Cspan now is a free mobile app featuring your unfiltered view of what is happening in washington live and ondemand big keep up with the days biggest events with live streams of floor proceedings and earrings from u. S. Congress, white house events, the courts, campaigns and more from the world of politics all at your fingertips. You can also stay current with latest episodes of washington journal and find scheduling information for cspan tv networks and see spent radio plus a variety of compelling podcasts. Cspan now is available at the apple store and google play. Downloaded for free today. Cspan now your front row seat to washington anytime, anywhere. He will introduce our speakers momentarily. Mike is president ceo fort mason for arts and culture and a longtime Historic Preservation. Prior to joining fort mason he left San Francisco to start a nonprofit. Its a director of advocacy at los angeles conservancy regional attorney from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. We asked mike to moderate tonights program because of his preservation work in both los angeles, the subject of tonight stock and here in San Francisco. Thank you for being with us, michael. Welcome im going to hang the mic over to you. Thank you so much francis. It is such a pleasure to be here tonight with my two longtime friends and colleagues can bernstein and Steven Schaefer to talk about the stunning new book preserving los angeles but Historic Places can transform america cities published by intercity press per day at dare i say that this is a monumental achievement and contribution to the field. Ken devoted much of his career to preserving and enhancing the unique architecture of los angeles. When i joined the conservancy in 2000 6a big shoes to fill skinner just left his position in his role for a current for ht position with the city. They are within the cities to Planning Department can heads has design studio. Among his many responsibilities there can lead the completion of a groundbreaking survey l. A. Project. Roes that document Historic Resources across the cities 500 square miles. Infecting on the diversity of the architecture but also the cultural communities. Anyone who knows Los Angeles Cac appreciate the size and scale of this massive undertaking. Stephen schafer as a photographer with a preservation distraction the three decades behind the lens of a camera hes become a specialist in photography of both new and llhistoric architecture. He got the preservation bug as it were after a seemingly endless renovation to his 1881 victorian farmhouse. Ever since he has been drawn to big and small and now finds h himself crisscrossing america documented significant places for the National Register of Historic Places and Historic American Building survey collection at the library of congress. Congress. So with that let me turn it over too ken and steven to kick off our presentation. There we go. Okay. Good evening everyone. Is such a pleasure to be with all of you. And the Historical Society to be able to speak with an audience with the state of california tonight and share a little bit about preserving los angeles, our new book for angel city press. Ss i really wanted to begin by just talking a little bit about why her motivation, what were trying to do. When i decided to write this book i think most of you will file the history of california and los angeles there are many books on los angeles. Its history and its architecture. Historic preservation in los angeles had not really been told in a comprehensive way. Then its really what i wanted to try to do with preserving los angeles. Let me just quickly pull up the presentation. Hopefully can get this going. There it goes. So preserving los angeles is meant to be the story of Historic Preservation in los angeles. I know there are many books on los angeles and its architecture the power of transformation transforms communities. Ive been frustrated in many cases that there has often been a claim that los angeles is the city that does not care about its history. It is not care as far as architecture. Some of you who are angelina with us tonight no those are myths and there are many who care about the heritage. You los angeles or athi this picture of universal studios. Often los angeles is told the story, their ego. It has a mind of its own tonight. The story of some the studios of los angeles and that the Entertainment Industry is the entire sum total of the history of los angeles. In august of this not the case. I think often east coast reporters think they can parachute into the city and in a matter of days capture the is alleef what l. A. About. I have been fortunate to be professional roles that mike mentioned for the l. A. A. Conservancy and with the city of los angeles. Its a birds eye view of how Historic Preservation is making ena difference in communities around the city. I want to try to capture much more interesting and nuanced los angeles a more complex los angeles that i have come to know. And what i have seen is Historic Preservation while is frequently mischaracterized as being about stopping change of preventing progress, accreditation has been a primaryre while per positive change throughout los angeles. It has been a tool spentto revitalizing our downtown or Historic Downtown it has been transforming neighborhoods. It has been created economic regeneration across our city and even helping to address our housing crisis in california and in los angeles with Affordable Housing. I wanted to try to bring out l. A. Preservations to a larger audience. Both for angelenos who many may not have fully internalized the project changes that are around them. And then to those beyond l. A. Who have misconceptions of what l. A. Is all about. Ind hope those of you joining us in the bay area tonight do not have those negative perceptions are sometimes here. Some of our friends in the bay area. I hope as you start to take a closer look through this book if you get to explore los angeles to the prism of this book and start to see much more interesting make much difference city than the schaefers in los angeles. This is what i wanted to do with the book and this is a sidebar for me i called my weekend project for the last two years. And this has really been the a laborof love for me. And in that spirit i decided i want to donate my proceeds for through the book to three National Organizations working for greater equity and inclusion historicsi preservation field fr the a africanamerican action fd the national for reservation. In a pia the pacific islanders. C i am an american with Historic Preservation. Of course i knew i wanted this to be a visually rich book. And were fortunate to find the perfect partner in the shape you will be turning from a little later. I think you will see in the photos i am showing there were over 300 fullcolor images throughout the book. Its a unique eye for architectural detail and they really only have a preservations eye toward capturing images that convey the message i was trying to get across through the book. I think that comes through as you see the images ill be sharing tonight. So w again, starting with the Historic Downtown and the eastern clumpy building, one of the great Architectural Buildings in a commercial and id theater district on broadway. We are saying throughout los angeles the developers and Property Owners like a finding g preservation and adaptive reuse inverting Historic Buildings really at economic value to their properties and projects. Angelenos are seeking out places like this. They are referred to live, work, play. Im trying to provide example after example of how that is occurring throughout los angeles. And show how it has transformed los angeles and other cities with Historic Resources and use preservation as a tool to do much the same. I thinkma that for many writers writing a book the act of writing itself is sort of a journey of discovery. Finding your message. Finding your characters for a fiction writer. For me it was not really about that. I knew the story i wanted to tell based on this idea had in los angeles. For mee it was channeling the spirit of discovery that has really been part of my work all along. And if using the into the book. I have been very fortunate to have exposure and entree to remarkable spaces around the staten i wanted to take the reader along with being insight this. T this is the real los angeles. One of those sites is garden of office. I will never forget the first time i got to see this remarkable secret garden in the Hollywood Hills a former journalist who worked was 75 for artist friends. Who began to evolve the space into her own home into a peace garden. Piece garden. Here you have munchkin land which is a tribute to the wizard of oz. Other thrones and the gardener peacemakers from the dalai lama to rosa parks and musicians and entertaining figures in old Elvis Pressley to duke ellington. Its a remarkable place she distributes keys to artists and twoe neighbors to be able to ce in and experience the garden its not something the Tourist Attractions are open to the general public but she was very generous to allow to capture this ensures the wider audience. I wanted to share many remarkable hidden gems with the city with our readers in los angeles. This is a book about him park the practical lessons of Historical Preservation but we have to share throughout the citys out transforms other cities. But also providing a sense of discovery onto a gun show case of very different los angeles. We start the story with the tower of historic local Landmarks Program we have in los angeles. Its called a historical cultural monument which are our local landmarks. We had over 1200 in the city. The book showcases the dramatic transformation first workplaces. One of the few remains of architecture in which the form of the building really reflects its use. This is a bar in the North Hollywood committee of los angeles in the form of a whiskey barrel. It endures in great parts. I have been a bar for decades then became a flamenco dance and theater music theater iner the 70s and 80s. And it closed in the 80s and the dancer who operated the theaterer, hernandez became like the old woman who lived in a shoe except she was the old woman who lived in eight whiskey barrel. She grew old in apartment above the bar, a former bart was a small menagerie aroundd here for the building deteriorated and became threatened. She went to the rehabilitation facility and passed away. In comes up for auction a preservation minded buyer taking over and rehabilitated the rehae market. About 2 million in preserving additional features and reclaiming and then on the patio actually relocating another example of architecture a replica from the 19208 set on washington boulevard in los angeles its alo replica that hs been the peterson automotive museum. Bobby h green where it was relocated. Back to the other building care there to other examples of historical monuments. L. A. Has also been a frament yer of preservation. Of cultural resources. We have in fact one of the earliest Historic Preservation surprises a lot of people. We were headed by the california cities including San Francisco and san diego and allowing for designation of local landmarks back in 1962. Weve always love for designation for cultural significance or social history recall our landmarks historical landmarks. An example ofri that is the overlay. Which many of you know about the stonewall riots of new york in 1969. People fight that is the birth of the Gay Rights Movement personally. But actually men began in the black path. New years day 1967 bricks actually new years eve into new years day with theirs and pd rate on the bar. People being beaten by police just for expressing their enthusiasm for the new year. A love for one another. That led to protests at the site the following month that then led to action though into the u. S. Supreme court. Thats a pioneering action asserting equal protection right as part of the gayrights amusement. Gayrights is a los angeles is a gayrights pioneer. Beginning to recognize may not have architectural significance. But social and cultural the instructional modern years ago. It knowledge meant of our individual landmarks and cultural body met we also share in preserving los angeles how we preserve entire neighborhoods through the designation of Historic Preservation which are the name for our local districts in l. A. We have 35 in los angeles today about 21000 properties included in these neighborhoods. These designations have a less dramatic transformation in their communities. I only like to share a handful of specific districts in the book. I first went to speak a little bit to what makes l. A. Historic districtt unique. They are neighborhoods of very noted socioeconomic and demographic diversity for one. There was a study prepared by economics to watch the conservancy last year that founded our hp ocs and los angeles have a higher share of non white population within those neighborhoods than the average share of white population in the city as a whole. These are neighborhoods that are continuing to contracted very vibrant and diverse mix of residents. All income levels as well. The neighborhoods shown here in south l. A. Thats tremendously diverse. It is about 50 latino, 35 africanamerican. And historic designation lent to this neighborhood becoming even more closeknit. The true sense of community in this area has reinvestment in many of the homes as well. This photo shows landscaping can also bee inserted in the front lawn of the historic home but Historic District like this is still very competitive a. Historic districts ban all architectural style, all time periods of the citys history including the balboa highland Historic Preservation overlay rezone this is the very north ed of our city in the San Fernando Valley on Granada Hills. Many in the bay area participants tonight one of the developments of joseph who developed about 10,000 homes in the bay area. This is the only track in the city of los angeles from 1962 64 at the youngest hp 0c. Because he the landscaping and the cohesiveness of this modern neighborhood by try to start this way. Generally also a challenge preservation and density are not mutually exclusive. This is a big topic as many of you may know statewide in california right now. We are grappling with her housing prices and looking at introducing more density near kansas. One thing that site i founded their 50 denser than per square mile than residential neighborhood which surprises a lot of people. They are t denser than the city white in boston, shook chicago, north d. C. This is not a a higher price neighborhood in china density. The family home on the left. Acoustic cottage in the middle third triplex with the revivalists are the far end on the right different densities. You seat many of her hp 0c this is it one of our lower income neighborhoods. But as a lot of multifamily housing vision of Historic Districts only in singlefamily homes. Even historic you should hug density and can be accommodated in this way. I also wanted to make in this book the beautiful photos is like visually stunning. They lose sight of the fact preservation is in only about beauty. Ty not only about architecture but also about people ultimately. People who make Historic Preservation impossible through their passion and commitment activists or administrator of Historic Preservation people ultimately give life to the places we talk about. Its important to me that we include those voices in the book through preservation profiles. On the left michael deas showed the lincoln pc is the Guiding Force he is shown here is a couple of his neighbors to make that all possible in his community. Kristen on the right was a phd student at riverside got active in little tokyo Historical Society took on a historical cultural nomination for the japanese hospital in the Heights Community east of l. A. Really telling the story of five japanese american immigrants who created a healthcare facility for their own Community Inn the 1920s when youre being denied healthcare due to discrimination. The book gives a voice to some of these stories. Although some of these individuals to tell their own story in their own words through the book. I do want to point out though, will have a fairly optimistic upbeat view of what we have been able to accomplish through Historic Preservation los angeles unit paint entire rosy picture we have a lot of work to do in aries we have fallen short in many ways. One of those is in the area of equity, diversity and inclusion. I mention my own donation to the book its the recognition we have fallen short in that area in los angeles. And so a disproportionate share of our historic cultural monument in l. A. Reflect that thelegacy of communities of col. Its 3 for africanamerican heritage in the city and 6 for persons of color more generally. We need to ta