 6th Street. Volunteers are also needed to help with clean-up efforts! Contact the Alhambra Code Enforcement at 626-570-3230 or code@cityofalhambra.org to volunteer or if you have any additional questions. If you’d like more information on the event, please visit the City of Alhambra event web page.

626 Golden Streets, May 19 – 626 Golden Streets is an open streets (or ciclovia) event that will connect South Pasadena, Alhambra and San Gabriel. The route begins in the Mission District of South Pasadena, heads down to Alhambra Road and Main Street in Alhambra and ends at the historic San Gabriel Mission. Participants are encouraged to walk, skate, bike, run the route. Look for Alhambra Preservation Group along the route in Alhambra! More details to come on where APG can be found on the day of the event! For more information on the event, visit 626 Golden Streets.

Photo courtesy of Alhambra Preservation Group.

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It is Way Past Time

Posted in Alhambra Preservation Group, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on February 20, 2019| 2 Comments »

1968-article

A 1968 LA Times article on the destruction of the City-owned property.

By Oscar Amaro, APG Founder and 2019 President

A Carnegie library with gardens designed by Frank Lloyd Wright…The 1880’s Victorian home of Captain F. Edward Gray, a prominent Los Angeles horticulturalist…A 1920’s Tudor Revival clubhouse designed by Scott Quintin a well-known Alhambra architect…A 1910-era Arts & Crafts-styled building, which was the headquarters of  “The Wednesday Afternoon Women’s Club”…The two-story Craftsman home owned by Norma Yocum, Alhambra’s first woman mayor…

Many cities would revel in the value afforded these architecturally and historically significant structures. Not in Alhambra. These are but a few of the noteworthy structures lost in the “Gateway to the San Gabriel Valley” as a result of an apathetic and negligent city hall.

Having grown up in the Alhambra/San Gabriel/Monterey Park area in the 1960s and 70s, even as a youth I was fascinated by this area’s treasure trove of historic buildings, homes, churches, schools—in addition to its rich history. Alhambrans may be unaware that US presidents found our city significant enough to make stops through here in the early part of the 20th century. Many of So Cal’s early leaders lived in Alhambra including a Captain F. Edward Gray, Los Angeles’ first commercial grower and main supplier of cut flowers to the region and president of the Southern California Horticultural Society as well as one of its first County Assessors. Captain Gray was also instrumental in securing funds to build one of Alhambra’s first schools and resided in an 1880s Victorian mansion. Captain Gray’s magnificent home was razed due to inaction and indifference on the city’s part despite strong calls from Alhambra’s residents to save it. In fact, the Alhambra Historical Society was formed in 1966 as a result of this debacle.

I moved away from this area in the early 1980s, living in both Riverside and Whittier, two cities that highly value their historic culture, architecture, and neighborhoods and take pride in these resources – as every city should. However, to be closer to work I moved back to Alhambra in the 1990s and was shocked to see so many of the historic structures that I remembered replaced by massive apartment and condo complexes. I was angered to see neighborhoods that were once quiet, picturesque and family-oriented gone. In 2000, my wife and I purchased a 1912 Craftsman home in Alhambra’s Ramona Park area. Shortly after moving in and restoring it to its period splendor, we witnessed the destruction of five 1920s bungalows just within a block of our house. That was the impetus for me to seek answers as to why this ongoing onslaught of our city’s historic character was continuing despite the Historical Society’s efforts.

When I formed Alhambra Preservation Group in 2003 with the late Katherine Hildreth, our mission was to begin lobbying our city leaders for historical and architectural protections. I naively thought that once our political leadership understood and were made aware of Alhambra’s robust architectural, historical and cultural resources, they would begin to adopt meaningful historic preservation measures.  APG set out to educate our civic leaders and Alhambrans about the need to adopt legislation. We sponsored home tours, workshops and events, and a historic homes award program. We conducted a windshield survey of Alhambra’s historic resources and mapped out Alhambra’s more than 25 architectural genres and sub-genres. We met with city leaders again and again. More than 100 of our members staged a “Stand Up for Preservation” show of support in city council chambers in 2015. But in the 16 years since APG’s formation, we have seen little to no movement on the city’s part to enact historic preservation measures. Instead, our experience with city council members has ranged from empty promises and lip service to outright obstruction.

It became apparent that there is a very real and tangible resistance within Alhambra’s government to adopt any historic preservation measures and that no amount of negotiations with [past] city council members would have had any effect.  This refusal of Alhambra’s leaders to listen to the concerns and demands of Alhambra’s residents is inexcusable.

But we are finally seeing changes.

With last year’s election, we now have several city council members who have voiced support in moving these efforts forward. Our board of directors has met with each of the newly elected council members to inform them about APG’s goals for 2019, to gauge their support and provide any guidance they may need.

What are these goals?

  • Participate in the Alhambra General Plan process, ensuring that historic preservation goals, policies and implementation action items are included in the final documents.
  • Update the partial 1984 historic resources survey and investigate what is required to conduct a citywide inventory of Alhambra’s historic resources.
  • Host an annual members event.
  • Attend city meetings including council, planning commission and the design review board as needed.
  • Monitor the status of and advocate for threatened architectural resources throughout the city.
  • Continue lobbying City Council to move forward with the development of a comprehensive historic preservation program.

APG remains committed to seeing substantive historic preservation measures enacted here in Alhambra. Nothing will deter us from our goal of preserving and protecting Alhambra’s historic homes, schools, businesses and churches. It is WAY past time.

Photo courtesy of LA Times archives.

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Advocacy and Action: Winter Report

Posted in Advocacy, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on February 18, 2019| Leave a Comment »

St.Simon.&.Jude.Chapel.2.17.19As 2019 begins, Alhambra Preservation Group has several key items on its advocacy and action agenda:

City of Alhambra General Plan – The City of Alhambra released the final General Plan on January 10, 2019. APG reviewed the final General Plan along with the final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and immediately noticed that three key implementation action items related to historic preservation measures that had been originally included in the General Plan’s draft EIR had been deleted from the final EIR. APG representatives attended the first public hearing at the Planning Commission and President and Founder Oscar Amaro addressed these deleted implementation action items to the Planning Commission. APG also submitted a letter to Alhambra City Council Members and Planning Commission Members outlining the deletion of these key implementation action items and demanding that these three key items be restored to the final EIR as well as the final listing of General Plan Implementation Action Items. For more information, the letter APG submitted to the City of Alhambra may be viewed here.

At a January city council meeting, Council member Katherine Lee stated that the number of Alhambrans surveyed for the General Plan was insufficient and proposed that more Alhambra residents be surveyed. City Council supported this proposal. Additional surveying efforts are taking place now with the Planning Commission set to consider the final General Plan on May 6 and May 20, 2019.

Reginald Davis Johnson’s St. Simon and Jude Chapel – Demolition of the former Kensington Senior Home structures surrounding the historic St. Simon and Jude Chapel designed began in early January. APG is monitoring the proposed Camellia Court construction site and wrote a letter to the City of Alhambra Development Services inquiring as to what protective measures were being taken to ensure that this historic chapel is saved. APG received correspondence back from Marc Castagnola as well as the construction supervisor assuring us that protective measures are in place. Above is a photo of the fencing surrounding the chapel. APG will continue to monitor the situation as demolition and construction progresses.

Meeting New City Council Members – Last November, Alhambra elected three new city council members – Adele Andrade-Stadler, Katherine Lee and Ross Maza. The APG Board of Directors is meeting with each of the newly elected city council members to educate them on APG, our organization’s mission and Alhambra’s need for a comprehensive historic preservation program. In light of the release of the final General Plan last month, we are also communicating to them that key implementation action items related to historic preservation measures were deleted from the final EIR and asking that they be restored to the final EIR and final listing of General Plan Implementation Action Items.

403 South Garfield Avenue – We continue to monitor the Queen Anne Victorian home at 403 South Garfield Avenue. In January, APG representatives met with the owner of the property to discuss future possibilities for the property. We were encouraged to learn that the property owner recognizes the historic nature of the home and is open to a solution that preserves it. We will continue to keep in contact with the owner and continue working towards a solution that saves this local landmark.

Photo courtesy of Alhambra Preservation Group.

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Breathing New Life into a 1918 Building

Posted in Restoring Alhambra, tagged , , , , , , , on October 30, 2018| 2 Comments »

Alhambra.Rd.Iona.Workspacesby Barbara Beckley

Alhambra Preservation Group congratulates Mike McCollum on the beautiful restoration of one of Alhambra’s many historic structures.

Mike McCollum knows a great building – and its potential — when he sees it. “People value and appreciate restored buildings that have character – they have a human quality,” he explains.

As the successful attorney-owner of McCollum Counsel, which works with international and Chinese multi-national companies, Mike was looking for an office in Alhambra to be closer to his clients.

Alhambra.Road.Iona.Workspaces.McCollum“This building caught my eye,” he said, of the sprawling, single-story brick structure that has graced West Alhambra Road between Curtis and Electric Avenues since 1918. He knew right away its picturesque brickwork and multiple spaces with large windows looking out on a tree-lined residential street had “office potential.” Its location, near Huntington Drive and easy access to Los Angeles and other San Gabriel Valley communities was an added plus.

Lucky for the building – and Alhambra – Mike loves to restore vintage structures. As a high school student in Los Feliz, his first summer job was cataloging historic courthouses for a preservation group. He was hooked. Since then he’s made a hobby of refurbishing vintage buildings with his father and brother, restoring aging gems first in Angelino Heights and then in Silverlake, Hollywood, Echo Park and now Alhambra.

Why? “For a love of old things and history. And the satisfaction of being able to bring something back to life that has stood the test of time and restore it to again be beautiful and useful.”

So in 2015 Mike bought the building at 1500 West Alhambra Road and began researching its history. “I love this building’s history,” he says. With so many individual spaces, it housed flourishing neighborhood businesses for decades. Among the longest running were the HM Pease & Co. Grocery, opened in 1918, along with a drug store, fruit specialist, butcher shop, barber shop and tailor. Small businesses came and went, including in 1932 a carpet store; 1937 a beauty shop; 1941 a lawn mower store; 1946 an upholsterer; 1949 a drapery boutique; 1952 a variety store; 1954 a doll shop; 1956 a plastic products manufacturer and in 1964 a café, and Golden West Books publishing, which occupied the building up until the early 2000s.

Mike was also pleased to learn that during the Great Depression, the grocery store owner, Alhambra resident Howard M. Pease, organized the donation of more than 1.5 million loaves of bread and other supplies to local residents in need.

“Hidden treasures” were also discovered during the renovation process – a bunch of wires going into a back room looked like they had been put in after the Great Depression.  “I’m guessing it was probably a bookie joint,” he surmises.

Mike began the renovations in 2016. Using his own good taste and love of vintage architecture, he added skylights to open up sunny spaces, and exposed the original brickwork, original beams, and concrete to give the building a stylish, vintage/contemporary feel.

Alhambra.Rd.Iona.Workspaces.2What’s the highlight of his reborn space? “All the beautifully preserved, and now exposed brick, and solid redwood beams. These beams shouldn’t be destroyed. We should be exposing and celebrating this rich beautiful wood. I love to see and celebrate the old brick, the wood and the concrete, and the new steel – the beauty of form and function.”

Work was completed this past summer. Mike threw a community party, in partnership with Brethren Shoes a new e-commerce company founded by an old friend, on September 9, 2018 celebrating his beautiful new Alhambra-based IONA Work Spaces. Mike chose to highlight Brethren as a nod to the original owner’s community service. “Brethren sells stylish shoes at reasonable prices — and for each pair they sell, they donate another pair to the homeless. Howard Pease would be pleased!” Mike adds.

Alhambra.Rd.Iona.Workspaces.3“Everyone is always impressed with the space,” he says. “Warm. Inviting. Calm,” is how his clients, visitors and prospective tenants describe this newest of Alhambra’s retro gems. “People like that they can have a beautiful office and natural light,” he says.

IONA Work Spaces features a collection of unique offices, common areas and meeting spaces, with nearly floor-to-ceiling windows and large spaces opening onto an historic street. “We’re getting a lot of interest from a mix of professionals including design and architect, consulting and real estate firms and tech oriented business who find IONA an ideal space to run their businesses and meet with clients. There are also a lot of neighbors within walking distance with home-based businesses who want a desk here as their ‘home office,’” Mike says.

A large “living room” space is perfect for after-hours events, like the informal chamber music performance put on by one of IONA Work Spaces new members. Mike hopes this space can be used for ongoing similar gatherings for its members.

More than a beautiful office building, Mike is looking to IONA Work Spaces to be a center of attraction to Alhambra. He hopes to use it to strengthen and promote Alhambra’s position as a center of all the economic activity coming from Pasadena, Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley. In particular, “I would love for IONA to be a hub of China-related businesses,” he declared.

IONA Work Spaces is currently accepting tenants. To learn more, visit IONA Work Spaces or email info@iona.work.

Photos courtesy of Alhambra Preservation Group.

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