Mystery History -- Solved!

I'm calling a tie between Karin with her 7:53 a.m. Tuesday guess "The city is moving a historic bungalow court to a new location. I think it may be the court that's now located off Orange Grove a little west of Lincoln" and Diana who brought it home with her 7:08 p.m. Tuesday guess "Gartz Court."

In the 1984 photo above, a woman looks on as one of five historic Gartz Court bungalows at 270 N. Madison Ave. is readied to be transported on a slow, overnight journey three miles across town to 740 N. Pasadena Ave. It took two nights to complete the move.
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One of the original bungalow courts in Pasadena, Gartz Court was threatened with demolition when the property was purchased by Montgomery Engineering Co. in 1983 to make way for a new headquarters complex.

Built in 1910 and designed by Myron Hunt and Elmer Grey, Gartz Court was saved from the wrecking ball when Pasadena Heritage partnered for the first time with the City of Pasadena to identify a suitable property in Northwest Pasadena for the bungalow court and sell the units as affordable housing to first-time homebuyers with moderate incomes.

De Bretteville & Polyzoides, which would later become Moule & Polyzoides, was hired to supervise the big move and design the restoration and expansion of Gartz Court once it was in place at its new location.

Six families live in Gartz Court now, an opportunity that never would have existed had it not been for the inimitable Claire Bogaard, co-founder of Pasadena Heritage, reaching out to Terry Tornek, the City of Pasadena planning director at the time, with a revolutionary idea for a partnership.

And the rest, as the saying goes, is history.

Many thanks to Walt Mancini/Pasadena Star-News, Pasadena Museum of History, Pasadena Heritage, City of Pasadena, Moule & Polyzoides, American Bungalow.

What's the Future of Water in Pasadena?

In celebration of 100 years of water provided by the City of Pasadena, and in partnership with the Arroyo Seco Foundation, Pasadena Water and Power will host a very important panel discussion tomorrow evening:

A Future for Water in Pasadena and California
Tuesday, Nov. 13
7 to 8:30 p.m.
Armory Center for the Arts

I'll be moderator. The panelists will include the following:

• Phyllis Currie, general manager of Pasadena Water and Power -- PWP's Water Integrated Resource Plan and Pasadena's policy perspective 
• Rich Atwater, president of Southern California Water Committee -- Integrated water planning, stormwater, water recycling, new technology
• Roger Patterson, assistant general manager of Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California -- The future of the California Delta and the Colorado River
• Sherry Simpson Dean representing the United Nations Environmental Program -- Water as a global challenge and how Pasadena fits in

This is a photograph shot inside Pasadena's Windsor Reservoir near JPL. Windsor is one of several underground facilities that store our natural water supply (that's PWP Water Engineering Manager Brad Boman leading a tour):

And pump operations at Jones Reservoir under Hamilton Park:



PWP provides about 10 billion gallons of water to 161,300 customers in Pasadena and some surrounding areas.

More than 40 percent is pumped from our local groundwater supply, made up of surface water from streams, rivers, lakes and rain that enters through the ground and into the Raymond Basin, a natural water-bearing zone. 

Most of our other water comes from MWD via the Colorado River and from the vast delta of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers in Northern California, treated at the Weymouth filtration plant in La Verne and piped into Pasadena.

With so much concern about current shortfalls in supply and predictions of more long-term drought, PWP's Water Integrated Resources Plan is a blueprint for the continuation of reliable, cost-effective and environmentally responsible water supply for the next 25 years, taking into consideration available and alternative supplies, demand forecasts, conservation and more. Is the WIRP enough?

Aerial shot of the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta:

Chronic environmental ills have befallen the delta and there are ongoing debates about related State of California water policies.

And water remains a huge issue globally.

So come over to the Armory Center for the Arts tomorrow evening and let's talk about the future of water!

Park next door in the city-owned parking structure where the first 90 minutes are free.

If These Walls Could Talk -- Well, They Already Do

Last Saturday I went on a tour of the historic and empty YWCA building followed by a community meeting down the street at City Hall. The events were hosted by the City of Pasadena and Pasadena Heritage. The purpose was to bring attention to the state of the building and update everyone on the status.

Two weeks ago the City of Pasadena distributed an RFP (request for proposals) to developers, seeking responses on how best to repair and restore the historic building and prepare it for adaptive reuse. The deadline for developer proposals in Sept. 24, after which the city will convene a review panel to evaluate bids and advise the city council on the final decision.

Since 1922 the YWCA building, on Marengo Avenue between Holly and Union streets, offered community and recreation services as well as single-room dwelling units for young single women. Designed by Julia Morgan, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing building within the Pasadena Civic Center Historic District.

The property is on about two acres that encompass nearly a full city block. It was designed in three sections.

In 1996 the Pasadena-Foothill Valley YWCA sold the building for $1.8 million to Angela Chen Sabella, AKA Trove Investments Corporation, and moved to new headquarters on North Fair Oaks Avenue.

Trove allowed the building to remain vacant and in a continually increasing state of decay. It was never properly secured against weather, trespassing and vandalism, and all three took their toll on the building's historic fabric:

inside. . .

. . .and out.

After attempting to work with Ms. Chen Sabella over the course of 15 years to first encourage and then mandate her to make improvements -- pleas she continually ignored -- the Pasadena City Council invoked eminent domain last year, citing "demolition by neglect."

Local, state and federal governments in the U.S. rarely use eminent domain to force the purchase of private property for public use. By law, property owners must be provided with fair compensation as determined by the courts.

After having the property appraised, the city offered Trove $6.43 million. There was an unsuccessful lawsuit by Trove to stop the eminent domain, then a counter-offer for nearly twice the amount, and to date a purchase price has not been settled on although the city expects a decision from the court soon. In the meantime, the city has deposited about $8 million into a court-managed escrow account until a final deal is approved. Everyone anticipates that the city will be given ownership of the building. 

The number-one priority for the city is the restoration of the historic treasure, followed by potential lease or sale of the property. But now, with the dismantling of redevelopment by Gov. Jerry Brown and the California legislature, the city is in the position of having to send out that RFP that will, everyone hopes, bring in a developer(s) with vision who can move the project forward to the benefit of the community, including funding, design and construction management.

Where do you come in? Take a look at the RFP (click on the link in the second paragraph of this post). I'll try to keep you apprised of upcoming related meetings at the community, commission and council level.

After reading the RFP, if you have questions or concerns, send an e-mail to David Klug at dklug@cityofpasadena.net. Dave is the city's redevelopment manager, a position that unfortunately may have to be removed from the city payroll in the near future (thanks, Jerry).