UPDATE – MAY 18, 2016: The Public Hearing was held on Monday, and the Hearing Officer (Elva.nuno-odonnell@lacity.org) is still accepting public comments through 5/23/16. As Paramount is intent on demolishing the RKO Globe building, please take a moment to email a short comment in support of the preservation of the “Melrose & Gower corner (Stage 21, 20, 19 & Studio Globe).” Take a stand and tell a friend. Let’s save this iconic piece of Hollywood history! 

ORIGINAL POST – OCTOBER 23, 2015: As you may be aware, Paramount Pictures has proposed a Master Plan Project for their studio on Melrose Avenue. The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) is currently available for review. (Click here for information about it.) The 45-day public period for public comment ends on Monday, October 26, 2015.

Paramountâ€s new Master Plan calls for demolition of eight stages and multiple other ancillary buildings. One of the stages intended for demolition is Stage 21 at the corner of Melrose and Gower. The historic RKO Radio Pictures Studio Globe that sits atop Stage 21 is currently slated for demolition.

We here at LAVA think folks should submit a short email stating that they care about the RKO Globe and want to see it retained in any new construction on that corner of the Paramount Pictures lot.

To submit comments for the Paramount Pictures Master Plan Project DEIR by Monday, October 26, 2015.

Below is our suggested template for comment:

Monday October 26th, 2015

[submitted electronically]
Adam Villani
Department of City Planning
City of Los Angeles
6262 Van Nuys Blvd., Room 351
Van Nuys, CA 91401
E-mail: adam.villani@lacity.org

Re: Paramount Pictures Master Plan Project ; CASE NO. ENV-2011-2460-EIR; State ClearingHouse NO. 2011101035

Dear Mr. Villani,

Thank you for submitting my comments into the official Case File.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Respectfully,
xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The RKO Globe and LAVA thank you!

At the April 2015 LAVA Sunday Salon,  Joan Jobe Smith presented on her new memoir, Tales of An Ancient Go-Go Girl and on her long creative friendship with Charles Bukowski.

Tales of An Ancient Go-Go Girl by long-time Long Beach, California resident Joan Jobe Smith, is a picaresque True Tale, a 50-year Glotessey spanning the 1965 Los Angeles Watts Riots, near death at the hands of a homicidal ex-husband, the counter-culture go-go swinging let-it-all-hang-out 1960s-‘70s, single Motherhood and Feminism. Rarely does a natural poet and historian such as Joan Jobe Smith endure such ordeals and challenges and survive to tell the tale. It is a Tale written with go-going panache and patois, and heart, courage and humor to make our lives richer and wiser. The event took the form of a series of short Q&As with LAVA’s Richard Schave on milestones from the memoir and Joan’s relationship with the writer Charles Bukowski, punctuated by Joan reading poetry selections which span her career.

For more on Joan Jobe Smith, visit https://www.pearlmag.com/

To view, click this link or the image below.

Join Kim Cooper and David Smay, co-editors of the book Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth: The Dark History of Prepubescent Pop from the Banana Splits to Britney Spears, and contributors Becky Ebenkamp and Gene Sculatti, for an audio-visual celebration of the history and mythology of this under-appreciated musical genre, and the Saturday morning cartoons where many of the most memorable songs debuted.

After the presentation, copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

The event is free. Arrive on time to ensure you get a seat.  

At the March 2015 LAVA Sunday Salon, Architectural Historian Nathan Marsak was honored as LAVA Visionary of the Year 2015.

Nathan presented on the forgotten architectural landscape of nineteenth-century Los Angeles—a lost world whose most salient impulse was toward the imposing, rough-hewn blocks of the Romanesque.

The common narrative regarding the visual development of early Los Angeles usually involves the native vernacular of the pueblo, which one may still visit in any number of extant adobes; from there, following some historic boom times, we Angelenos and visitors alike are regaled by the wondrous Beaux-Arts high-rises of downtown. If pure Victorian architecture is considered, one likely turns attention to the Eastlake and Queen Anne examples along Carroll Avenue, or to the used-car lot of gingerbread, Heritage Square.

This does a disservice, asserts Marsak, to the wonderland of Richardsonian Romanesque, Romanesque Revival, and Romanesque-hybrid office blocks and civic structures that once defined our city. A confluence of money and local pride, primarily in the late-1880s, resulted in what was arguably Americaâ€s greatest center of the style, short-lived though it may have been. The ethos of the City Beautiful movement, skyscraper construction, and other factors contributed to its demise.

It is especially striking that these structures, whose construction exuded solidity and permanence, should have been removed on so great a scale. Besides illuminating twenty of the most notable lost masterpieces, Marsakâ€s lecture visits those few remaining examples of the style. Attention is given as well to the styles that fought for dominance in defining Victorian Los Angeles, e.g., French Empire.

Video link.

A 15-year-old murder case is at the core of the story. Host Sarah Koenig has been exploring the disappearance and death of Hae Min Lee and the murder conviction of her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed. She and her team have been digging into the details and talking to the people involved, podcasting their findings in a new episode each week. Throughout the series the investigative team hasnâ€t known what was coming next or how many episodes it would take to tell the entire tale.

Now the story will come to a close in the twelfth episode to be released Thursday December 18. You can listen to the season finale at our Crawford Family Forum with fellow fans of “Serial” and KPCC managing editor of news Kristen Muller and science reporter Sanden Totten. After we hear the podcast, weâ€ll talk about the findings with special guests, including crime historian and mystery novelist Kim Cooper (Esotouric/ “The Kept Girl“), attorney Alan Jackson (Partner with Brown White & Newhouse LLP and former Assistant Head Deputy District Attorney with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office) and attorney Lisa Kang (Alternate Public Defender for Los Angeles County).

Join us and tell us what you think about the case, the storytelling and its conclusion. Free, reservations required from https://www.scpr.org/events/2014/12/18/1637/serial-season-1-finale-listening-session/

Pershing Square Renew says “Join us in the heart of Downtown for a fun-filled night of music, art, food, ice skating, interactive games, and prize-giveaways. Although this night will be about having fun and celebrating with the community, it will also be an opportunity for you to weigh in on your hopes, dreams, and aspirations for a renewed Pershing Square.” 

Background information: In 2013, the Pershing Square Task Force was formed with the intent of “Re-Envisioning” the historic park. Public response has overwhelmingly supported a different model: the restoration of the 1910 John Parkinson landscape design that was demolished in 1951 to put in underground parking. More than 1500 people have signed the petition asking for restoration and the campaign has been prominently covered by The Los Angeles Times, Which Way LA? and Curbed.

The Pershing Square Task Force has since been replaced by Pershing Square Renew. Pershing Square Renew recently announced their intention of holding a design competition for Pershing Square; Councilman Jose Huizar confirmed that the historic 1910 John Parkinson design can be entered, and that a public vote will select the winner.

Supporters of the campaign to Restore Pershing Square are encouraged to attend this event and share their hopes for a return to John Parkinson’s 1910 design for the park, or other ideas which occur to them. All are welcome–please spread the word!