West Hollywood City Council members and members of the recovery community are expressing feelings of shock with the announcement that the City of Beverly Hills intends to demolish the historic log cabin on Robertson Boulevard that has long been the home for drug and alcohol recovery groups.
Beverly Hills has notified the Lions Club of West Hollywood, which owns the building, that it must vacate it by March 31. The City of Beverly Hills owns the lot on which the building is located. Its lease with the Lions Club expired on July 1, 1977, and was never renewed.
The building is located at 621 N. Robertson Blvd. and, while the land is owned by Beverly Hills, it is located within the West Hollywood city limits. City Councilmember John Duran and Mayor John D’Amico have raised the possibility of blocking the hasty demolition by requiring that the City of Beverly Hills submit its plan to the West Hollywood Historic Preservation Commission.
“This building and its meetings are a much beloved and important community resource, and the City of West Hollywood would like to hear from folks about this and so should the City of Beverly Hills,” said Mayor D’Amico.
A survey of properties in WeHo that might qualify as historically or culturally significant says the rustic log cabin was built in 1928 to house Troop 27 of the Boy Scouts of America. (Other documents have described it as having been built between 1930 and 1939.) Eventually, it became home to the Lion’s Club. And over years it has evolved as a meeting place for groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Crystal Meth Anonymous that help people recover from addictions.
The lot is said to have been used at one point by the Beverly Hills Water Authority, which is why it remains under that city’s ownership despite being within the boundaries of West Hollywood. Last year the City of West Hollywood began negotiations with the City of Beverly Hills to acquire or lease the property.
It is unclear what Beverly Hills intends to do with the property., West Hollywood residents who are concerned about the possible demolition are advised to reach out to Beverly Hills City Manager George Chavez at [email protected] or elected officials at [email protected].
I would like TO ADD THAT I FOUND A TROOP 27 of Beverly Hills parade flag under the back seat of an old Pontiac i was restoring.If anyone is interested in this flag please contact my e mail.SINCE I have discovered the flag and now discovered the log cabin issue,i feel as though the flag should be displayed at its original home.That would be the LOG CABIN ,SO SAVE THE CABIN ,even if you have to move it, for without the cabin there will be no home for the recently discoverd troop 27 flag,that is in pristine condition. i might… Read more »
So We are the LIONS Club of WEST HOLLYWOOD. The City of Beverly Hills has threatened to sell the property for years. IN that regard they, the city of BH has told us NOT To spend any money on improvements since it might be sold. We as LIONS have voted to spend a large sum of money to improve the property for the comfort and safety of the Meetings there. We have bids and are ready to go . There is NO LEASE from the city, so, will we be spending money to see it all destroyed? Which comes first… Read more »
Did the Lion’s Club seek any professional guidance? Too many unanswered questions here. Perhaps this should have been a pro bono issue for John Duran since this is well within his personal and professional purvue. Does he have a solution other than the anti climactic statement he issued which seemed to move the ball out of his court?
In May, 2019 Wehoville reported on negations between the City of WH and City of BH regarding purchase of the Log Cabin as well as Joey’s on Sweetzer & SMB. No news since then.
Perhaps the City Manager Paul Arevalo could enlighten the community as to the true intentions and supply the particulars. Most including the City Council appear to be in the dark.
oh, surely he’ll be sensitive to suffering, respectful, and transparent.
The log cabin has been the most popular meeting location for visitors in recovery visiting Los Angeles . I have been attending meetings there on visits from London for over 30 years. It will be very disappointing if this venue is closed as it is such a great place to start one’s day at the morning meeting.
From what I understand, this is such an important place for people to go to change their lives. It is worth saving.
Why not just move it to the empty lot on Santa Monica and Crescent Heights?
I’m with you. WEHO and BH should split the cost to move it and WEHO can restore it in another parcel. BH in turn would get their parcel back without a costly fight if they cooperate. Those opining that it be torn down are the same sorts of voices that have caused Los Angeles to have lost so many historic locales from the past.
The Log Cabin is a filthy eyesore and should be torn down. No one feels the AA meetings are unnecessary, but they can be moved elsewhere including the building WEHO owns across the street as well as the library, etc.
The city should acquire the property from Beverly Hills, but if BH can demolish and develop within current zoning, they’ll probably move faster than WH – the city has done nothing to punish the stalled Melrose Triangle and Palm Restaurant fiascoes that leave large tracts on the Westside of WEHO looking abandoned.
When is the next City Council Meeting of Beverly Hills? Are sober members of the community who are respectable civil servants going to speak on the subject? We need help. This is like taking a Historical Site away from the SOBER community.
I need to be there! How tldo we find out?
City fo Beverly Hills City Council Meeting Schedule (and meeting agendas, once posted) can be found here:
http://www.beverlyhills.org/departments/informationtechnology/calendar/citycouncilmeetingcalendar/web.jsp
The place is not maintained and an eye sore. The city of West Hollywood should open another facility for the public good somewhere else. Maybe the Aaron Brothers space should become the new facility.
If anything, we should be appreciative that Beverly Hills has been renting the space for $1 a year for the past 20 years. A space the city of West Hollywood never subsidized.
Step up weho council and create another facility…maybe even the Coast Playhouse.
If anything, this is an opportunity to create a better facility with even more services.
Why can’t BH & WeHo work together to restore the building, so it won’t be an eyesore?
This will be interesting…. wondering if it will be a free for all power struggle.
I’m sure the major enemies of West Hollywood, the developers, are licking their chops thinking what they could build there instead of the Log Cabin staying.
Is all the developers have to do is buy off the Townscape Three… John Duran, John Heilman and Lindsey Horvath.
While plans were evidently well afoot in 1983 for the official 1984 incorporation of West Hollywood, the community contained Plummer House, home of Eugenio Plummer, situated in Plummer Park, credited as the oldest in Hollywood, moved to the Leonis Adobe site in Calabasas in 1983. What was the extent of the due diligence prior to incorporation of West Hollywood while Los Angeles orchestrated the move? Even if this was a close call in the time line, one would think disappearing sites would have gotten someone’s attention and they would have become knowledgable and pro active about its assets. The city… Read more »
You seem pretty knowledgeable with regards to said process, are you aware of the individual zones attached? Could hanging onto, and cleaning up without stripping (concrete vs greenery) with a commitment to maintaining properly, help?
A well maintained property always helps. If not it is a blatant disrespect to the community. Beyond that, West Hollywood streets and sidewalks suffer a low level of maintenance. The city remains largely unmotivated.