Santa Monica-based Howard Laks, the architect behind a planned 71-unit condo project, a renovation of the Fairfax Theater at Fairfax Avenue and Beverly Boulevard, passes on renderings showing details of how exactly this controversial renovation would go down. Facing opposition from preservationists and growing media attention, last week Alex Gorby, President of B & F Associates LP, put out a press release in defense of the project. But already more divisions are surfacing: Gorby spells it "Theater" and the opposition spells it "Theatre."
-- Terrazzo flooring kept: Architect Laks would "maintain and rehabilitate the building façades along Beverly Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue as well as keeping the terrazzo flooring at the entry of the 1930 art deco building."
---Four stories of subterranean parking.
---"All existing billboards would be permanently removed and not replaced. The height of the proposed building would be lower than the height of the existing billboards and spire (tower) on Beverly Boulevard. The existing spire will be maintained and rehabilitated and has been incorporated into the new design."
--"Based upon preliminary research regarding the site, it has been
determined that the Fairfax Theater is not listed on the Federal, State or Local Register of Historic Buildings or Places. The building is not the work product of a master architect nor is it the masterpiece of the architect who designed it. It is a poor example of the architecture of the time and style. No notable events occurred at the theater."
Meanwhile, those in favor of preserving the theater disagree with the "no architectural significance" portion of the developer's defense, and continue to fight the "gutting" of the theater. Additionally, they argue this is one of the last remaining old movie theaters in Los Angeles.
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