Wachs Seeks 2 Grants to Help Theater Group
Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs introduced a motion Tuesday asking that the city contribute $5,000 to help a San Fernando Valley theater group renovate the historic Van Nuys Post Office building as its new home.
In a related motion, Wachs asked the council to urge the state to give $300,000 toward conversion of the structure, which has been vacant since the 1970s, into a 368-seat theater.
The Back Alley Theater, which currently operates out of a 93-seat playhouse in a converted warehouse on Burbank Boulevard, has applied for state grants to buy and renovate the post office building at 14530 Sylvan St.
The building, erected in the 1930s, is one of the few examples in the San Fernando Valley of the distinctive architectural style often used by the Works Progress Administration, a federal agency which used construction projects to create jobs during the Depression.
The building has been declared a historical landmark by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission and is expected to be added to the national Register of Historic Places, Wachs said.
State Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys) has introduced legislation asking the state Office of Historic Preservation to fund the project.
The council referred the two motions by Wachs to committee.
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