Derby in Danger

Angelenos are not the type of people to wax nostalgic. Our city was built on a sense of "manifest destiny," a mindset that entails a rejection of the past in favor of "progress" and new ways of thinking. For years historic buildings and institutions here were destroyed without mercy; however, a counter-movement has developed to embrace and protect the remnants of earlier times. The Los Angeles Conservancy is at the forefront of this battle -- its Modern Committee (Modcom) has worked to preserve vestiges of the city's most recent past, a time in which neon, "space age" design, and the "car culture" were at their peak.

The Los Angeles Conservancy wasn't successful in saving the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard, but its ModCom has been working with other advocacy groups to save the former location of the Brown Derby restaurant in Los Feliz, approximately two miles away from my home. The legendary Brown Derby chain once had five locations in Los Angeles -- the buildings that once held the other four are long gone. The Los Feliz building is now home to a unit of Southern California's Louise's Trattoria chain and The Derby nightclub, a long-time hipster hang-out featured in the movie "Swingers." Developer Adler Realty Investments has plans to raze the Derby's former home and build 80 condominiums, a 40,000-square-foot Whole Foods supermarket, 7,441 leasable square feet for small shops, and 390 parking spaces.

Here is a depiction of the southwest corner of Los Feliz Boulevard and Hillhurst Avenue "before and after" the mega-development, courtesy of the Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council:

A view of the proposed development's Hillhurst Avenue elevation:

Preservation efforts are best encapsulated in the Save The Derby Web Site.

I think the most remarkable thing about this building is that, unlike the other Brown Derby restaurants, the Los Feliz location was a "drive-in." Opening in 1940, it was designed by famed "roadside architect" Wayne McAllister, as was the iconic Bob's Big Boy on Riverside Drive in Toluca Lake, a drive-in that opened nine years later. Here it is in its heyday:

Sadly, the structure has been modified so thoroughly that it hardly represents the glamour of the "car culture," bringing claims of its historic significance into doubt. Bob's Big Boy may have been saved, but it deserved to be because its original design remains largely intact. The Johnie's Broiler in Downey, now home to a used car developership but largely unmodified, is a more worthy cause in the fight to save drive-ins.

Frankly, in looking at the current photograph of the property displayed above, I see little worth saving. As an urban planner, I believe in the "recycling" of property that has outlived its "economic usefulness." If approved, the redevelopment of the site will undoubtedly bring the property owner profits, but it will also provide badly-needed housing in the type of high density mixed-use configuration that I believe is key to the city's future development. Its merits are similar to those of the Beverly Connection redevelopment proposal that is the subject of a hearing before the City Planning Commission tomorrow morning. In this instance, I think the development potential of this site outweighs its negligible historical significance. The Brown Derby restaurants that were actually worth saving are gone; justice cannot be served by saving the last Brown Derby solely because it is the last one.

For those who believe the existing building should be saved, I recommend attacking the project on design concerns rather than arguments for historical preservation. Is there a design that could maintain the existing structure while yielding a comparable return on investment for the property owner? Aren't the project's bulk and height somewhat out of character with the surrounding neighborhoods? Won't this project make traffic on Los Feliz Boulevard -- already horrific at peak times -- even worse? There may be a way to redevelop this site in a manner that benefits all the parties involved better than the current proposal does, but only if everyone is willing to negotiate.

The battle over the urban future of Los Angeles is about far more than saving a restaurant, but the controversy concerning "The Derby" speaks to the raging conflicts over land use that will shape tomorrow's metropolis. Preserving the past is important but it must not be done for purely nostalgic reasons at the expense of the larger goals that should shape the Los Angeles of the future.

Thanks to Mike at Franklin Avenue for tipping me off to this story.