Although it isn't yet a half-century old, the current threshold for historic designation in Pomona, preservationists want city protection for a former Howard Ahmanson-owned Home Savings bank that's now a Chase branch. Pomona architect Millard Sheets designed the building, which opened in 1962 as the anchor for a nine-block pedestrian mall; the shopping center was an urban redevelopment plan that mostly bombed, according to the Daily Bulletin. But the bank, with its Italian travertine, black marble, cement screen columns, and grand mural, survived. Preservationists are a bit jumpy because the bank has recently been covered in scaffolding and netting, although Chase says it's just because concrete fell off the bank and needs repair. But Chase recently painted over a Sheets mural at a northern California branch (Sheets worked on 45 Ahmanson branches): "I'm hoping that by calling attention to it they will see how important and significant it is to those of us here and will preserve it," the president of Historical Society of Pomona Valley, Mickey Gallivan, told the Daily Bulletin. The historic preservation commission received Gallivan's application for historic landmark status and will take it up soon. You might remember that another Pomona landmark, Cal Poly Pomona's obelisk tower, has a date with the wrecking ball soon.
· Pomona's Chase Bank Under Watchful Eye of Preservationists [Daily Bulletin]
· Pomona Tower Architect: Don't Destroy It [Curbed LA]
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