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Health & Fitness

Preserving the Past: Beverly Hills Stops the Clock on Historic Buildings

Beverly Hills is on a mission to preserve its historic buildings.

Last October, I blogged about the City’s : a new incentive program to help homeowners preserve and restore their architecturally significant homes.

That was just the beginning. 

On May 23, the newly established Beverly Hills Cultural Heritage Commission will hold its first meeting. This panel of knowledgeable residents and professionals are dedicated to protecting ALL of the City’s historic buildings—residential and commercial.

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Beverly Hills has an impressive number of historic, beautiful and significant buildings. Many of the nation’s most notable architects have designed projects in Beverly Hills. In addition, some of the best examples of architectural styles exist in our community. The intersection of Little Santa Monica and Crescent Drive is a prime example.

On one corner is the venerable City Hall designed by William Gage with a major expansion and update 20 years ago by Charles Moore. Across the street is the Old Post Office, a beautiful example of Depression-era architecture by Ralph Flewelling. By next year, the post office will be imaginatively complemented by a modern theatre designed by Los Angeles native Zoltan Pali. On Santa Monica Boulevard is the Union 76 station, a great piece of mid-century Googie architecture. And, on the southeast corner is the classic Platinum Equity building designed by Paul Williams.

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Creating a commission to oversee historic preservation was an important step for three reasons: One, it taps into our pool of talented people who truly care about this community. Two, it allows us access to state funding to help preserve our important buildings and three, it gives us a framework to identify and preserve historic buildings along with access to technical assistance from the State Office of Historic Preservation.

Among the commission’s first tasks will be to begin the process of reviewing and updating the City’s existing catalogues of historic commercial and residential buildings. The commission will also draft a list of master architects. In addition, the Commission will be looking at incentive programs beyond the Mills Act—most likely for commercial properties. More information on the the City’s historic preservation program is on the web page www.beverlyhills.org/preservation.

for the Mills Act residential program up until May 31, 2012. Interested homeowners may call 310-285-1127 or watch for more information on www.beverlyhills.org/preservation.

You can view City Council discussion of the historic preservation program at recent City Council meetings.

This blog is intended as a means of keeping the community informed about City government. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the views of Beverly Hills Patch.

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