"There was my homemade potato salad, coleslaw and hot dogs. There was a local blues band and [singer] Vesa Mink of the Singing Minks. There was even a request for ?Hotel California.? ?Then there were the Brazilian drummers." Residents of the Lincoln Place Garden Apartments in Venice threw a celebration on receiving notice of eviction. They had been expecting it for awhile, as their apartment complex had been openly eyeballed by developers. Confirmation of the fact turned out to be a giant relief. But they weren't giving up their homes so easily and this week the California State Historical Resources Commission gave the residents a boost by finding that the apartments should be listed on the California Register of Historical Resources. The finding preserves the apartments from demolition and lets grandmas keep their homes.
[picture from Clara Sturak, Santa Monica Mirror]
· Lincoln Place is Registered [PreserveLA]
· There Goes the Neighborhood [LA Alternative Press]
· Building Consensus? Not at Lincoln Place Apartments [LA Times]
The listing on the California Register, in combination with the recent victory at the Court of Appeal, leaves no question that Lincoln Place must now be treated as a significant historical resource under state law and local ordinances. Demolition therefore will not be allowed unless an Environmental Impact Report process finds that there are no feasible alternatives. Part of the credit for saving Lincoln Place goes to a who's who of local and state politicos who signed on in support of the preservation, including Mayor Villaraigosa, Councilman Bill Rosendahl, and both California Senators Boxer and Feinstein.