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.
.

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.

We Partied on the Bridge

  

I would say that more than 1,000 people throughout the evening at the Colorado Street Bridge Party last night is a mark of success.

Every other year the City of Pasadena closes the bridge to vehicular traffic so Pasadena Heritage, which was instrumental in saving the historic structure, can have its annual fundraising event there.

An aerial camera captured some great shots. This was at about 7:30 p.m.

 

I'll let the next couple of photos speak for themselves:

My pals Kat Ward (left) and Vicki Laidig:

 

Dan McLaughlin (left) and Tavo Olmos were selling their respective books, with the evening's proceeds benefiting Pasadena Heritage.

Dan is a research librarian at Pasadena Central Library. Several times over the years he has provided me with background information about Mystery History photos on my Pasadena PIO blog and my Ann Erdman in Pasadena blog. Dan's book is the fun and informative "Pasadena History Headline Quiz: 690 Pasadena History Trivia Questions Taken from Pasadena Newspaper Headlines."

Tavo, my good friend and a sought-after historic preservation photographer, was commissioned to shoot photos of the restoration of the Colorado Street Bridge in 1990 and 1991. His book, "The Colorado Street Bridge: Restoration Project," is filled with photos of the restoration as well as stories about the photos and a foreword by Claire Bogaard.

Both authors signed their books for me. Here's Tavo:

The books are available at Vromans Bookstore, the Museum Store at the Pasadena Museum of History and Amazon; Tavo's book is also available at The Bookstore at The Gamble House. 

The Hutton family came to the bridge party:

Their great-grandfather (and the little one's great-great-grandfather) was A.W. Hutton, one of the pioneers of Pasadena. See my 2010 Pasadena PIO blog post about the monument to pioneers, including Hutton, in Defenders Park near the entrance to the Colorado Street Bridge.

And of course Snotty Scotty and the Hankies performed on the main stage!

Tavo and I walked out together and noticed the supermoon between two trees on South Grand Avenue. On my little phone camera the moon looked like a glorified star; Tavo captured the real deal on his professional camera.

It was a grand evening, and it was great to run into so many people I know but haven't seen in awhile, from Steve Vargas to Vannia De La Cuba and countless others. I also appreciated several Facebook friends I don't know personally who recognized me and approached me to say hello.

The next Colorado Street Bridge Party will be in 2016.

I took all the photos except the overhead shot of the bridge. Many thanks to Philip Coombs for that photo.

Let's Party Under a Supermoon

The Colorado Street Bridge Party tonight from 6 to 11:30 p.m. will feature live music, dancing, children's activities, festive foods, vintage Mustangs and so much more.

It only happens every other year now, so I hope to see you tonight! 

I'll be the one looking for the supermoon.

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).