Answers to this weeks questions are below. If you have a question for us to post, please email us before next Tuesday. You can email them to us at la@curbed.com or if you have our phone number you can call and leave a detailed message. We do not take questions in person. No exceptions.
1) Silverlake Adj.: That public storage building has some architectural history, yet no one can definitively answer if it was ever a speakeasy. From our friend at LA Ritz: "Not sure the whole story, but I think the big storage bldg. at Virgil/Temple/Beverly is prob. designed by Morgan Walls & Clements. The firm did the Toberman Storage Bldg. on Highland and SM Blvd... P.S. Not that this tibit has much to do with the question at hand but the rooftop/penthouse structure at the Fonda/Music Box Theatre at H'wood and Gower, also designed by Clements, was a speakeasy, too."
2) South LA: An expat asks if the Harbor Freeway is getting double decked. Yes,yes. We know there's already a carpool skyway thingy, but that stupid Daily News article makes it sound like something else is coming down the road. Alas, this is not the case. No double decking as far as anyone can tell.
3) Laurel Canyon: The question about the "broken ass home" on Laurel Canyon, Valley-side gets no answers. Send us an address and we'll dig around for some info.
4) LAX: Lots of good info on the roads with no homes between LAX and Dockweiler Beach. What we determined is that the El Segundo Blue Butterfly, 9/11, large jetliners, the Federal Government and criminals conspired at one point or another to drive people from their homes and away from Sandpiper Lane. What? No one's blaming the Scientologists? Here's the basic rundown of answers for the snippet enthusiasts:
"The rumor is the residents were forced to leave because the Blue Butterfly is an endagered species that only lives in the dunes here and in El Segundo. I have never seen one of these butterflies and have never met anyone who has...." "That's what's left of an old beachside colony built in 1920s called Surfridge. When LAX was built near the site later in 1928 and finally in the 60's with the advent of Jet airplanes, the community was condemned due to the jet noise."
"Steve Matilla of Matilla Realty is cited describing growing up there and what it was like to be forced out of a very beautiful part of Los Angeles."
"The deserted streets near LAX were originally part of a 1921 Dickinson & Gillespie Co. development called "Palisades Del Rey", billed as "The Last of the Beaches"."
"...the airport-condemned ghost neighborhoods don't just border LAX to the west, but they run all along the northside of the airport, too, from PDR to "downtown" Westchester."
5) Downtown: More answers from the comments section regarding the bar near 6th & Spring. Sha in LA says: "bills/big bills will now be mercury liquors (i believe) - named after the owners' company. at least that's what i heard a few months ago. personally i like "bills" the best but whatever...i don't have the resources they have." And from Scott who lives nearby "There's constant work going on, but the progress seems to be agonizingly slow. I'm very impatient about it. When will they finish already? I've lived in the neighborhood almost a year now and they're still working. Did you know they built the Empire State Building from the ground up in only 13 months?" Mercury Liquors should not be confused with 626 Reserve, the wine bar also in that area that recently opened.
6) Beverly Grove: Ok. So the questioner actually meant 3rd and Fairfax, not 3rd and La Cienega, but we assume the answer is still generally spot on. From the comments: "The dumptrucks might be heading to the LACMA excavation at 3rd and Fairfax, which is rather near 3rd & La Cienega. I live across the street from LACMA and the rockchopping starts about 8am each morning over here. You can peek through the fence and see the big hole in the ground where the King Tut exhibit used to be."
Thanks for your answers and comments. We'll post more questions next week.