As a part of my Historic Preservation involvement, I've been volunteering for the Office of Historic Resources' "Survey L.A.", a most ambitious and exciting project for a native Angeleno with preservationist leanings (such as myself). Basically, the City Planning Department wants to know EVERY, SINGLE possibly significant "resource" (any place or object could qualify, like a lake, a sculpture, a tree, or a house) so the department can plan around things that'll need to be landmarked for their protection. I know my neighborhood of 1888 Victorian vernacular cottages is being decimated by inappropriate remodels or non-historic infill, and I can't wait to put our block on Survey L.A.'s radar.
Is there some historic building or resource in your area? Because here's our chance to make a difference before they knock it down for ugly condos or even worse: let the empty lot languish. So you can actually report directly to the Survey here:
http://www.preservation.lacity.org/survey click on Identify
At the above link, you alert the Survey L.A. team of historic preservation pros and the Office of Historic Resources to places they didn't know about, and tell them why, from your local's viewpoint, it is significant. They'll send a team of preservation professionals out there to assess it from the sidewalk, never even bothering the occupants or setting foot on the property.
You're not expert enough to identify a historic resource, you say...?
Believe me, they do need your input. Los Angeles is 880,000 parcels of land, and not one person in this city knows even half of the historically significant buildings. This project thrills me because it's a true community effort: without info from the front lines, i.e, the people who live near an irreplaceable resource, the city would never know until it's too late what is unprotected out there. So go nominate something on their website right now and don't be shy. They'd rather have too many suggestions than too few.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
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