Missionary enclave slated for demolition

A cluster of homes built in the 1920s as temporary residences for

Christian missionaries will be razed to make room for an office

building and an expanded convalescent home -- a move that has drawn

the ire of a local preservationist.

Healthcare Management Services, which runs Leisure Glen skilled

nursing facility, plans to expand its 94-bed facility with an

additional wing accommodating 33 beds, city planner Chris Baxter

said.

The addition, as well as a new office building and parking lot,

will be built on the site of the old Missionary Colony near the

intersection of Glendale Avenue and Mission Road.

The colony was founded by the late Glendale resident Jennie

Suppes, who built 29 little cottages on the site to provide housing

for missionaries on break from their assignments, said

preservationist Alan Leib, who is fighting the demolition.

“She allowed missionaries from a variety of Christian

denominations to stay there,” said Leib, a Glendale resident and

chairman emeritus of the Modern Committee of the Los Angeles

Conservancy.

Only 17 of the original 29 Tudor, Craftsman and Mission-style

homes remain on the site. An environmental study of the project

prepared for Healthcare Management Services by a private consultant

determined that the buildings were not architecturally rare and did

not merit historical status, Baxter said.

“The report stated that the homes could not be considered

historical resources according to the criteria established in the

Glendale Municipal Code,” Baxter said. “Based on that, the zoning

administrator made the decision to approve the project.”

Zoning Administrator Edith Fuentes also approved two variances for

the project on May 23.

The variances were required because the parking facilities for

both the office building and the nursing home expansion are located

within a residential zone.

But Leib argues that despite the environmental study’s

determination and the city’s approval, the structures merit

protection.

“These structures represent the origins of Glendale, who lived

here, their stories, how this town was built and who built it,” Leib

said, adding that while anybody can submit an application for a

property to be considered a historical resource, the owner of the

property must agree to the protected status in order for it to be

made official.

The property owners have not submitted an application for

historical resource status, said Julie Arroyo, the city’s historical

planner.

“We won’t even look at an application that is not owner-submitted

because it won’t go anywhere,” Arroyo said.

The property is owned by MEK Associates Inc., who could not be

reached for comment.

Healthcare Management Services has submitted plans to the city

declaring its intent to document the homes, so that a historical

record of the structures remains after their demolition.

“They have to file a design review application and have it

approved before they can proceed” with construction, Baxter said. “It

is up to the Design Review Board whether to approve it.”

While no date for design review can be set without an application

being filed, Leib encouraged residents to stay abreast of the project

so that they can make their voices heard when it counts.

“Once it goes into design review that is a public process, with

Design Review Board hearings, Historic Preservation Commission

hearings where you have the opportunity to have the public involved,”

he said. “The next step is the city’s announcement of when this will

take place and at that point we can discuss it in an open, public

forum.”