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• Community Council agenda • Transportation, traffic • Zoning, outreach

• Media on the Mile • New shops, businesses

• Development watchdog

miD CiTY WEST

ON THE BEAT

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RESiDENTiAl ASSOC.

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liviNg iN THE milE

STill TO COmE • In development,

• Development • Business • Subway

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• Cooperation cuts crime

• 40 galleries on tour

YOuR CHAmBER

• Finding Mayberry

POliCE PATROl

under construction

ART WAlk

Promote Your Business through the Miracle Mile Chamber For Membership Information Call 323-964-5454 www.miraclemilechamber.org © LC0307

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• New charter • Directory

• Traditional, modern

• Exhibits, events

• Film, music, art

• Gyms, park

schools

Culture

museums

TARFEST

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real estate

A RREEF MEDIA/ENTERTAINMENT CAMPUS

• Lisitng sales

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CIVIC • Safety summits

Wilshire Courtyard is a million square foot creative office complex built around a beautifully landscaped courtyard and is located in the Miracle Mile.

A park featuring a quarter-mile jogging track, children’s playground, koi pond and gazebo adjoins the building to the south.

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NIGHT LIFE • Best margarita

Winner of BOMA’s Los Angeles “Building of the Year” award in 2000 & 2007 Winner of BOMA’s International “Building of the Year” award in 2008

Miracle Mile

For Leasing Information Please Call:

Brad Feld at Madison Partners at (310) 407-3400 A RREEF MEDIA/ENTERTAINMENT CAMPUS ©LC0310

Published by the Larchmont Chronicle 323-462-2241 The annual edition is delivered to residents, businesses and employees in the greater Miracle Mile area. It is also delivered to residents in Hancock Park, Windsor Square, Fremont Place, Park LaBrea and Larchmont Village, bringing the total readership to 100,000.

COVER PHOTO: Andrew Taylor, TAOpro.com

5700 and 5750 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles 90036

FITNESS

We would like to thank the following tenants for making Wilshire Courtyard their place of business: ASG Media, Inc. ANTE4, Inc. AEG Live American Income Boston University Brierley & Partners Courtyard Wellness Creative Circle Deli & Delites E! Entertainment Television East Court Cards & Gifts Entravision Communications First Entertainment Credit Union Fox Animation Goethe-Institut Initiative IPG Lab Lagnese, Peyrot & Mucci Los Angeles Business Journal Manning, Leaver, Bruder & Berberich McCann Erickson Meteor Worldwide Meridian’s Bodies in Motion MOJO LLC Ogilvy/BWR PR OWN Rebel Entertainment Renewable Resources Group, Inc. Speaker of the Assembly Karen Bass Wenner Media The Weinstein Company World Poker Tour

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Larchmont Chronicle

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Gabrielle with a Rose (detail), 1911, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, photo © 2009 Musée d’Orsay, Paris, by Hervé Lewandowski

Larchmont Chronicle

For tickets: 877 522-6225 or lacma.org

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On View Now

^

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Mid City Council’s focus is transportation, land use

By Laura Eversz Transportation issues, community outreach, land use and traffic have been at the forefront of the Mid City West Community Council’s (MCWCC) agenda over the past year. They will remain at the top of the list over the upcoming months, according to board chairman Jeff Jacobberger. In an interview, he filled me in on what’s ahead in the upcoming months.

Transportation The spotlight has been on the proposed subway extension, including the project’s timing and where the stations will be.

“Metro is going through an environmental review process and preparing recommendations for the board. We’ve been keeping abreast and providing input where appropriate,” he added.

The Council is coordinating its position with other stakeholders including the Miracle Mile Residential Assoc., the Chamber of Commerce and L.A. County Museum of Art. As the city works on a plan to develop a bike transportation system, MCWCC is developing a proposed bicycle network for its area, including bike lanes, routes and bikefriendly streets.

Bike lanes are a challenge in this neighborhood because of a lack of physical space on the street,” admits Jacobberger.

“But I think there are places where it might be possible, like San Vicente Blvd.”

The focus, however, is on finding local streets that connect people but have low levels of traffic and stoplights at intersections.

Promotion MCWCC represents 50,000 residents, business owners and employees who live and work from La Brea Ave. to Beverly Hills, Olympic/San Vicente boulevards to West Hollywood.

“One of the problems we have from an outreach standpoint is that nobody says they live in Mid-City West. They say Miracle Mile or Hancock Park adjacent. So building awareness and an identity for us has always been a struggle.”

Seventy-five to 80 percent of residents are renters, which also makes it a harder audience to penetrate in terms of awareness,” he added.

The group will continue to try and build community events. The quarterly Miracle Mile Art Walk, which brings attention to the area’s galleries and restaurants as well as TarFest, the annual music, art

BOARD CHAIRMAN Jeff Jacobberger says the Council supports the city’s development of a bike transportation system.

and film festival, are two such events.

Teaming up The Council continues to work with the Fairfax and Third Street business associations to find solutions for parking problems.

MCWCC has also teamed up with the Melrose Neighborhood Action Committee, taking part in “National Night Out” activities in August.

“We have tried to develop a partnership with Fairfax High School, and to establish pride and a connection to our community,” Jacobberger said.

“The school’s great leadership is helping to make that hap-

pen.”

The median on the 800 block of Fairfax is completed, with most of the funds coming from a developer of adjacent apartment buildings.

Land use Because of the number of restaurants in the area, the issue of how many alcohol licenses are enough as well as parking problems continue to be major topics.

Another concern is tall buildings proposed along Wilshire Blvd. between Fairfax Ave. and San Vicente Blvd.

“With the subway looking more and more like a certainty, development along the

Mile will continue. The question is how to accommodate the overall needs of the city against preserving the residential neighborhoods and surrounding thoroughfares,” said Jacobberger.

Traffic Part of the frustration from a council perspective is that the city doesn’t seem to be willing to do much about traffic. “We get complaints about congestion and cut-throughs in residential areas. And it’s frustrating because we’re adjacent to the city of West Hollywood that does great things with cul-de-sacs and traffic circles that protect the residential neighborhoods.”

For years, the city’s approach is to make cars move more effectively. They’ve done all they can in mid-city, so we’re trying to support ways for people to not use their cars.”

With a shortfall in general transportation funds prompting major cuts to public transit programs, the Council is bringing a motion to its board to urge the city to rethink its planned elimination of DASH bus lines that serve the Mid City West community.

Jacobberger says residents can stay informed of these and other Mid City issues through the Council’s website at midcitywest.org.

Where

BigareIdeas explored through

©LC0310

6505 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles 323.761.8998 • zimmermuseum.org

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interactive play

Larchmont Chronicle

23rD annual eDition

Miracle Mile 2010 7

Travel back To The Ice age In The  of l.a.

The Page Museum at the la brea Tar Pits. ◆ Stroll through our Ice age garden. ◆ Watch scientists and volunteers excavate

fossils outside at the Project 23 site and prepare them inside the fishbowl lab. ◆ visit the Ice age store and take home a piece of history!

The Fishbowl Lab

Project 23

LC0310

5801 Wilshire blvd., los angeles – on Museum row (323) 934-Page or visit www.tarpits.org

8 Miracle Mile 2010

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Chamber concerns include transportation, growth of Mile

By Chris H. Sieroty The Miracle Mile continues to be one of the unique destinations in Los Angeles. Indeed this strip of real estate, founded in the 1920s by developer A.W. Ross, is arguably one of the region’s fastest growing areas for residential and retail development.

One look at a map will confirm that the Miracle Mile has truly grown into a residential corridor. Over the past few years an apartment development has opened at 5600 Wilshire Blvd., while work is almost completed at Legacy Partners Inc. six-story building with 163 condominiums at 5550 Wilshire Blvd.

The largest mixed-use development is being constructed

by BRE Properties at the corner of Wilshire and La Brea Ave. Demolition of an office building and strip mall that occupied the site is near completion, with a seven-story apartment complex and retail scheduled to occupy the parcel of land that stretches between 8th St. and Wilshire.

New retail shops Gone are the multiple department stores that once lined the street, replaced by restaurants, coffee shops, supermarkets, dry cleaners, drug

stores and office buildings housing thousands of workers, many who call the surrounding neighborhoods and new developments home.

“We have very good commercial occupancy on the street that gets people walking even on the weekends,” Steve Kramer, president and a founding member of the Miracle Mile Chamber of Commerce told the Larchmont PROPOSED AT CRESCENT HEIGHTS and Chronicle in Wilshire is a 21-story mixed-use building. an interview. nition was too confining,” he “That’s because people are living and working said. “Those expanded boundaries seem to make sense behere.”

However, the definition of cause that’s where our memthe traditional Miracle Mile bers come from.” area has changed over the Kramer admitted the neighyears. Today, known as the borhood had felt the effects Miracle Mile District, the area of the economic downturn, stretches along Wilshire from but it’s still strong enough to the Beverly Hills border at maintain itself as a home to a San Vicente to Highland and large concentration of media, south to Pico Blvd. and north advertising, public relations and other businesses that serto Beverly Blvd.

“For many years that defi- vice those industries.

Since its reforming the

LITTLE BAR OWNER Angelo Vacco talks with Miracle Mile Chamber president Steve Kramer at a recent meeting.

Miracle Mile Chamber of Commerce in 1997, the organization’s focus has been playing a key role in attracting businesses to the area and supporting current members through monthly meetings and a newsletter.

“The Chamber also serves as an informational tool, very often for larger businesses to let smaller entities know what they are doing,” Kramer said.

“We have very active support from what I would call the larger entities in the community.”

He described the larger entities as companies that employ

hundreds of people locally, including The Grove shopping center and Olympia Medical Center.

Good relations “We have been very active in the chamber ever since I joined the hospital,” said John A. Calderone, who was named chief executive officer of Olympia Medical Center in 2006. “We really feel that through the chamber we can contribute and reach out to the community.”

Calderone said the hospital has worked for four years with the chamber to host job (Please turn to page 12)

Prestigious Miracle Mile Offices Mira cle Mile T o wer HIGHRISE WITH EXCEPTIONAL VIEWS.

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Recent renovations and common area upgrades. Building signage is available.

JAMISON 5455 WILSHIRE, LLC. Miracle Mile Chamber of Commerce Member

323-931-0882

5455 Wilshire Boulevard

© LC 0306

For Leasing Information, Call:

Larchmont Chronicle

23rD annual edition

Miracle Mile 2010 9

Read all about it! Media moving into the Mile Variety’s name lights up in neon nightly above the Mile, a fitting symbol for a stretch of Wilshire Blvd. that is home to a number of media outlets, some small and some very, very large.

New kid on the mile, Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) with Discovery Communications Inc. has moved to Wilshire Courtyard, to the former Variety offices at 5700 Wilshire Blvd.

The trade publication, meanwhile, has spacious new digs on the top three floors of 5900 Wilshire, where the let-

Storage facility to open near Grove Farmers Market continues to make headlines, following celebration of its 75th year.

Owner Gilmore Co. plans a 25,000-square-foot retail development opposite its Third St. and Fairfax Ave. location.

Opening in June, the Farmers Market Self-Storage facility will be adjacent to The Grove.

The 1,135-unit facility will have two entrances off of Grove Drive. The five-story building contains storage units ranging from 5x5 feet to 12x20 feet.

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OPRAH is in good company in the media-centered area.

ters “Variety” shine above the highrise.

The lower floors of the Ratkovich building is home to the New York Times, Los Angeles Magazine, radio station KSWD-FM 100.3 and anime publisher TOKYOPOP among others.

Other media along the Mile strip include CBS Radio, the Hollywood Reporter, Billboard Magazine, Angeleno, Bevelry Hills 90212, Bon Appetit, Architectural Digest, E! Entertainment TV, E! News and E! Online.

There’s also the Los Angeles Business Journal, Style Channel, Dr. Phil, Hanley Wood and Conde Nast.

What’s new

Retail businesses appeal to pedestrians The skyline of Miracle Mile is changing with the advent of high-rise apartment buildings lining Wilshire Blvd.

Pedestrian traffic is also increasing as new stores and restaurants are adding to the retail mix.

Harry Potter store Witches’ hats, wands, scarves and Quidditch sweaters are on the shelves at Whimsic Alley, the new Harry Potterthemed store opening at 5464 Wilshire Blvd. in early March.

The store has moved from its location in Santa Monica for the past five years.

With the emphasis on J.K. Rowling’s fantasy series, the merchandise includes the Habber & Dasher shop with robes, cloaks and Hogwarts school uniforms, and Widdleshifts’ Quill & Ink shop.

“We’re a fantasy store,” said owner Stan Goldin. “We are also opening a Great Hall party room for birthdays, bar mitzvahs, etc., that holds up to 100 persons.”

Mixt Greens Choose from 30 ingredients at Mixt Greens, an organic restaurant with a huge salad bar. The family-owned chain, originating in San Francisco

in 2006, is in the Museum Square building at 5757 Wilshire Blvd.

Retail at 5600 Chase Bank will be opening a branch in the 5600 Building.

New businesses that are occupying the ground floor of the 284-unit building include Embo Cleaners, Starfish sushi, Wynn Nail Spa, and Tutti Fruit Yogurt.

BMW relocates Look for BMW sales and service departments to leave their Beverly Hills location when they move to two sides of Wilshire Blvd. east of La Brea Ave. The new sales showroom will occupy the former Lou Ehlers Cadillac site, and the service and used car facility is being built on the former Bob’s Big boy locale.

Café Flourish plans farewell March 6 Café Flourish vegan restaurant is closing. It opened last year at 5410 Wilshire Blvd. and is holding a closing ceremony on Sat., March 6 from noon to 5 p.m. The party is to thank its many customers for their support.

In its message on its website, owners quoted Dr. Seuss.

“Don’t cry because it’s over.

Smile because it happened.”

Celebrating

Proud to be representing

Miracle Mile 47th Assembly District

Miracle Mile

and the

and Proudly Serving The City and County of Los Angeles Since 1975

Zev Yaroslavsky

Karen Bass, Speaker

Supervisor, Third District | County of Los Angeles

California State Assembly 47th Assembly District

Downtown Office

©LC0310

(323) 937-4747 speaker.bass@assembly.ca.gov

GET YOUR Quidditch sweaters at Whimsic Alley.

In new office Impact Clinical Trials, opened its new offices at 5800 Wilshire Blvd. Previous location was in Beverly Hills.

The company was founded in 2002 by Dr Lydia Hazan.

The facility provides clinical research on obstetrics, gynecology, psychiatry, internal medicine, dermatology, pediatrics, weight loss and gastroenterology.

Impact’s investigators conduct research studies supported by a clinical team of experts with more than 10 years of experience in research.

Impact specializes in home visits and is able to provide free transportation for patients enrolled in its studies.

(213) 974-3333 e-mail: zev@bos.lacounty.gov Website: HTTP://zev.lacounty.gov

© LC 0310

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New stores, services add to advantages of living in the Mile

By Marina Muhlfriedel There are hot summer days when I dream of living at the beach, with its cool salty breezes. And I fantasize about heading for the hills, closer to hiking trails, and away from the hubbub.

Yet none of these flights of the imagination have been convincing enough to uproot me from Miracle Mile where my family has resided for the past 16 years.

I became well acquainted with the Art Deco stretch of Wilshire while growing up in West Hollywood. As a child, Miracle Mile, demarcated by the monumental May Company building on the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire, seemed grand and wholly important to me, where we visited LACMA, the Craft and Folk Art Museum, Van De Kamps, and The Egg and the Eye Café Saturday afternoons.

When the time came to house–hunt, my husband and I searched everywhere from the Craftsmans of Altadena to the streets of Venice. My father, then a real estate broker, persuaded us to consider our proverbial backyard, a tired but decently-groomed plot of suburbia in the middle of L.A., an area he felt was about to come into its own.

NEIGHBORS. Marina Muhlfriedel chats with Seun Olowokandi who was taking his son Tobias for a stroll.

Dad couldn’t have been more right. At the time, I didn’t realize that we had settled in Miracle Mile at the dawn of its revitalization and have since witnessed both Wilshire Boulevard and the residential area grow and reinvent day by day, year by year.

Security bars immediately began disappearing from windows, landscaping was upgraded, a supermarket appeared, a pit filled in, and an elegant center median landscaped.

While the department stores were already a mere memory, a range of cafés, restaurants and art galleries began and continue to materialize be-

neath and between Wilshire’s towering office buildings.

Someday all the dots might just connect, and the ground floor retail, entertainment, and health and wellness services will warrant the sort of foot traffic that Larchmont and Third St. enjoy. But that is going to necessitate further revitalization, including more destinations like local favorites, Black Dog Coffee, Busbys/ El Toro Cantina and the El Rey Theater.

Although I was initially apprehensive about the proliferation of mega–apartment buildings that have been springing up, I secretly wel-

come the ground floor retail they are bringing, along with an expanded customer base that will eventually stroll along Wilshire.

In order for that to happen though, Miracle Mile needs to attract the kind of businesses where people are prone to linger—a fashionable boutique or two, a bookstore, a gourmet shop, or a spa, and enough reasonably priced public parking to make the area friendly to visitors.

In the meantime, Miracle Mile remains a place where I never tire of walking my dog and joining in on the endless array of cultural events; where visitors from around the world come to commune with Ice Age specimens pulled from tar and view world class art at LACMA, while torrents of employees flow from office buildings and gather around the regatta of taco trucks that swarm the neighborhood on weekdays.

We locals, a neighborly bunch, have seen it all and still, come rain or shine can be found out walking to the gym, post office, or Tom Bergin’s Tavern, stopping to share local news, and observing each others’ kids grow up.

We’ve watched the oldest residents of our streets, most

who were the original owners of the houses to be lovingly updated by a new generation.

As we fondly say, at least on my street, we found Mayberry in the middle of a metropolis.

Name it, you can find it in La Brea Avenue shops Vintage clothing shops, custom drapery stores, art galleries, antique shops and cafes line La Brea Ave. from Wilshire Blvd. to Melrose Ave. A shoppers’ bonanza, the street will soon be welcoming its first infant store, Beginnings, at 151 S. La Brea Ave. Lighting stores abound, as do fabric stores like Silk Trading and Deco Imports.

Whether you are choosing a new couch from Langdon Cole or Barclay Butera, or are taking in a 19th century table to be restored at Vienna Woods or Heaven, the selection of home furnishings is vast.

Vintage clothing and accessories are found at The Way We Wore and My Ulrika, Ready for a refreshing snack?

Try Yogurtland at 310 South La Brea Ave., where its 16 flavors are sold by the ounce.

Saluting and Celebrating the Residents, I am Honored to be Your Councilmember

Businesses and Community of

And Represent

Miracle Mile

Tom LaBonge Los Angeles 4th District City Councilmember and Staff (213)485-3337 www.tomlabonge.com

PAUL KORETZ

Councilmember, 5th District City of Los Angeles paul.koretz@lacity.org

213-473-7005

Paid for by Paul Koretz Officeholder ID#1300860 555 S. Flower St. Ste 4210 Los Angeles, CA 90071

©LC0310

The Miracle Mile

12 Miracle Mile 2010

CHAMBER CONCERNS (Continued from page 8) and health fairs for its members and for the community as a whole. He added that by hosting health fairs, the hospital’s doctors and nurses can provide the community with preventative care and education on important health issues like the H1N1 flu.

Tarfest festival The chamber also supports TarFest, a three-day arts festival scheduled for September.

TarFest is a festival of emerging film, music and art held annually since 2003 at the La Brea Tar Pits and the surrounding Museum Row. Besides its involvement in TarFest and monthly luncheons, the chamber hosts the Wilshire Corridor Forums.

These meetings bring together developers, architects, business leaders and city officials to discuss issues critical to this region.

Subway Expansion One of those issues that’s key to Kramer and the chamber’s membership is the expansion of Metro’s Purple subway line to Santa Monica and upgrades to Wilshire Blvd.

“An immediate problem we have in this community is the status of Wilshire Boulevard and the potholes,” he said.

For one of the busiest east/

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west corridors in Los Angeles, Kramer described the current status of Wilshire’s streets as being in incredible disrepair.

Kramer also stressed how important DASH bus service was to the area and cautioned that any reduction or elimination of service due to the city’s financial problems would be tragic.

As for the expansion of Metro’s Purple Line subway, he said that out of self-interest, one of the organizations greatest concerns “is getting that line extended to Fairfax."

Our membership actively supports the extension of the subway,” he said. “It can do nothing but enhance business in the Miracle Mile District. As we like to say, ‘it’s time to start digging.’”

For more information, go to miraclemilechamber.org.

MTA subway.

Wilshire Police Roundtable informs area

Business and community leaders learn about Wilshire police programs at the quarterly Captain’s Roundtable.

Capt. Eric Davis, Wilshire commanding officer, provides an update on criminal activity in the Miracle Mile and Wilshire area at each breakfast meeting.

Guest speakers have covered topics such as identity theft and violence in the workplace.

The next scheduled Captain’s Roundtable meeting is on Thurs., April 29 at 8 a.m. at Maggiano's at The Grove.

AT RECENT Captain’s Roundtable breakfast were, from left, Wilshire LAPD Sgt. A. J. Kirby, Wilshire Patrol Capt. William Hart, Matt Simon, The Grove and Jeff Hererra, Ratkovich Building.

Police cite reasons for crime decline in community

Helpful phone numbers offered:

Cooperation between residents and business owners is one of the reasons crime has decreased in the Miracle Mile area, according to Los Angeles Police Department Wilshire Station captains who spoke at a recent meeting of the Miracle Mile Chamber of Commerce.

Captain Bill Hart said other factors contributing to the successful decline include the daily crime briefings with officers.

“This gives us a way to see trends and to compare sus-

• Abandoned vehicle, 800-ABANDON • Building and Safety, 213368-7528 • Housing Complaints for building violations for residential units larger than a duplex, 213-847-7845 • Burned out street lights, 800-303-5267 • Dead animal pick-up, 213485-4906; graffiti removal, 323-463-5180; Parking Enforcement, 213-485-4184; Bureau of Sanitation, 800773-2489.

pects in certain crimes,” Captain Hart added.

In other successful efforts, Wilshire commanding officer Captain Eric Davis noted that pro-active programs are also assisting in crime prevention in the area.

Davis has worked with area developers on “environmental policing.”

Additionally, Davis has been on “walk-throughs,” advising on the best landscaping for residential buildings as well as lighting placement.

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Retail, restaurants, stylish design enhance area, says MMRA president La Brea Ave. on residential streets on

By Suzan Filipek A store Harry Potter would love, veg- both sides of Wilshire.

Members keep an eye on developan cuisine and a BMW showroom.

It’s not A.W. Ross’ 1920s Miracle Mile ment and meet with city planners to keep their concerns in check, from any more. traffic to maintaining Set designthe Mile’s Art Deco ers have been look. busy working for The Legacy's 5550 the opening of Wilshire Art Deco Whimsic Alley, “a curved lines will add shopping haven to the Mile's stylish for wizards of dislooks—if the results tinction,” set for are anything like the this month at 5464 "stunning" design Wilshire Blvd. plans, says O'Sullivan.

The Dominquez Association memWilshire Building bers worked closely at 5410 Wishire with the developer to retains its historic 1931 character ECO-GOURMET foods are served at morph early sketches NEW DEVELOPMENTS include Legacy's mixed-use project at 5550 Wilshire Blvd., but with all the Mixt Greens. It opened in February. reminiscent of Miami a stylish display of Art Deco Moderne style says MMRA president Jim O'Sullivan.

Beach to more in keepmodern conveniences. A 5,400-square foot restaurant ing with Art Deco Moderne.

While design can be negotiated, the ect includes six-and-a-half parking levis planned to open with outdoor seating, said building owner Daniel Farasat. sky’s the limit with the number of sto- els with 422 spaces.

“Getting around this place is going to Another 6,000 square feet are available ries that can be built on Wilshire, acbe insane,” said O’Sullivan. for ground floor retail with curbside cording to city zoning laws. So watchThe MMRA’s annual meeting is targeting over projects is key, say area watchviews. ed for the fall. Board meetings are on The lunch crowd can watch the peo- dogs.

Developments in the works include the first Thursday of the month at Berch ple go by and get their organic fix at Mixt Greens, an "eco-gourmet" restau- BRE Properties’ 482-residential unit Lounge, Westside Jewish Community rant with a cornucopian-style salad bar and 40,000 feet of ground floor retail at Center, 5870 Olympic Blvd.

MMRA boundaries are Wilshire Blvd. at Museum Square, 5757 Wilshire Blvd. Wilshire and La Brea Ave. on the north, La Brea on the east; and Set to also make a significant impact “It’s a bit of good news; it’s quite exciting,” Jim O’Sullivan, president of the on the west end—present home to Wells San Vicente (from Hauser to Fairfax) at Miracle Mile Residential Association, Fargo Bank—is the 21-story, 158-resi- the south, and Fairfax Ave. on the west.

Visit miraclemilela.com dential units and commercial project said of the new life on the Mile.

Celebrating its 27th year, the group’s at the northeast corner of Wilshire and ENTRANCE at the Dominguez Wilshire members reside between Fairfax Ave. to Crescent Heights boulevards. The proj- Building is true to its 1931 design.

• www.goodsam.org

Celebrating 125 Years: From Tradition To Tomorrow 1885-2010 Proudly serving patients with outstanding care that makes Good Samaritan Hospital One of America’s 50 Best Hospitals 4 years in a row (2007-2010).

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For a referral to some of our excellent doctors call 1 (800) GS-CARES. Celebrating 125 Years- Larchmont ad.indd 1

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Miracle Mile 2010 15

23rD annual eDition

Larchmont Chronicle

ART DECO-STYLE curves are part of Legacy Partners' design at its mixed-use building at 5550 Wilshrie Blvd.

In Development

CHANGING FACE of the Mile. BRE project, far right, is at Wilshire Blvd. and La Brea Ave.

HIGH RISE project at Crescent Heights.

feet of galleries. October opening.

BRE Properties, Wilshire Blvd. and La Brea Ave. Seven stories, 482-units, 40,000-square feet retail.

In Construction Legacy Partners, 5550 Wilshire Blvd.

Six-story, 163-condo and ground floor retail.

BMW Sales & Service, La Brea Ave., at Wilshire Blvd.

Holocaust Museum, Pan Pacific Park. Summer opening.

Proposed Gilmore Land Co., Third St. at Fairfax Ave. 25,000 square foot single-story retail space

BMW is headed to the Mile.

Crescent Heights, at Wilshire Blvd.

21-story, mixed-use building CVS Pharmacy, La Brea and Third St.

Farmers Market Storage, adjacent to The Grove Resnick Pavilion, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Fairfax Ave. & Sixth St., 45,000 square

Fairfax Theatre, Beverly Blvd. and Fairfax Ave. Six-story, 71 condos with ground floor retail Casden Properties, two 300-unit residences, Third St.

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Hit the sidewalk, hop the trolley for Art Walks

By Laura Eversz While the building facades along Wilshire Blvd. were designed to be seen through the windshield of a passing car, art lovers will be taking to its sidewalks at quarterly Art Walks sponsored by the Mid City West Community Council, LACMA, and the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council.

Numerous galleries held receptions at the year’s first Art Walk held in January, including the opening of “NakianSculptures and Works on Paper” at Jack Rutberg Fine Arts.

“I’m so pleased that the galleries located within this district are joining together and planning major exhibition openings in conjunction with the new quarterly calendar,” said gallery owner Rutberg.

From Wilshire to Melrose and La Brea to La Cienega, more than 40 galleries and museums offer exhibitions,

Larchmont Chronicle

23rD annual edition

Architecture described on Art Deco walking tour Author and researcher of the block-long Dominguez the book “Wilshire Boulevard: Wilshire Building at 5410 Grand ConWilshire Blvd., course of Los the Wilshire Angeles” will Tower at 5514 lead the Art Wilshire Blvd.

Deco Society and the StreamLos Angeles line Modernwalking tour designed May Co. on Sat. March (now the home of 27 at 10 a.m.

LACMA West).

J. Eric The Art Deco Lynxwiler, an Society sponurban anthrosors the walk on pologist, will a quarterly basis. describe the Comfortable history and walking shoes, a architecture hat, sunscreen of the Mile. TOUR includes former May and water are The tour will Co., now LACMA WEST. suggested. Twobegin at the hour metered Stiles Clemparking available ents-designed, black and gold in the area. terra cotta bank building at Ticket prices are $10 for 5209 Wilshire Blvd.

ADSLA members; $15, non Other landmarks include members. Contact adsla.org.

ART LOVERS WILL visit galleries from Wilshire to Melrose and La Brea to La Cienega. Above, a recent Art Walk gathering.

Kalish at 7 p.m.

A closing artist reception featuring Mary Heebner, and an after-party takes place from 8 to 10 p.m. at Edward Cella Art & Architecture, 6018 Wilshire Blvd.

Free transportation is available aboard Starline Trolley.

The shuttle connects all gal-

leries and participating restaurants in the district during the event.

Additional Art Walks are scheduled for Saturdays, July 17 and Oct. 16.

For an updated list of exhibitions, artist talks and receptions, go to www.miraclemileartwalk.com

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“The new direction of the Art Walk in launching quarterly district-wide art walks with increased leadership of the galleries is a momentous move,” said Mid City West Community Council Arts and Recreation committee chairman Rebecca Ver StratenMcSparran. “It gives us the opportunity to increase citywide participation.”

The next Art Walk takes place on Sat., April 17. It begins at host gallery The Loft at Liz’s above Liz’s Antique Hardware at 453 S. La Brea Blvd. and features a luncheon and photographer’s talk from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

A reception begins at 6 p.m. at VOILA!, 518 N. La Brea, with a retrospective on the work of photographer Robert Stivers.

Sophia Louisa Projects at PGLA Miracle Mile, 5412 Wilshire Blvd., hosts an artist discussion with Michael

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SCULPTURE “Salome, 1948” was featured at Jack Rutberg Fine Arts gallery. It is part of the exhibit "Nakian-Sculptures and Works on Paper," closing Sat., March 20.

As seen on Tyra Banks, The Doctors, KCAL 9, FOX News, Access Hollywood, and EXTRA!

Larchmont Chronicle

23rD annual eDition

Miracle Mile 2010 17

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18 Miracle Mile 2010

23rD annual edition

Larchmont Chronicle

Visit an L.A. Icon Model Apartments 9a.m. to 6p.m. daily

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Miracle Mile 2010 19

23rD annual eDition

An oasis within a city Every Convenience is offered in the 160-acre site Park La Brea, called an oasis in the midst of a big city, features open green spaces, parks, fountains and colorful landscaping.

The tower apartments offer spectacular views, and garden apartments share a common green space.

Activities center The multi-million dollar Activities Center adjacent to Curson Square offers residents an opportunity to get in shape, surf the web, view classic movies and eat at the outdoor café.

The Meeting Rooms and a Conference Room are available for rental by the residents for private parties and meetings.

Movies are screened in the 84-seat theater. Residents can find all the amenities of a business office including a conference room, computers, a fax and scanner.

Fitness center The Fitness Center, operated by Meridian Sports Club, provides a range of exercise options with windows facing the greenery of Curson Square.

Equipment includes recumbent bicycles, strength machines, free-weights and cardio equipment.

The fountain at Burnside Circle is in the center of a park with a coffee/refreshment bar.

corPorAte APArtments

Short-term stays with Long-term conveniences The Park La Brea Corporate Apartments provide the luxury of a temporary home completely furnished with housewares and the availability of maid service and cable television.

Movie and television personnel, families who are relocating or renovating their homes, and people waiting for escrows to close are among those taking advantage of the tastefully furnished one, two or three-bedroom corporate suites.

These suites offer all the comforts of home instead of the impersonal atmosphere of a hotel room.

For more information call Kim rudy, corporate housing specialist, 323-549-2949.

residents’ Amenities These include the convenience of an on-site dry cleaners, beauty salon and video rental store. The Park La Brea Residents Association sponsors activities including Book Discussion Group, Bridge Club, Brush Up Your Shakespeare, English as a Second Language, Library, Writers Group, Community Garden and the chess club.

The gated community enables the residents to take leisurely walks or combine exercise with strolling. Exercisers are out early in the morning, power walking their chosen routes or doing laps in one of our fabulous swimming pools.

Park La Brea is fiber optically “wired” so that residents enjoy both high-speed Internet access and state-of-the-art cable services. swimming Pools A junior Olympic-size swimming pool features four lanes for swimmers in a tropical style setting near the Sixth St. entrance at Curson Ave. The pool area has an adjoining spa, sun deck and individual locker and shower facilities for men and women. In addition, a second saltwater pool and expanded pool deck with cabanas opened in spring 2009.

The Meridian Sports Club manages memberships and day-to-day operations in its role as joint partner for Park La Brea’s fitness center and pool facilities.

Luxe Cabanas.

shoPPing & entertAinment The Grove and Farmers Market are just steps away. They both offer a variety of shops and restaurants. The Grove boasts a movie theater, restaurants and premiere shops. Farmers Market offers food stalls, restaurants, boutiques and weekend entertainment. vAriety oF clAsses The Westside Community Adult School offers instruction in everything from art, ceramics, Mommy and Me and yoga at the Park La Brea location.

The fundamentals of drawing, painting and mixed media are taught at the Park La Brea Art Center.

Computer literacy is also taught in classes ranging from beginning to advanced Two sparkling saltwater pools.

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Larchmont Chronicle

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“It is an incredible achievement and a tremendous success for a first-year school,” said Albert. “The goal for California’s public schools is to reach an API score of 800.

Many schools are falling short of that goal,” he added.

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The celebration, on Sat., March 13 from 2 to 4:30 p.m. includes art projects, music, dance and an exploration of the full meaning of Norooz.

Cost is $10 per child, $5 for members (accompanying adults are free).

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23rD annual edition

Larchmont Chronicle

Miracle Mile 2010 21

THE MIRACLE MILE CIVIC COALITION 8758 Venice Boulevard • Los Angeles, California 90034

FOUNDED 1986 OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD Walter N. Marks, III Walter N. Marks, Inc. FOUNDER-PRESIDENT Lyn MacEwen Cohen Vice President Jerome H. Snyder J. H. Snyder Co. Vice President Jim O’ Sullivan Miracle Mile Residential Assoc.

Secretary Greg Holihan Prime Group Park La Brea Historian Jane Gilman Larchmont Chronicle Treasurer Terri Reno Transwestern

Resilience Resilience Resilience “READY OR NOT!” Miss Clara Barton (1864), The First Lady of Emergency Preparedness (By Gay Storm Oakes, Past Regent, Daughters of the American Revolution, Los Angeles).”

MEMBERS American Girl Place Los Angeles BRE PROPERTIES BREATHE California of LA County CarrAmerica/5670 Wilshire Blvd.

Caruso Affiliated Holdings/The Grove Cathedral Chapel School Farmers Insurance A. F. Gilmore Company Larchmont Chronicle LA/Hollywood Beautification Team LA City Fire Station 61 / Battalion 18 LA County Museum of Art LA Craft & Folk Art Museum LA Museum of the Holocaust Legacy Partners Walter N. Marks, Inc. Miracle Mile Chamber of Commerce Miracle Mile Residential Association MidCity West C. Council Natural History Museum of LA County Page Museum at La Brea Tar Pits Petersen Automotive Museum PLB Management/Prime Group/ Park La Brea Transwestern Screen Actors Guild Screen Actors Guild Foundation Sieroty Company Inc. J. H. Snyder Company The ARTery USA The Original Farmers Market The Ratkovich Company The Wende Museum Tiger West Capitol/5410 Wilshire Wilshire Community Police Advisory Board Wilshire Courtyard

OF COUNSEL

Circle of Friends Circle of Strength

“The Spirit of Cooperation – Miracle Mile Safety Summit 2009”

24 Years of Promises Kept “United We Plant” with LAPD and LA/Hollywood Beautification Team”

• • •

•

• • • •

Marc S. Cohen Kaye Scholer LLP

HONORARY MEMBERS

Erroll G. Southers, Associate Director USC Homeland Security Center for Excellence Assemblymember Mike Feuer Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky Councilmember Tom LaBonge Councilmember Paul Koretz Councilmember Jan Perry Councilmember Herb Wesson Congresswoman Diane Watson

“Model LAFD Adopt A Fire Station #61”

“FEMA, Dist. IX—Resilience: People Helping People Through Partnerships”

Adopt Fire Station 61, Battalion 18 “Calendar of Courage” for LAFD “United We Plant” honoring 9/11 victims with LA/HBT Alliance with the 9/12 Community at Ground Zero (9/11/11) Wilshire Median Advisory Board Contemporary History of Hancock Park Greening the Miracle Mile Pocket Full of Miracles

“CORPORATE GOOD NEIGHBOR, honoring The Original Farmer’s Market”

“LAFD TO THE RESCUE”

For inquiries, Wally Marks 310-204-1865

Lyn MacEwen Cohen

Rick Caruso

Walter N. Marks III

Jim O’Sullivan

Marc Cohen

Tom LaBonge

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Dan James

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Terri Reno

• Miracle Mile Safety Summit on Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security • Museum Row on Miracle Mile • Restaurant Row • Community Design Overlay District • Museum Partnership to Protect Hancock Park • Monitor Wilshire Transportation • Valentine GoodHeart Awards • Romancing the Miracle Mile

Jerome Snyder

Erroll G. Southers

Luisa Acosta-Franco

Jane Gilman

Zev Yaroslavsky

Jim Gilson

We the People Dare to Prepare Since 1986

22 Miracle Mile 2010

Value, locale draw buyers to Mile area The supply of homes under $1 million is drawing young families to the Miracle Mile neighborhood south of Wilshire Blvd.

This area is where you get more house for less money,

Larchmont Chronicle

23rD annual eDition

said Chase Campen.

Campen, a Realtor with Dia, Ray and Chase Team with Deasy Penner Real Estate, said proximity to the museums, The Grove, Farmers Market and Hollywood are also at-

tracting buyers.

He compared 2008 prices to the previous four months ending February 2010.

The average sale in 2008 was $928,000 at $398 a square foot. The most recent figures show eight sales with an average price of $869,000.

Miracle Mile North Miracle Mile North is an area Realtor Naomi Hartman has been selling since she moved to the area 30 years ago.

“It’s maintaining its integrity,” she said, “largely because of the Historic Preservation

Overlay Zone.” The zoning prevents mansionization of homes in the area bounded

by Beverly Blvd. to Third St. between Detroit and Gardner avenues.

In 2009 homes averaged $448.00 a square foot, compared to $544.00 in 2008. They were on the market an average of 66 days in 2009, 51 days in 2008, according to Hartman and her partner Leah Brenner at Coldwell Banker Hancock Park “We are seeing many young families moving into the area.

The neighborhood has become very diverse,” Hartman added.

New Optimist club meets monthly Last year Carolyn Wallrich decided Miracle Mile needed its own Optimist Club.

The S. Sycamore Ave. resident serves as founder, president of the new group. An economic development and financial literacy instructor at L.A. Trade Tech, she had been a member of the Beverly Hills club. Dinner meetings are held on the fourth Thursday of the month. Harry Barseghian donates his meeting room at Harry’s Auto Collision Center, 1013 S. La Brea Blvd. Visit miraclemileoptimist.org.

This house located at 944 S. Dunsmuire Ave. sold for $685,000.

Miracle Mile real estate sales* Single family homes sold during the last six months 848 S. Curson Ave. 847 S. Detroit St. 1042 S. Dunsmuir Ave. 157 N. Poinsettia Pl. 167 N. Alta Vista Blvd.

1044 S. Cochran Ave. 907 S. Sierra Bonita Ave. 947 S. Cloverdale Ave. 838 Hauser Blvd.

438 N. Detroit St. 944 S. Dunsmuir Ave. 1032 Hauser Blvd.

1,205,000 1,100,000 950,000 899,000 895,000 890,000 809,000 799,000 799,000 699,000 685,000 604,000

Condominiums 5601 W. Olympic Blvd., #102 637 S. Fairfax Ave., #404 637 S. Fairfax Ave., #302 724 S. Stanley Ave., #2 637 S. Fairfax Ave., #202 750 S. Spaulding Ave., #229 5955 W. 8th St., #110

$599,000 509,000 449,000 430,000 429,000 400,000 376,500

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23rD annual edition

Larchmont Chronicle

are you

Miracle Mile 2010 23

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RED has demonstrated expertise and knowledge of theWestside, Sunset Strip, West Hollywood, Miracle Mile, RED hasand demonstrated expertise of the together Miracle Mile, Carthay, Hancock Park, Westside, Sunset Strip, and Carthay Hancock Park areasand andknowledge its team comes in a way that is a winning combination for its clients.

This West Hollywood areas and its team comes together in a way that is a winning combination for its clients.

This experience experience allows them to counsel clients on the wealth building opportunities available to them in real estate. After allowsthree them decades to counselinclients on the wealth opportunities available them in real estate.

After nearly threewhile nearly the business, John building has a talent for organization andtoproblem solving in tough situations, decadesbeing in theabusiness, John has Miracle a talent Mile for organization and problem solving in tough situations.

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KELLER WILLIAMS, AN INDEPENDENT MEMBER BROKER, DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY OF SQUARE FOOTAGE, LOT SIZE OR OTHER INFORMATION CONCERNING THE CONDITION OR FEATURES OF PROPERTY PROVIDED BY THE SELLER OR OBTAINED FROM PUBLIC RECORDS OR OTHER SOURCES. THE BUYER IS ADVISED TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE INFORMATION THROUGH PERSONAL INSPECTION WITH APPROPRIATE PROFESSIONALS. THIS IS NOT INTENDED AS A SOLICITATION IF YOUR PROPERTY IS LISTED WITH ANOTHER BROKER.

24 Miracle Mile 2010

Larchmont Chronicle

23rD annual eDition

Civic Coalition partners with FEMA to promote readiness Miracle Mile Civic Coalition (MMCC) Safety Summits have included speakers from the FBI, the city Emergency Preparedness Dept. and the California Homeland Security.

The Coalition brings together key segments of the community to “dare to prepare,” an ongoing grassroots mission to keep the preparedness issue foremost in the minds of residents, business and government leaders.

“We are partnering with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to keep the issue of partnership in preparedness at the forefront,” said MMCC founder Lyn MacEwen Cohen.

The group also is promoting enrollment in CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) classes, a sevenweek course in disaster preparedness.

For the past 24 years the Coalition has been the cham-

pion of the Miracle Mile, promoting Wilshire median landscaping, beautification and the Hancock County Park renovation.

“We are pleased to foster the vitality of the resurgence of retail activity in the Mile, particularly the new restaurants that have opened,” said Cohen.

The newest project is earmarking funds for replacement of the Art Deco neon sign at the Wilshire La Brea intersection.

The replica of the historic sign was demolished by a hit and run driver.

The Coalition has raised funds to support Fire Station 61, especially important with the City budget crisis, Cohen added.

MMCC also continues supporting Hollywood/LA Beautiful’s United We Plant program, dedicating trees throughout the Mile in honor of victims of the 9/11 tragedy.

READY OR NOT! The 2009 Safety Summit drew speakers, from left, including Jerry Washington, American Red Cross; Gay Storm Oakes as Clara Barton, Fire Battalion Chief Pat Butler, Lyn MacEwen Cohen, Jim O’Donnell, LAPD chief of staff; Mark Neveau, FEMA and Erroll Southers, assistant chief of Airport Police, LAX.

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Directory of elected officials

Sen. Dianne Feinstein 11111 Santa Monica Blvd., Ste. 915, 90025 Ph: 310-914-7300 www.feinstein.senate.gov House of Representatives Diane Watson 4322 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 302 90010 Ph: 323-965-1422 www.house.gov/watson Assemblywoman Karen Bass 5750 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 565 90036 323-937-4747 www.asmdc.org/speaker/

Councilman Tom LaBonge Los Angeles City Hall 200 N. Spring St. Rm. 480 90012 Ph: 213-485-3337 Hollywood Field Office 6501 Fountain Ave., 90038 Ph: 323-957-6415 www.tomlabonge.com Councilman Paul Koretz Los Angeles City Hall 200 N.Spring St., 90012 Rm. 440 Ph: 213-473-7005 Field Office 822 S. Robertson Blvd., Ste. 102, 90035 Ph: 310-289-0353 www.cd5.lacity.org

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County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky 500 W. Temple St. Rm. 821, 90012 Ph: 213-974-3333 www.zev.lacounty.gov EXTRA COPIES For extra copies of The Larchmont Chronicle, call 323-462-2241, extension 13, or stop by Monday through Friday at 542 1/2 N. Larchmont Blvd.

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Holocaust Museum to open ‘green’ site The new Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust will open in the summer, with grand opening events to be held Sun., Oct. 3 to Sun., Oct. 10.

Construction of the $20 million, innovative development in Pan Pacific Park is about 75 percent complete.

The modern triangularshaped building is being built largely underground.

“It’s going to have a green garden roof,” said development director Amy Cabranes.

Visitors will be able to access the landscaped roof via walkways from Pan Pacific Park.

Santa Monica-based Belzberg Architects created the design.

The new museum is being

BUILDING IS underground at Pan Pacific Park.

built in the northwest corner of the park, adjacent to the Holocaust Monument. It

will include 25 parking spaces of subterranean parking.

The museum is operating out of a temporary home at 6435 Wilshire Blvd.

Founded in 1961 by a group of Holocaust survivors in an English-as-a-second language class who wanted a home for their photographs and artifacts from the Holocaust era.

To this day there is no entry fee, as the founders never wanted to turn anyone away for want of money.

Tours of the construction site and meetings with the architect are available. For more information or to make a donation, contact Amy Cabranes at 323-651-9915, or e-mail her at amy@lamoth.org.

Miracle Mile 2010 25

Art that's fresh for the picking Food becomes art as part of EATLACMA, a project of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art along with the artist collective Fallen Fruit.

In all 150 peach, nectarine, apple and other fruit trees were given out in February at LACMA, the Watts Towers Arts Center and Charles Mingus Young Arts Center, with in-

structions requesting the trees be planted in public spaces.

Exhibits “The Fruit of LACMA” and “The Gardens of LACMA” will open on Sun., June 27.

Lectures, tours and exhibits will take place over nine months concluding with an all-day event, “Let Them Eat LACMA,” in November.

Korean programs build cultural harmony The Korean Cultural Center’s programs provide a cultural understanding of Korea at its facility at 5505 Wilshire Blvd.

Los Angeles educators participated in a workshop on the country’s history and culture in January.

Participants received free books and dvds to be used in social science and language arts classes.

Teachers were also treated to a traditional tea ceremony and a taekwondo demonstration.

The Center, in cooperation with the Global Cooperation Society International, held its annual workshop for law enforcement personnel last fall.

The workshop provides Los Angeles police officers with information on Korean history, culture and language. The experience includes lectures by professors in topics such as folk dance and food.

TASTES OF KOREA were sampled at a program at the Cultural Center in October.

The workshop is designed to overcome cultural barriers and encourage understanding of Korean culture.

The Center also stages food festivals and language classes.

It is operated by the Korean Government’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

For more information, call 323-936-7141 or go to www. kccla.org.

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26 Miracle Mile 2010

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Larchmont Chronicle

Mile developer instituted traffic ‘firsts’ A. W. Ross was a visionary who saw the need for a commercial center on Wilshire Blvd. between La Brea and Fairfax avenues.

In 1922, he purchased 18 acres for $5,400 on land his friends predicted would never amount to anything.

“If you are successful,” they told him, “it will be a miracle.”

The property he purchased was on an unpaved farm road, extending through dairy farms and bean fields. But Ross felt the timing was right—just at the beginning of the era of the automobile.

Ross gave Wilshire various “firsts:” dedicated left-turn lanes, the first timed traffic lights in the United States; he also required merchants to provide automobile parking lots behind their buildings, all to aid traffic flow.

Major retailers such as Desmonds, Silverwood’s, May Co., Coulter’s, Mullen & Bluett, Harris & Frank and Seibu eventually opened their shops on Wilshire Blvd. between Fairfax to La Brea. Ross ordered that all building facades along Wilshire be built so that the store windows could be viewed through a wind-

shield.

Ross’s moves were unprecedented, a huge commercial success, and proved historically influential. Ross had invented the car-oriented urban form—called “the linear downtown” model, later adopted across the United States.

The move also contributed to Los Angeles’ reputation as a city dominated by the car. A sculptural bust of Ross stands at 5800 Wilshire, with the inscription, “A. W. Ross, founder and developer of the Miracle Mile.

Vision to see, wisdom to know, courage to do.”

Ross’s parcel became one of Los Angeles’s most desirable areas in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Although the rise of shopping malls and the development in the 1960s of highrise financial and business districts in downtown and Century City impacted the Miracle Mile’s importance as a retail and business center, it has retained its vitality thanks to the addition of museums and commercial high-rises.

NEON SIGN at each end, top left.

ADVERTISEMENT from a 1945 magazine features Coulters, one of the Mile’s premiere stores.

BOND CLOTHES and Mullen & Bluett were among the dozens of retail stores along Wilshire Blvd. in the Mile in the 1960s, as seen from this postcard, top.

VISIONARY A.W. ROSS, right, overlooks the former farm road he purchased for $5,400.

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Larchmont Chronicle

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Larchmont Chronicle

23rD annual eDition

MUSEUM ROW

Tibetan furniture, 'American Stories;' 'Fiberglass Fantasies' tour Jelinek, instructor LOS ANGELES of the award-winCOUNTY MUSEning Auto Shop UM OF ART— at Monrovia High "In the Service of The School. Workshop Buddha: Tibetan Furis Sat., March 6 at niture from the Hay10 a.m. or 12:30 ward Family Collection" p.m. Call 323-964opens Sat., March 27.

6308. Class is $15 Ends April 3, 2011. per each parent/ • "Contemporary ProjMonday-Saturday 3pm-7pm & 9pm-Close child pair (parects 12: Robin Rhode," ent attendance is includes photo comporequired). sitions, video anima• What were they tion and sculpture by the South African artist EEL SPEARING AT SETAUKET, 1845, by William thinking? showcases vehicles based in Berlin. Opens Sidney Mount in "American Stories" at LACMA. that were poorly Thurs., March 11. Ends developed and June 6. ure) and rapa (dance paddle), unfeasible.

Ends July 4.

• "Renoir in the 20th Century" from Rapanui (Easter Island) 6060 Wilshire Blvd., 323features the last three decades circa 1800. Ends June.

930-CARS; petersen.org. of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s life, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., 323CRAFT AND FOLK ART until his death in 1919, with 857-6000; lacma.org. dating approximately 80 paintings, PETERSEN AUTOMO- MUSEUM—Cards sculptures, and drawings and TIVE MUSEUM—"Fantasies from the Italian Renaissance works by contemporaries Pab- in Fiberglass," features Cor- to today are illuminated in lo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and vettes to dune buggies, from "The Fool's Journey: the Hisothers. Ends May 9. the past half-century. Ends tory and Symbolism of the Tarot." Ends May 9.

• "American Stories: Paintings Oct. 3.

"An Introduction to the of Everyday Life, 1765-1915" • Car Activities & L.A. Bookfeatures 70 works from the PALS Sat., March 6 from 1 to Tarot" workshop is on Sun., colonial era up to World War 4 p.m. includes making vanity March 21 from 1 to 5 p.m.

• "Bold Abstractions: Textiles I. Ends May 23. license plates.

• "Art of the Pacific" features • Automotive Awareness 101, from Central Asia & Iran" fea46 works including a moai for teens ages 14-16, cov- tures robes, gem-inlaid ornakavakava (male ancestor fig- ers car maintenance by Phil ments and Persian carpets

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from nomadic tribes of the 19th and mid-20th centuries. Ends May 9.

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PAGE MUSEUM AT THE LA BREA TAR PITS—Area fossil finds show Ice Age life 10,000 PAINTING of all kinds is at the Zimmer. to 40,000 years ago, when saberlocaust.org. toothed cats and giant sloths ZIMMER CHILDREN'S ruled the Wilshire area.

MUSEUM—Author Gary Located at 5801 Wilshire Palmer reads from his new Blvd., 323-934-PAGE; tarpits. book, "Gus the Grumpasauorg rus," on March 7 as part of LOS ANGELES MUSEUM this month's Sunday drop-in OF THE HOLOCAUST— workshops from 2 to 3 p.m.

"Learn, to Remember, to Passover festival is on March Hope: The Shalhevet High 14 with theater and stories, a School Poland/Israel Trip" fea- Seder play plate workshop and tures images and narration by a frog parade. Flower Power, a senior students. Ends Alpril 1. floral wreath celebration is on The museum houses the March 21; make mobile bird West Coast's largest archive houses March 28. Wonderful of documents, relics and other Wednesdays are part of the materials from the Holocaust summer program. period (1933-1945).

6505 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 6435 Wilshire Blvd., 323- 100; 323-761-8984, www.zim651-3704; lamuseumoftheho- mermuseum.org.

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Miracle Mile 2010 29

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Larchmont Chronicle

23rD annual eDition

The Big Pink, Broken Numbers Band to perform

TOP CHEFS will be creating Irish cuisine at Tom Bergin’s.

Bergin’s, Little Bar makeover to star on television shows Local businesses are getting their 15 minutes of fame.

The Bravo channel will air Top Chef Masters 2 featuring Tom Bergin’s Restaurant, 840 S. Fairfax Ave., on Wed., April 7 on an evening show.

Guest chefs include Mark Peel, owner of the award-winning Campanile restaurant on La Brea Ave. for 20 years.

T. K. Vodrey, Bergin’s owner, said the tavern has been named America's Number One Irish establishment for the fourth year in a row.

Meanwhile, the Home & Garden Network brought in Antonio Ballatore to renovate Little Bar, 757 S. La Brea Ave. in February.

The show featuring the update will air this spring on the “Antonio Treatment,” a weekly docu-design series.

Ballatore’s makeover included a wooden bar frontispiece centered by a mermaid statue, oak barrel tables covered with distressed copper with an indented copper wall pattern.

Neon lighting includes a flashing rocket ship.

Look for area fitness Boot Camp LA to be featured in an upcoming issue of Vanity Fair magazine.

Jay and Marcella Kerwin, owners, said their fitness program was selected for positive results.

Punk, rock and funk will highlight the Mile’s nightlife this month.

El Rey 5515 Wilshire Blvd.

323-936-6400 www.theelrey.com London band The Big Pink will kick off the evening of Tues., March 9 at 8 p.m., followed with performances by A Place to Bury Strangers and Active Child.

Little Boots, Dragonette and Class Actress will entertain on Wed., March 10. The New Master Sounds will perform on Thurs., March 11.

Molly Malones 575 S. Fairfax Ave. 323-935-1577 www.mollymalonesla.com Jami Templeton will perform on Sat., March 6 at 8 p.m., followed by Paris Carney at 9 p.m., Mike Stocksdale at 10 p.m., and Greg Blum at 11 p.m.

Katelyn Benton takes the stage at 8 p.m., Mitch Allan at 9 p.m., and Amie Mireiello at 10 p.m. on Mon., March 8.

The lineup for Tues., March 9 kicks off at 8 p.m. with Kashmere, followed by Magnolia Memoir at 9 p.m., and Bandito Royale at 10 p.m.

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Magee’s Since 1917

TarFest’s art and culture to expand with summer series Based on its success in the Miracle Mile in collaboration fall, TarFest is now looking to with local galleries, non-profit grow into a summer-long se- organizations and neighborries of music, art and dance hood institutions,” Panozzo said. events in 2010.

Past TarFest venues have “Collaborations have been included the key to the the Korean growth and will Cultural serve as the imCenter and El petus for future Rey Theatre. growth of the Three days of eight-year-old art and culmulti-cultural ture will comcelebration,” mence on Fri., said Tarfest exSept. 24, when ecutive director the TarFest Art James Panozzo.

Exhibition will Considered be juried by a the premiere local museum arts and culture curator and event in the produced in Miracle Mile collaboration c o m m u n i t y, with the Los TarFest attracts Angeles Art more than 150 artists and THE EL REY THEATER was Association/ performers an- the venue for a performance by Gallery 825. nually as well The Polyamorous Affair at last U l t i m a t e l y, “arts, culture, as thousands year’s TarFest. community of Angelinos of all ages to the one-mile and collaboration remain posstretch of Wilshire Boulevard itive forces behind the Miracle between Sycamore and Fairfax Mile,” Panozzo said.

To participate, or for more avenues. about 2010 Come summer, “from June information through August, two to three TarFest events, venues and more music, art and film hap- sponsors, go online at www. penings will take place on the tarfest.com.

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Many options available to stay healthy in the Mile Whether you’re looking to lose weight, build endurance or tone muscles, Miracle Mile offers a variety of programs to help your reach your fitness goals.

Boot Camp L.A. 5801 Wilshire Blvd.

323-939-6179 www.bootcampla.com During sessions at Hancock County Park behind the Page Museum, recruits do stretches, push-ups, sit-ups, flutter kicks, military style drills, strength workouts using padded weighted bars and medicine balls, as well as circuit training and running.

Curves 5001 Wilshire Blvd.

323-937-8767 www.curves.com At Curves, clients receive an all-around workout on a 30-minute circuit of cardio and weight training machines.

FBE (Firm Body Evolution)Spa 5858 Wilshire Blvd.

Suite 200 323-936-3737 www.fbespa.com FBE Spa focuses on holistic

Miracle Mile 2010 31

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Larchmont Chronicle

health and fitness to achieve overall well being. Amenities range from an exclusive vibration machine to a whole body massage bed and infrared jade sauna. They offer chiropractic and acupuncture services, as well.

Hancock Park Swim Club 818-842-0009 323-379-8999 Hancockparkswimclub.com Hancock Park Swim Club instructors teach swimming and racing techniques, lifeguard certification and overall fitness. Swimmers meet at Marlborough High School and Los Angeles Tennis Club.

L.A. Fitness 5950 Wilshire Blvd.

323-934-6150 www.lafitness.com Members enjoy yoga, cardio kickboxing, hip-hop, salsa and belly dancing classes.

The club offers memberships on a monthly basis without long-term contracts.

Lenny Krayzelburg Swim School 5870 Olympic Blvd.

323-525-0323 www.lennykswim.com Swimming instruction for

The House of Irish Coffee

beginner to advanced, parent and tot classes as well as classes for those wanting to overcome fear of water or improve their lap swims.

Liberation Yoga 124 La Brea Ave. 323-964-5222 www.liberationyoga.com With both an indoor asana room and outdoor garden studio, Liberation Yoga offers classes and workshops designed for beginning and advanced students.

Meridian Sports Club 5750 Wilshire Blvd.

Suite 175 323-933-5875 www.bodiesinmotion.com Classes in yoga, Pilates, swimming, dance, step, cycling and water aerobics.

Meridian also has a kids’ club and private certified training.

Swimming in Park La Brea saltwater pool.

S Factor 5225 Wilshire Blvd.

Suite 222 323-965-9685 www.sfactor.com Pole dancing, lap dance and striptease classes for all shapes, sizes and ages are offered at S Factor, where students can enroll in a series of sessions or take individual classes.

EXERCISE STATIONS are located throughout the park.

Pan Pacific — Miracle Mile’s Central Park A soccer field on one end, a children’s playground on the other and dozens of pathways in-between.

That’s the attraction of Pan Pacific Park, stretching from Beverly Blvd. to Third St. Its undulating field draws hundreds of walkers each day.

Some go the extra mile by using the exercise equipment found along the paths.

Picnickers enjoy the barbecues while trainers put their students to the task.

The adjacent recreation center is home to basketball leagues for both kids and adults, a sportsmanship club, dance and gymnastics classes, as well as preschool classes.

WALKERS GET a workout on the paths circling the park.

RECREATION CENTER hosts sports leagues.

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32 Miracle Mile 2010

Larchmont Chronicle

23rD annual eDition

LACMA’s Resnick Pavilion to open October 2010 The $55 million Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion is scheduled to open in the fall at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The travertine marble-andglass and stone-enclosed, 45,000 square foot building designed by architect Renzo Piano will house special exhibits. It is tucked behind the new Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM), near Sixth St. and Fairfax Ave. Private events will kick off in September, and it opens to the public Tues., Oct. 5, said LACMA spokesman Barbara Pflaumer.

Light-filled galleries will dominate the single-story space with a flexible floor plan to accommodate multiple exhibits and large-scale works of art.

Three exhibits will be fea-

said.

Phase two of “Transformation,” a campaign to unify the museum’s seven buildings across 20 acres and refurbish and expand its gallery spaces, includes renovation of LACMA West, scheduled to open later in the year or in 2011, said Pflaumer.

The former May Co. building, built in 1939, retains its BUILDING DESIGN features travertine marble-and-glass.

tured in the opening: “Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico,” “Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700-1915,” and “Eye for the Sensual: Selections from the Resnick Collection.”

Lynda Resnick, a member of LACMA’s Board of Trustees and chair of the acquisitions

All things Ring in the Mile It’s a story of love, gods, murder and the pursuit of a ring, and it’s coming to theaters, galleries and other cultural hot spots in celebration of Richard Wagner’s four-part epic at the Music Center this spring.

The 10-week, citywide Ring Festival was inspired by L.A. Opera’s first presentation of “Der Ring des Nibelungen,” with more than 100 cultural and educational institutions in Los Angeles.

“Ring Festival LA will be a defining moment in the cultural history of Los Angeles,” said Plácido Domingo, LA Opera director.

In Miracle Mile, you can celebrate all things Ring at: Korean Cultural Center “Wagner and the Ring,” a lecture in Korean, will be part

of the Bohemians group Sat., April 17 USC Theatre Dept. chair Michael Hackett will lead a study group Sat., April 24 on Wagner’s trilogy.

5505 Wilshire Blvd. 323936-7141; www.kccla.org.

Goethe Institut Achim Freyer, director and designer of L.A. Opera’s Ring, and journalist Matthew Gurewitsch will discuss the fourth opera in Wagner’s epic on Mon., April 12 at 7 p.m.

“From the Dorf to the Hood,” a concert by composer William Roper and his band with featured soprano Christina Linhardt, is Thurs., April 22 at 7:30 p.m. Solo chamber works are inspired by Wagner’s stay in Bavaria and feature unusual instruments associated with the Ring, in-

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committee, and her husband Stewart, have donated art valued at $10 million as part of their gift to LACMA. “As art collectors and LACMA supporters, we could think of no better way to buttress this rapidly evolving museum than to create additional space for the exhibition of art,” Lynda

cluding the Wagner tuba, helicon, cimbasso, harp and saxhorn. Tickets: $10, telephone 323- 525-3388.

5750 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 10. 323-525-3388, www.info@ losangeles.goethe.org.

LACMA German tales from the past to the modern era are featured in the exhibit “Myth, Legends, Fables, and Cultural Renewal,” opening Thurs., April 15 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) through Aug. 16.

5905 Wilshire Blvd., 323 9325881, www.lacma.org

gold perfume bottle architectural detail on Wilshire Blvd. It will feature the Boone Children’s Gallery, restaurants, a bookshop and, on the third floor, museum offices.

Other LACMA development included purchase of a lot at the 6006 Wilshire Blvd. for a 90-space parking lot. A mixeduse building to house art and offices is planned to be built at a later time.

23rD annual edition

Larchmont Chronicle

Miracle Mile 2010 33

Success! Margarita trek pours salty, citrusy results

Assignment? Track down great margaritas in the Miracle Mile area. Result? Success.

Where else but Los Angeles would a trek for these citrusy delights take you not only to a few Mexican restaurants, but to a mall, a small neighborhood beer and wine joint, and an Asian fusion restaurant?

We began our quest by visiting a Mexican mainstay, the famous El Coyote, which would serve as the litmus test.

Regulars know that these margaritas are not the overly sweet versions one might find at a touristy locale. Even El Coyote’s house version, with a hint of pineapple, reminds one that tequila is still the base for these lime concoctions. We typically order their scratch margaritas, meaning each order is made from scratch, and we find that one usually does the trick. Basically, lime, ice and tequila, and salt; the way margaritas were originally intended.

We next journeyed to El Toro Cantina, where they pour a slightly more citrusy version. We found that their standard margarita (we opted out of their self-proclaimed Big Ass Margarita that can serve three!) goes well with an assortment of tacos.

The drinks do not overpower the food and instead, are a pleasing accompaniment.

Webpage tells favorite local lunchtime spots Midtownlunch.com asks readers for recommendations on their favorite choices for lunch near their work.

Recently, the following recommendations for the Miracle Mile area were posted by “Pat,” an editor at Variety in the 5900 Wilshire building who is also a regular food blogger at EatingLA.com.

Her lunchtime favorites, are: a fresh mozzarella or meatloaf sandwich from Black Dog Coffee (5657 Wilshire, near Hauser), the vegan BLT from Cafe Flourish (5406 Wilshire, near Cloverdale), the Grilled Cheese Truck, and the pork banh mi from the EatPhamish truck (parked on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 5900 Wilshire Blvd. near Ogden).

Pat lists Baja Fresh as the "go-to lunch place" she and her coworkers eat at too often.

"For fast food, it's not that bad.

I'm looking forward to trying Mixt Greens when it opens (Feb. 23 at 5757 Wilshire), because we need salads in this area."

AD DEADLINE Deadline for reserving advertising space in the Larchmont Chronicle is the 15th of every month.

If you have not tried the Club fun variety Scene of tacos at El by Toro, we sugMaren gest going Clifford on a Tuesday and Amy night when Priore a handful are offered at $1 a piece.

While shopping at the Grove, we stopped in the Whisper Lounge for a taste of their blood orange margarita.

Both color and taste received our praise, and this more elegant-seeming version of the famous cocktail fits the décor of the lounge. Whisper is actually undergoing a cosmetic uplift, and we look forward to seeing the result given that the lounge already boasted a cozy mix of classic elegance and modern charm.

We headed out of the mall for lunch to nearby Buddha’s’

Belly for its scrumptuous Rock Shrimp Tempura starter.

Having just a beer and wine license, Buddha’s Belly serves a select menu of soju-based cocktails.

Although they do not serve an actual margarita, we opted to try the gingerita….at least the ending of the word is the same! We were pleasantly surprised by this refreshing cocktail.

Not usually keen to drink soju-based libations, we felt the ginger would mask the fact the drink was made with a rice-based liquor, and with lime and simple syrup, the gingerita did taste like it could be the Asian cousin to the margarita.

Our final Miracle Mile destination was Little Bar on La Brea Ave. Also a beer and wine establishment, Little Bar makes some cocktails with soju, including margaritas.

Not wanting the strong flavor of ginger, we must admit that we were very hesitant to dive into yet another version, and again, emerged happy. The soju version tasted very much like an actual margarita, and we discovered this is in part to the use of a lower alcohol version of tequila called Los Cabos made with actual agave. The Little Bar margaritas, with salt of course, really did taste like their older and more experienced cousins, with less headache potential the next day.

On a side note, Friday nights are trivia night at Little Bar, and we found the questions to be answerable, unlike some other versions of this bar

LEGENDARY libation is made with tequila, but not always.

game. We are going to give some of the regular teams a run for their money.

El Coyote, 312 Beverly Blvd., 323-939-7766.

El Toro Cantina, 5364 Wilshire Blvd., 323-525-2618.

Whisper Lounge, The Grove at Farmers Market, 323-931-0202.

Buddha’s Belly, 7475 Beverly Blvd., 323-931-8588.

Little Bar, 757 South La Brea Ave., 323-937-9210.

The Original Farm ers Market

Spring Market Meals The Grocers of Farmers Market are teaming up to create a weekly collection of easy-to-prepare springtime menus featuring the freshest offerings of the season.

Each week we’ll showcase a new meal menu and recipes created by our specialty grocers.

Weekly menus, recipes and special prices from the grocers can be found on flyers throughout the Market and online at www.farmersmarketla.com.

“MeeT Me aT Third

& FairFax”

The Grocers of Farmers Market Farm Fresh produce • mr. marcel gourmet market • marcoNda’s meats • purItaN poultrY • BreadWorks tusQuellas seaFoods • Farmers market poultrY • Farm BoY • lIght mY FIre • thee’s coNtINeNtal pastrIes huNtINgtoN meats aNd sausage • t&Y BakerY • t (tea shop)

34 Miracle Mile 2010

Larchmont Chronicle

23rD annual eDition

Do you know?

1. HOW MANY LIGHTS are in artist Chris Burden’s “Urban Light” sculpture of restored cast iron antique street lamps outside the Los Angeles County Museum of Art?

3. ORIGINALLY a camera store, it now is India Tandori at 5370 Wilshire Blvd. It was designed in 1938 by Marcus Miller to resemble a nine-foot-high Argus 35 mm camera. What is the name of this style of architecture?

4. THE EL REY at 5515 Wilshire Blvd. originally was a movie theater. Did it open in 1919, 1936 or 1941?

Legal Services Network

aarp LeGaLServiceS Are you a member of AARP? Did you know that as a member you are entitled to a consultation with an AARP Legal Services Network Provider at NO COST to you? Discounts on most legal services are available to members.

• Estate Planning (Wills, Trusts & Probates) • General Business Matters • And More!

Need further information?

Call the Kramer Law Group at 323-964-7100 Ask for Stephen W. Kramer, Participating Member

2. BONES OF SABER-TOOTH TIGERS, mammoth elephants and dire wolves found at La Brea Tar Pits, were preserved during the last of four great Ice Ages at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch. What years were these?

Kramer Law Group 5858 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 205 Los Angeles, CA 90036

ANSWERS:

Miracle Mile Chamber of Commerce Member

(323) 964-7100

Proud Member

email: swk@kramerlaw.biz

1. How many lights answer: 102.

2. Pleistocene epoch was 10,000 to 40,000 years ago.

3. The architectural style is called programmatic.

4. The El Rey opened in 1936.

Larchmont Chronicle Since 1963

Proud to Be the Voice of

Miracle Mile & its surrounding communities Rodney Brown, State Farm Agent Insurance Lic #0E90757

7154 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046 (323)931-1466 se habla español

323-462-2241 • 542 1/2 N. Larchmont Blvd. larchmontchronicle.com

Legal Services Network

Miracle Mile 2010 35

23rD annual eDition

Larchmont Chronicle

ANTIQUES, FURNISHINGS AND MORE…

Shopping on La Brea V I Go Green – Recycle the Past!

“And think you’ve entered the closet N of a Countess” With Silver, Crystal, T Porcelain, Women’s Clothing and A Accessories, Alligator Bags.

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467 South La Brea Ave.

36 Miracle Mile 2010

23rD annual edition

Larchmont Chronicle