‘Googie’ style apparently in eye of the beholder
By CORTNEY FIELDING Special to the Daily Press
DOWNTOWN — A local preservation group is urging City Hall to landmark a once-popular Santa Monica restaurant that has been abandoned for more than a decade, thereby bringing the building’s remodeling process to a halt.
Owners of the now-defunct Zucky’s Deli were met with opposition from the Los Angeles Conservancy last week when they went in front of the city’s Architectural Review Board to seek permission to modify their building’s exterior.
John Watkins, who represents the building’s owners, said the exterior must be altered to attract a new tenant into the space, which has been empty for more than 12 years.
But the conservancy opposed modifying the building because Zucky’s is a “cultural icon” and one of the last remaining examples of a post-war, coffee-shop architectural style in Santa Monica.
The group was firmly opposed to plans to remove a portion of the building’s aging marble tile, which they say is its most character-defining element. To remove tile would violate the “integrity of the building,” said conservancy chairwoman Adriene Biondo.
The ARB didn’t rule on the plans, instead giving both sides until April 1 to meet and come to an agreement. If a consensus can’t be reached, the board will have to make its own decision.
Biondo said if an agreement can’t be worked out between her group and the building’s owners, Carey Testamentary Trust, she will take the matter in front of the Santa Monica Landmarks Commission. The landmarking process takes between 60 to 90 days, during which the applicant can’t go forward with any redevelopment plans.
City planning staff, which advises the ARB board on exterior renovation decisions, reviewed the design plans and recommended they be approved. The modifications approved by staff to 431 Wilshire Blvd. include replacing some of the building’s marble with stucco, replacing a nonstructural wall with a storefront window, and putting in new glass doors. The facade would be painted yellow and green, and would incorporate the original tile with new stucco and glass.
The proposed changes are designed to maintain the original feel of Zucky’s, staff concluded in a report outlining the changes.
Built in 1954, the Zucky’s building is classified as “Googie,” a style of architecture that is recognizable by characteristics such as the use of Palos Verdes stone, ceramic tile in bold colors, and expansive use of plate glass walls that advertise the restaurant’s function. Zucky’s was documented in architect Alan Hess’ 2004 book “Googie Redux: Ultramodern Roadside Architecture.”
The restaurant was once a well-known hang out where residents could spot both local politicians and visiting celebrities, before it closed its doors in 1993. Since then, it has remained vacant and hasn’t been consistently maintained, said city planner Marika Modugno.
The building also lacks a parking lot, which turns away many prospective tenants, she said. While the parking situation makes his site an impractical place for a restaurant, Watkins said he is hoping to lure a retailer to the location.
Santa Monica Conservancy board member Joel Brand said his organization didn’t have plans to petition the landmarks commission on behalf of the building, which has been denied historic consideration in the past. While it was considered to be included in the city’s historical inventory after the 1994 earthquake, it was determined that the building wasn’t significant enough to put in the history books, Brand said.
Landmarks Commission Chairman John Charles Berley said Zucky’s is not a building of concern for the commission, but he would consider reviewing the case if the ARB was to approve the changes.
Berley agrees with Landmarks Commission board member and liaison to the ARB, Barbara Kaplan, that there are better examples of “Googie” in Santa Monica. Kaplan told the board that the building shouldn’t be landmarked, calling Ray’s restaurant in Sunset Park a better “Googie” example in the city.
City councilman and architect Herb Katz said the building has no architectural value and shouldn’t be protected.
“To consider landmarking that building is beyond a joke,” he said. “When it was built, it was just thrown up. It’s almost obscene to even think about it.”
The parties will meet back at City Hall in three weeks. Biondo said her group has not been in contact with Watkins and the project owners to discuss the changes.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 18, 2005. Read the original PDF.