Looking Ahead: Old structures, stories to begin anew this year
In this file photo from 2010, a city worker removes the Glendale city seal from the council chamber during a refurbishment project at City Hall.
Twelve Oaks Lodge to reopen its doors
Twelve Oaks Lodge will once again open its doors to senior citizens this year, following a settlement reached in August between the Glendale chapter of the National Charity League Inc. and be.group, the lodge’s former operator.
In the lawsuit, the National Charity League of Glendale argued that be.group had not complied with a charitable trust and was planning to sell the lodge for a noncharitable purpose. The facility closed its doors to residents in 2013, displacing 50 seniors.
Twelve Oaks Foundation now owns and manages the lodge, said Paris Cohen, president of the foundation, which had managed the lodge between 1976 and 2002.
Twelve Oaks Lodge plans to reopen its doors to senior residents sometime in 2016.
The chapter, made up of mothers and their teenage daughters, donated money and volunteered at the lodge several years prior to the mid-1970s.
“The foundation is in the process of screening senior management companies to repair, remodel and reopen to residents sometime in 2016,” Cohen said in an email. “[National Charity League] moms and daughters have been back at the lodge for meetings and events. We are all excited and looking forward to much more in 2016. It is really wonderful to be back at Twelve Oaks.”
Wrangling over Sagebrush area
Late last year, Unite LCF, a group of residents living in La Cañada’s Sagebrush area, which has historically been served by the Glendale Unified School District, announced it would collect signatures from Sagebrush residents on a petition that could eventually be submitted to the Los Angeles County Office of Education for a legal decision on transferring the territory into La Cañada Unified.
For years, residents in La Cañada Flintridge have wanted to transfer the 385-acre territory into the La Cañada Unified School District.
Talks between school officials from both districts over transferring the territory fizzled when, in May, Glendale Unified Supt. Dick Sheehan accepted the top job at Covina-Valley Unified. However, Glendale school officials have said they are not done exploring options with La Cañada Unified over a potential transfer.
Meanwhile, Unite LCF Chair Tom Smith, who established the group in 2013, said in November it could take Unite LCF a few months to collect signatures from at least 25% of some 1,600 Sagebrush voters. He said the group is hopeful the territory will be transferred before the 2017-18 school year.
Council considers Rockhaven options
This year could bring about a big change for the ownership of the abandoned Rockhaven Sanitarium in Montrose.
There were several closed-door talks at City Hall regarding the future of the 3.4-acre site that the city purchased in 2008 for $8.25 million.
City staffers presented plans from a number of interested parties to the City Council this past fall.
While any sort of deal has yet to be reached, the number of potential buyers was whittled down in December to Dr. Timothy Pylko, who wants to restore the property as a mental health institution, and Brooks Street and Lab Holdings, LLC., which is interested in adding a residential component and converting some of the on-site structures into retail storefronts.
Uses debated for development fees
City Council members will have their final say early this year on how to spend $16 million on improving local parks or creating new ones, a required use for the money.
The money came from development-impact fees — paid by the builders of large mixed-use projects downtown.
However, some council members are disputing whether the money should be solely spent in downtown Glendale, where residents are most affected by new development, or to spend some of that money on renovating a barn in Deukmejian Park in La Crescenta.
Community Services Director Jess Duran said the discussion on how to spend the funds will likely continue this month.
Masonic Temple converts to offices
For decades, the Masonic Temple on Brand Boulevard saw little to no use, but now it’s going to have the hustle and bustle of an office building.
The Masonic Temple on Brand Boulevard, which was bought by developer Rick Caruso, is being refurbished into an office building.
Last spring, developer Rick Caruso bought the nine-story building at the corner of Brand and Colorado Street and quickly began restoring the property and redid the window layout.
Commercial Realtor CBRE will be moving in as a main tenant, while a ground-floor restaurant has yet to be announced.
A commercial building will be built on an empty lot next to the Masonic Temple sometime this year. One of the first tenants there will be Shake Shack, a popular East Coast burger chain.