LFIA Book Offer:
Los Feliz - An Illustrated Early History
Get your copy here!
Read more about
the book here
LFIA Neighborhood Forum
Los Feliz Library Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary
LFIA President Don Seligman, Director Angela Stewart, and Past President Marilyn Bush admire the LFIA plaque on the Los Feliz Library Donor Wall at the library's 10th anniversary gala on Dec. 6. The Los Feliz Improvement Association was one of many groups and individuals who donated money to support special programs at the library. Bush and Stewart are also on the board of Friends of the Los Feliz Library which planned the fundraiser and gala.
Photo Day Treasures
The History Committee’s 8th annual Photo Day brought in a treasure trove of visual treats. We received such classic photos as the first day of kindergarten in a brand new dress, birthday parties with balloons, children posed on ponys, school festivals, Civil War veterans, soldiers welcomed home from World War II, and Marines on leave from Vietnam.
Other wonderful photos feature the largest trucking company west of the Mississippi in 1931, an early helicopter, the first female parachutist and wing walker, the founder of Save the Redwood League, the grand opening of Baller Hardware 50 years ago, and a 1905 solar water heater panel.
Long-time local residents shared 85 of their old photographs with LFIA at the Los Feliz Library on December 5.
Where are your old photos? It’s never too late to share them with us. Send a note to history@lfia.org or call 323-660-1914.
Donna Matson dressed in very long leather chaps and cowboy hat for her photo on the pony when the pony man came to visit her Rowena Avenue home.
Here's a quiz for you. Baby Donna Matson is adorable, but look closely at the background. Where was this picture taken? Send your guess to history@lfia.org.
The Los Angeles Department of City Planning has just published the 205 page draft of the new Hollywood Community Plan on its website (navigate to "New Community Plans" - "Hollywood" - "Latest Plan Update" - "What’s New"). This rather large document (13.8 MB) is also available right here on the LFIA website. In announcing the draft, the Planning Department’s Mary Richardson stated that in the next few months Planning will post other documents related to the Community Plan Update. These documents include:
- Draft Land Use and Zone Change Map
- Draft Matrix of Existing, Planned and Proposed Land Use
- Draft "Q" Qualified Condition and "D" Development Limitation Appendix
- Draft Environmental Impact Report
- Transportation Improvement Mitigation Program
Once all of these documents are complete and online, the Department will begin scheduling briefings with neighborhood councils and other major stakeholder groups in Hollywood. The purpose of these briefings will be to present the major points of the Plan Update and answer questions community members may have. These briefings will be followed by an Open House/Public Hearing sometime this fall.
If you have questions about the Hollywood Community Plan please contact Mary Richardson at (213) 978-1205 or Jon Tanury at (213) 978-1214.
The DWP is beginning construction on the River Supply Conduit project in Griffith Park on Thursday, April 2. The first phase of the project is along Crystal Springs Drive from the Zoo parking lot to the main entrance at Los Feliz Blvd. During construction you can expect detours and delays as the pipeline is installed in 200-foot increments. Crews will be working Monday through Friday; however detours will remain in place during the weekends. All park facilities will remain open and accessible. Access will be provided for bicyclists and equestrians. If you are planning to go to the Zoo, Autry, or Traveltown, you may want to take the freeway route rather than drive through the construction area in the park. ... [continued here] Author Patrick Pascal will discuss his recent book "Kesling: Modern Structures" all about Builder William P. Kesling.
In 1935, William Kesling was Southern California’s most successful practitioner of Streamline Moderne architecture. Unlike other modernists, he was not an architect, but a builder, determined to bring high-quality design within reach of the home-buying public.
Sixteen months later, he was convicted of fraud and incarcerated for a short time, but returned to building homes for former soldiers and their families after WWII, sliding into obscurity in 1962.
Kesling’s structures still stand in many parts of Southern California and many have been restored to their original streamlined concept as originally envisioned.
The library is located at 1874 Hillhurst Ave. on the corner of Franklin Ave. For more information, please call the library at 323-913-4710 during regular business hours. Skylight Books will have copies available for purchase and signing.
This free series is generously supported by the Friends of the Los Feliz Library and the merchants of the Los Feliz Village BID.
1965 Hillhurst, Los Angeles CA 90027