Letter: Preservation is only at face value

My husband and I used to frequent Algemac’s Coffee Shop on San Fernando Road in Glendale when we lived in Silver Lake prior to buying our home in La Crescenta in 1986. We continued to enjoy it until it closed in 2006.

We were pleased when the Glendale Historical Society and other preservation-minded groups stepped up to try to save it via adaptive reuse. The result was a huge disappointment. Not being a professional historian or restoration expert I didn’t make any public comment. The current threat to Rockhaven causes me to speak up now.

The old Algemac’s site is now Glendale City Lights affordable housing apartments. The old neon “Coffee Shop - Restaurant” signs adorn the stucco walls and Glendale is spelled out in the diamonds that used to read “Algemac’s.” There is no plaque explaining the signage and no public entry to the building. It tells no story of midcentury Googie-style architecture, provides no context and confuses people expecting a place to eat. A similar treatment of the Rockhaven property would be a travesty.

Algemac’s history would be better preserved if the neon signs were given to MONA where they could be displayed superimposed on a life-size photo of the old coffee shop. The MONA display could indicate the original location where interested people could see the preserved bits. A plaque on Glendale City Lights could direct people to MONA.

I hope fellow amateur historians join me in urging the city to keep Rockhaven largely intact and not destroyed by more affordable housing. We can’t leave it to the experts.

Sharon Weisman
Glendale