"Eagle
Rock: Where land use and planning is a contact sport"
THE
EAGLE ROCK ASSOCIATION
TERA
--
e.letter --
2
August, 2001
Please encourage interested friends
to send their e.mail addresses to us at artburn@earthlink.net so we can keep
them informed, too.
In this issue:
1. SHOPPING BAG BUILDING -- GREAT NEWS!
2.
FIRST ANNUAL HIGHLAND PARK PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL -- AUGUST 4 AND 5
3.
ELMER DILLS -- AT LAST -- AUGUST 5
4.
SUPPORT OUR POLICE -- NATIONAL NIGHT OUT -- AUGUST 7
5.
THE DEBATE GOES ON -- YOSEMITE GYM-- HEARING AUGUST 8
6.
A GATHERING OF ARCHITECTS RE: HISTORIC DISTRICTS -- AUGUST 9
7.
OCCIDENTAL CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT COMMUNITY MEETINGS -- AUGUST 9 AND 11
8.
NORTHEAST LA CALENDAR -- SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE!
9.
100-YEAR-OLD PUMP ORGAN NEEDS RESTORATION
10. CONCERTS IN THE PARK -- DON'T MISS THEM!
11. EAGLE ROCK FARMERS MARKET -- EVERY FRIDAY
12. LETTERS AND E.MAILS
13. QUOTE OF THE WEEK
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1. SHOPPING
BAG BUILDING -- GREAT NEWS!
This in from TERA's Historic
Preservation Committee co-chair Michael Southard about yesterday's hearing:
First the facts: Approximately 8 people showed up, making ER
residents almost half of the attendees!
I did my schpiel with newspaper articles, etc., and over 100 letters of
support from residents! (They said it
was "well-researched") [25 more came in after Michael left for the
hearing, and they're still coming in.]
I made a pretty good case for the building, and its proximity to
"downtown Eagle Rock" and The Cultural Center. Unfortunately, the building needs a lot of
work, and isn't the best example of streamline moderne in LA -- which is what
this commission looks for -- and, after I finished speaking, the commission
President said that she didn't think that the building was architecturally
significant enough to merit Monument status, as it had been seriously altered,
and moved to NOT consider it for Historic status. I protested, stating that the option (a pre-fab box in a parking
lot) was much worse.
After asking if anyone else would like to speak,
EVERYONE from ER raised their hands!
Hillary Norton Orozco then spoke passionately about how Eagle Rock was
not the usual small town ("We even bought a rock!"), had lost most of
its architecturally significant downtown area, and asked them to
reconsider. And they did, in the form
of none other than Kaye Beckham, who moved to have the building considered for
Historic Monument status! She TOTALLY
came through for us! I'm hand
delivering flowers to her tonight at the Neighborhood Council meeting, along
with a thank-you from TERA. She
deserves it! Even if this goes no
further than an on-site inspection, we've made our voice and our passion
heard. We have the community behind
us. So far so good!
TERA thanks all of you who wrote in
support of saving the Shopping Bag building.
Isn't it amazing what a community can do when it pulls together (and has
e.mail) -- don't ever doubt that passion for and commitment to a cause can make
a positive difference!
This isn't over yet, so if you
haven't written a letter, please forward yours to Michael Southard at lavalodge@earthlink.net. Thanks again, ever so much!
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2. FIRST
ANNUAL HIGHLAND PARK PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL -- AUGUST 4 AND 5
The first annual Highland Park
Performing Arts Festival at the Sycamore Grove Park Bandshell continues this
weekend, Saturday, August 4, with Caryn Gilbert & True North, Nathan
Stein, Jesse and the Raindogs. Sunday, August 5, Jesse Loya and Friends,
Kevin Heath; and Eddie Rivera†s band, Ann Likes Red Ver. 2.0. Free. Call 323-256-6067 for more information.
This is the first time the
bandshell has been holding scheduled events in almost twenty years, and the
crowd has been growing every weekend. Be able to say you attended the first of
an annual series. We would love to see
YOU there! Please forward this e-mail to your friends and neighbors.
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3.
ELMER DILLS -- AT LAST -- AUGUST 5
Well, the third time's the charm,
as they say. We all sat around the TV
at Fatty's last Sunday morning and saw a review of some other restaurant in
some other place. We all sighed with
dismay, and asked, "What happened??"
After being displaced by a golf tournament the first Sunday, and then by
this no-name eating establishment this past Sunday, we finally learned Cafe
Beaujolais will finally get its due THIS COMING SUNDAY, August 5.
Please watch Channel 7 this Sunday,
August 5, between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., for Elmer Dills's review of our own
Cafe Beaujolais.
(As I'm typing this, I'm soon to get ready to celebrate my birthday
during Jazz Night at our fabulous Cafe Beaujolais with 12 of my very loudest
girlfriends. I wouldn't advise you get
anywhere near us.)
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4.
SUPPORT OUR POLICE -- NATIONAL NIGHT OUT -- AUGUST 7
Eagle Rock celebrates National Night Out. Stand up against crime! Tuesday, August 7, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00
p.m. -- please join us for a community potluck block party at the Eagle Rock
City Hall, 2035 Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock. Your ticket is a dish or non-alcoholic drinks to serve 10 to 20
people.
Candlelight vigil at 8:30 p.m. to
show support for our local police and victims of crime. Please bring your own candles. Sponsored by Council member Nick Pacheco,
and hosted by Northeast LAPD Community Police Advisory Board and the Eagle Rock
Chamber of Commerce. Children under 12
years of age must be accompanied by an adult.
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5. THE
DEBATE GOES ON -- YOSEMITE GYM-- HEARING AUGUST 8
To TERA:
As the "gym debate" goes forward, perhaps those
who have not been active in the Eagle Rock community long enough to have a
historic view of Yosemite Playground may appreciate the planning that led up to
the present situation.
A review of the Playground in 1968 led to the decision to
provide, when money became available, a Senior Senior Center (built at minimal
cost by converting a portion of the Community Building and adding a dividable
hall in the area between the existing building and the sidewalk), and night
lighting
for baseball (effectively doubling
the capacity of the baseball/softball program), along with other refurbishment,
including the old swimming pool.
The destruction of the old swimming pool by earthquake gave
me the opportunity to obtain funding to build a competition-sized pool for
joint use with the high school, in an agreement that included the joint use of
the high school gymnasium for basketball leagues. This was not the easiest thing, since both City Recreation and
Parks and LA City Schools personnel are very jealous of their own territories,
and neither wants to give nor take from the other lest they are giving up some
of their perceived authority. However,
it was accomplished, with the help of Richard Ferraro, a Glassell Park resident
and then Board Member, and upon the opening of the new pool and for some time
thereafter the cooperation seemed
to work just fine.
The point is that the construction of a gymnasium was laid
alongside the desire to preserve some open space at Yosemite, and the solution
was joint use. Now the situation may
have changed since all of this was complete in the late 1970s, and with the
world being as it is, it probably has.
Of course, getting the most out of available dollars was always a
consideration as well, and no doubt is at present. To have two full gymnasia virtually next to one another seemed a
waste of public resources when there were so many other needs.
Once again the decision is apparently before our
community. On the one side, increased
gymnasium availability in a community with high voting indexes versus joint use
plus open space preservation plus allocation of recreational
dollars on the basis of need rather than political expedience.
I must confess that my grasp of need District-wide in the
14th District today is not so current as it was at one time, and so I refrain
from making a personal recommendation on the issue. Anyway, there can only be one Councilman at a time. I hope that this may provide some thoughts
for those
engaged in the debate.
Best regards --
-- Art Snyder, Member
of the City Council, 14th District, 1967-85
[To] Jeff [Reiner],
I agree 100%. I welcome the gym into our neighborhood,
even though traffic/parking overflow may become a problem on our street. Thanks for your thoughtful letter.
-- Laura Mahaffey,
Campus Road resident, owner of a home on TERA's Eclectic Eagle Rock Home Tour
2001 (the fabulous "Rock House"), and TERA member
"Thank you for
the e-mail. Who is promoting the
building of a full size gym on our limited green space? Why did it get this far without community
input?
-- Bob Fairman, Eagle
Rock resident
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6. A GATHERING OF ARCHITECTS RE: HISTORIC
DISTRICTS -- AUGUST 9
Rose Anne Kings, Chair, Historic
Resources Commission, Santa Ana, writes:
Don Cribb (our own
illustrious visionary) has put together an impromptu gathering of architects
and historians to discuss "Advanced Architecture in Historic
Districts." Guests that I know of
include Stephen Erlich, Rob Wellington Quigley, and some other notables. It
will be held at the Grand Central Building (Cal State Fullerton's Fine Arts
Facility) in downtown Santa Ana (2nd Street at the corner of Broadway, in the
Artist's Village). It will be on August
9, at 9:30AM. Hope you all can make
it. Thanks for passing the word on.
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7. OCCIDENTAL CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT COMMUNITY
MEETINGS -- AUGUST 9 AND 11
Dear Occidental Neighbor:
Under Occidental's new R-1
(single-family) zoning, a conditional use permit (CUP) from the city is
required for any major construction project on campus. Oxy has identified
several different projects, many of them interrelated, it would like to build
over the next several years to meet existing needs: a new state-of-the-art
science building, a new parking lot, a new softball field, new lights and other
improvements for existing athletic fields, permanent bathrooms for Patterson
Field, and a small addition to the existing Culley Athletic Facility. Rather
than file individual applications for each project, it seemed more sensible to
file a single CUP application for all of them.
We would like to invite you to
attend one or both of two community meetings at Occidental on Thursday, August
9 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, August 11 at 10 a.m. to learn more about our plans
and to give us your views on the proposed projects. It is important to us to
have your input before the formal permit application is filed with the city.
(We apologize if you have received two meeting notices as a result of our
attempt to reach all of our neighbors.) Both meetings will be held in the Green
Family Dining Room on the second floor of the Johnson Student Center on the
Quad. Parking will be available in the lot at the main entrance to the College
on Alumni Avenue, and in the visitor's lot on Campus Road between Ridgeview
Avenue and Escarpa Drive.
If you have any questions or need
directions to the meetings, please contact Jim Tranquada, Oxy's director of
communications, at (323) 259-2990 or at jtranq@oxy.edu <mailto:jtranq@oxy.edu>.
We look forward to seeing you.
Sincerely, Ted Mitchell
President, Occidental College
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8. NORTHEAST
LA CALENDAR -- SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE!
Please let your readers who may not
be aware of the NELA Community Calendar, sent bi-weekly for free on e.mail
only, of my e.mail address: NELAcalendar@jps.net or Commonground@jps.net. Anyone who wants on or off the e.mail list
is welcome to e.mail me or phone me @ 323.258.9282 -- Robert Mendel
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9.
100-YEAR-OLD PUMP ORGAN NEEDS RESTORATION
TERA member Hector Pino came across
a 100-year-old pump organ in need of restoration. If you know of anyone who would be interested, let him know at hcpino@aol.com. Thanks.
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10. CONCERTS IN THE PARK -- DON'T MISS THEM!
Only two concerts left:
This Sunday, August 5 -- We the
People, tunes from the 70s. Sponsored
by Dilbeck Realtors/GMAC.
Sunday, August 19 -- Jack Lantz Big
Band, those wonderful sounds of swing.
Sponsored by Glendale Adventist Medical Center.
All concerts begin at 6:00 p.m. at
the Eagle Rock Park amphitheater, designed by the wonderful Richard
Neutra. Bring a picnic dinner and
enjoy!
This terrific yearly event is
brought to you by the Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce.
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11. EAGLE ROCK FARMERS MARKET -- EVERY FRIDAY
At the intersection of Caspar and Merton Avenues
just south and east of Colorado and Eagle Rock Boulevards, Eagle Rock's Farmers
Market takes place every Friday starting at 5:00 p.m. and ending at 9:00 p.m. Lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, bakery
goods, cut flowers, potted plants, ready-to-eat foods, crafts, and gift items
are offered. A wide array of
organically grown produce as well as foods prized in the Philippines are also
featured.
A visit to the Farmers Market is a terrific way to
end a long work week and help prepare for that weekend dinner party. Come see friends and neighbors, and enjoy
live music with it all! Activities for
children as well.
Sponsored by our own Eagle Rock
Chamber of Commerce. For more
information, please call Michael Nogueira at (323) 225-5466.
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12. LETTERS AND E.MAILS
"Great newsletter, and great
news for Eagle Rock [Eagle Theatre and Fred 62]. I knew I made the right decision when I bought here."
-- Jean Musmacher,
Eagle Rock resident and TERA member
"GREAT NEWS [Eagle Theatre and
Fred 62]."
-- Jamal Hammadi,
Eagle Rock resident and TERA member
"Congratulations on your work
with the newsletter; it seems that positive writing begets positive
writings! I'd be interested in
volunteering some time working with TERA, but have no idea where more help is
needed. What about a 'We need
volunteers to' section of the newsletter?
Let me know how I could be of service, and hooray for Fred and the
cinema! Keep up the good work."
-- James Wirrick,
Eagle Rock resident and TERA member
"Thank you for your
work, which benefits us all."
-- Bruce Mitchell,
Eagle Rock resident and TERA member
Regarding our recent quote by John
Lennon:
"Your quote reminded me of one
of the most famous 'Maoism's:' 'A
revolution is not a tea party.'
(Unfortunately, China-bashing is now in vogue, but the quote is apropos.) Perhaps you too have been experiencing the
difficulties of leading a small band of revolutionaries." [Editor's note: Leading a revolution is always challenging.]
-- Marla Conti, Eagle
Rock resident and TERA member
"Great news on
all the arty businesses coming to E.R.
Thanks for your work and communications."
and
"Now we can all accomplish
cooking while we're frozen." [What
a great line.]
--Linda Allen, artist, business
owner, community leader, TERA member, and one of the hardest-working and
well-respected women in Eagle Rock
"Just saw your
photo in the upcoming Los Angeles Times Magazine's coverage of Eagle
Rock [7/29/01]. You look great! It's interesting how Dave Gardetta describes
the new and old businesses in ER. It's
wonderful to be a resident during this positive transition. It's historic!"
-- Susana Barraza,
Eagle Rock resident and LA Times employee
"What good news to hear about
the art framing store that's moving into the building at Colorado and
Townsend. As one who uses Townsend to
get to Colorado, I see (the former) eyesore almost every day.
An idea that might be passed on to
the new owners . . . since we have so many artists in the ER community, why
doesn't the store showcase, on a rotating basis, some of the local artists who
are trying to make it? I know it would
draw me into the store -- a plus for me and the store and the artists!" [Your dream is now coming true.]
-- Ellen Narver,
Eagle Rock resident
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13. QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Don't you lock
up somethin' that you wanted to see fly."
-- Soundgarden
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We welcome your comments. Please include your name.
Please encourage interested friends
to send their e.mail addresses to us at artburn@earthlink.net
so we can keep them informed, too.
If you have changed your e.mail
address or would like to be removed from this list, please contact artburn@earthlink.net.
TERA -- The Eagle Rock Association
-- YOUR COMMUNITY IN ACTION -- http://www.TERA90041.org
--
P. O. Box 41453, Eagle Rock, CA
90041 -- (323) 259-TERA -- a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation
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Joanne Turner <artburn@earthlink.net>
President, The Eagle
Rock Association (TERA)