Verdugo Views: Research and advocacy saved the Alex Theatre

By Katherine Yamada

April 20, 2016 3:24 PM PT

Last September, at the Alex Theatre’s 90th anniversary kickoff, I stopped to say hello to Margaret Hammond, longtime member of the Glendale Historical Society.

She handed me a sheaf of papers with the comment that she had been a member of the original Alex restoration committee and had the ‘real’ story behind its renaissance.

Hammond told me that Steve Preston, who headed the restoration committee, provided “the expertise and commitment to enable us to write a professional paper.”

Intrigued, I tracked down Preston, now manager of the city of San Gabriel. In his email reply, the third generation Glendalian noted that he had returned to his hometown as an associate planner for the city of Glendale at a time when there was growing concern over the loss of historic resources to new development.

The historical society had been “re-formed” in 1980 to address a specific threat, the potential loss of the Doctors House.

Preston joined the society about a year later. At one of his first meetings, “then held in the basement of the old Glendale Federal at Brand and Lexington,” he approached Carol Dougherty, society president, with an offer of help.

“By virtue of her personal charm and irresistible persuasion,” Preston wrote, he was immediately drafted into the group working on restoration of the Doctors House.

With his training as a planner, the group was soon discussing preservation strategies. Preston created and chaired what became known as the Glendale Historical Society Preservation Task Force, with members Susan Allison, Catriona Bryan, Georgie Kajer-Weis, Hammond and Greta Reed, as noted in a 1987 historical society newsletter.

Along with other issues, the task force focused on the future of the Alex, which was no longer performing well as a traditional movie venue and was threatened with either subdivision or demolition and redevelopment.

Without paid staff or financial resources, Preston and his team built their case for the Alex.

“We spent time deep in Special Collections [at the Glendale Central Library], where the late Barbara Boyd helped uncover information. We pulled city records. We used the talents of members with specific expertise that would help us build our case,” Preston wrote.

“By today’s standards, these reports would be seen as amateur, but in a community where there was no tradition of preservation advocacy (except for preservation of the Sanchez Adobe in the 1930s), having a dedicated group of people working these issues was new — and we had great fun,” he wrote.

To keep Preston’s official duties and private interests separate, other team members made the presentations to council.

“Although several city council members claimed membership in [the Glendale Historical Society], there was only one consistent voice for preservation on the council, the late Ginger Bremberg,” Preston wrote.

“Our presentations were well received — politely accepted, but usually without any firm commitment to action. Ginger often served as the advocate to keep these issues in the public eye,” he added.

“The Alex struck a chord with many people, and the release of [the Glendale Historical Society’s] report, as raw and modest as it was, helped fuel community support for the theater,” Preston wrote. “Eventually, the city engaged in professional studies that later led to the preservation of the Alex.”

Over time, Preston added, the historical society had victories, such as saving antique streetlights in some neighborhoods, but lost others, such as the Egyptian Village Café and the old Public Service Building.

But, he concluded, “the task force’s work became tangible proof that community activists could make a difference. It helped propel the Alex, and other matters, into the public spotlight. And left me with incredibly fond memories of the wonderfully talented people who made that all happen.”

Readers Write:

Jeanne Olwin, who was born and raised in Glendale, emailed that she really enjoyed reading about the shack by Zinke’s plus the tent woman story. “I now live in Oregon, but a big part of my heart still resides in Glendale,” she wrote.

Judy Gorham emailed regarding the April 7 story on the Church of the Brethren. “I relate to your column today, as I went to that church from 1940 to 1949 as a child. Thanks,” she wrote.

KATHERINE YAMADA can be reached at katherineyamada@gmail.com or by mail at Verdugo Views, c/o News-Press, 202 W. First St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Please include your name, address and phone number.

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