Here are photos taken by Friends of the Fairfax Theatre at our Feb. 4, 2010 meeting with developer and owner of the Fairfax Theatre Alex Gorby, his architect Howard Laks, his lobbyist Ira Handelsman and others. Thanks to Mr. Laks for letting us photograph the model of his design. What is proposed is what historical preservationists call a "facadectomy" - save the facade (including marque and terrazaro entrance way floor and box office) and demolish everything else (including the $5 bargain movie theatre which serves our neighborhood and beyond). Only the front and side of the present theatre will be saved. Here is an example of a facadectomy; the historic Mayfair Theatre in Santa Monica, CA. These photos were taken on Feb. 17, 2010.   Do you want this to happen to the historic 1929 Art Deco Fairfax Theatre? The height of the building is proposed at 56ft. (includes penthouse level). Note how much taller the building is to the art deco tower in front of the theatre.  This is the view of the front (Beverly Blvd.) and shop side (Fairfax Ave.) from the southeast corner of Fairfax and Beverly, where CBS TV City is.  Here is a view of the Fairfax Ave. side; looking towards the proposed building from the east side of the sreet where Citi Bank and the Senior Citizen center is. Note in the far right hand of the model a car coming out of the building. Mr. Gorby proposes to have residents, customers, employees, and others come in and out of the proposed building from Fairfax. They said LA Dept. of Transportation wanted it this way rather than have them come in and out of the alley. We can expect not only more traffic but cars holding up traffic coming out of the building making illegal left turns to go north on Fairfax.  In this picture we can see the opening to the garage better. All of us who live here in Fairfax wish there would be as few cars as in the model. The reality is contact grid lock as it is without the 71 condos/apartments and 12,000 sq. feet of retail. We can also see the northside, back of the building in this picture.  Here is a view of the proposed northside of the building, looking from Diamond Bakery and its parking lot. Note the building is 4 stories of housing here.  Here is a view of northwest corner of the building; as if we were looking from the Senior Citizen's home on Hayworth. The left side of the picture is the northside, which will over Diamond Bakery's parking lot. The right side will overlook the alley between Beverly Blvd. and Hayworth Ave. From this picture you can get an idea of how large and dense this building is. (Developer/Owner Alex Gorby is in the background). Keep in mind this is only a proposal. |