West Hollywood's historic preservation commission will consider an application tomorrow seeking to landmark the old Tower Records site on Sunset Boulevard tomorrow--the application was submitted by Dominic Priore, who hopes the midcentury building, now a clothing store and stripped of its distinctive yellow paint, can be turned into a music museum. Priore notes that the site "is significant in two eras of the music business": Before Tower Records opened in 1972, the building was a music store and showroom for "Madman" Muntz's Stereo Paks, the first successful car stereo system "and a popular hangout for teenagers in the '60s." (In addition to inventing 4-tracks, Muntz popularized the nickname "TV" for television.) However, not much is made of the building's less-than-notable architecture, though the application calls it a "an example of Mid-century Modern roadside venacular architecture, designed to catch the eye of passing vehicles." That's one reason, NBC4 reports, that West Hollywood staffers are not sold on the landmark potential of the building--they think it's nothing special with the old yellow paint gone. The building's current owners, who have been trying unsuccessfully to redevelop the site for years, had no comment on the designation.
· Los Angeles Author Pushes to Preserve Tower Records as Cultural Resource [NBC4]
· Locals Want WeHo's Old Tower Records to Be a Music Museum [Curbed LA]
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