Downey's former Harvey's/Johnie's Broiler has made a major comeback from an utterly illegal Sunday afternoon demolition in 2007. Now a Bob's Big Boy, the restaurant has won the LA Conservancy's President's Award for preservation. The Conservancy drops some history: "Harvey’s Broiler was the largest drive-in restaurant in Southern California when it opened in 1958. Designed by architect Paul B. Clayton, the combination coffee shop, restaurant, and drive-in sported exuberant Googie features, including a 65-foot-long sign that shone like a beacon on popular Firestone Boulevard." In 1968 the restaurant became Johnie's, which operated until 2001. After that the property was used as a car dealership, until January 2007 when an unpermitted bulldozer had its terrible way "without even fencing off the property or disconnecting the utilities." The perp paid and a Big Boy franchise operator stepped in to lead a revival, with the help of Downey's Redevelopment Agency and the Downey Historical Society. The restaurant reopened as Bob's Big Boy Broiler in October. The Annenberg Community Beach House and SurveyLA project also won Preservation Awards, and the LA Times has more on two multi-family winners--Rudolph Schindler's Bubeshko Apartments in Silver Lake and the Hollywood Bungalow Courts.
· 29th ANNUAL PRESERVATION AWARDS [LA Conservancy]
· L.A. Conservancy awards preservation projects [LAT]
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