August 7, 2005
Contact:
Amanda Seward
20th Century Architecture Alliance
310-439-2422
amandaseward@artvista.net
Laura Burns
310-392-5079
perroudburns@earthlink.net
Lincoln Place Garden Apartments Achieve Historic Designation on California Register
Determination halts rental giant AIMCO’s plans for demolition
Venice, California - Efforts to prevent threatened demolition of one of California’s greatest post-WWII garden apartment complexes got a big boost late Friday afternoon when the California State Historical Resources Commission in Sacramento unanimously determined that the Lincoln Place Apartments qualify for the honor of listing on the California Register of Historical Resources based on objective criteria.
The Commission determined that Lincoln Place met California Register criteria as an excellent enduring example of both the "garden apartment" property type and of Modernist architecture. It also found Lincoln Place to be a major and intact example of the low and moderate income rental housing built in Los Angeles after World War II in response to a severe housing shortage. The Commissioners praised its exceptional site plan, the livability of its spaces and the employment of modernist elements to make each building and its surrounding courtyards visually unique. Designers of the historic complex were African-American Ralph Vaughn and his partner Heth Wharton.
The unrelenting efforts by owner AIMCO (Apartment Management and Investment Company) to delay the Commission’s action were finally defeated by Friday’s hearing. Lincoln Place had been on the May Commission calendar, but the matter was continued based on AIMCO’s claims that the Register nomination was incomplete. In the weeks prior to Friday’s hearing and up until the morning of the hearing itself, AIMCO’s lawyers made repeated requests for continuances on a multitude of grounds.
“None of AIMCO’s increasingly desperate claims to postpone the hearing had any merit,” said attorney Susan Brandt-Hawley. “They were transparent attempts to avoid the historic listing, and fortunately the state’s attorneys saw through that and the hearing went forward.”
“AIMCO tried to avoid giving the Commission the opportunity to consider the merits of the nomination of Lincoln Place to the Register,” said nominator Amanda Seward. “But once the Commission got through all of AIMCO’s contrived procedural objections, the Commissioners had no hesitation when it came to making a decision in favor of listing. They were each wonderfully prepared on the facts supporting qualification for the Register.”
The listing on the California Register, in combination with the recent victory at the Court of Appeal, leaves no question that Lincoln Place must now be treated as a significant historical resource under state law and local ordinances. Demolition therefore will not be allowed unless an Environmental Impact Report process finds that there are no feasible alternatives.
In the lead-up to the State hearing, AIMCO had also put pressure on Seward by filing evictions on the tenants of Lincoln Place, then offering to stop them if Seward would withdraw the nomination. “Now that the historic importance of Lincoln Place is settled, it’s time for AIMCO to accept the designation and do the right thing -- withdraw the evictions and work amicably with the community to craft a preservation plan,” Seward said.
Tenant eviction attorney, Elena Popp of the Eviction Defense Network said, “The tenants are elated by the determination because they cherish Lincoln Place. However, beyond that, we have our own substantive defenses against the evictions and are confident of prevailing in the courts.”
Support for historic designation was overwhelming. Among those submitting letters endorsing the listing of Lincoln Place were: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; Councilman Bill Rosendahl; U.S. Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer; U.S. Congresswoman Jane Harman; State Senator Debra Bowen and the late Assemblyman Mike Gordon; the National Trust for Historic Preservation; the California Preservation Foundation; the Los Angeles Conservancy; the American Institute of Architects (AIA) L.A. Chapter; Diane Favro, President of the Society of Architectural Historians, Bradford Grant, President of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Gail Sansbury, Board Member of the Society for American City and Regional Planning History; Dorothy Wong, author of the National Landmark nomination of Village Green and authority on the Garden City Movement; Julius Shulman, premier photographer of Modernist Architecture; and the National Organization of Minority Architects.
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© Lincoln Place Tenants Association
Email: info@lincolnplace.net