Burbank Airport to Buy Trappers Lodge Property

The governors of Burbank Airport decided Monday to go through with the purchase of the Old Trappers Lodge in Sun Valley, which is still looking for a new home for its collection of folk-art statues.

Declared a California historical landmark in 1981, the statues are one of 10 officially recognized folk-art environments in the state.

The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority voted unanimously to exercise an option to buy the 46-year-old motel and bungalow complex for $2.3 million and raze it.

The 2.6-acre site, just off the northern end of the airport, is home to about 350 tenants, mostly poor families, and the collection of 20 statues.

The statues, towering figures in concrete, depict Old West-type characters. They were created by John Ehn, the former Michigan trapper who owned the lodge from 1941 until he died in 1981.

Ehn’s four children said they had to put the lodge up for sale because of inheritance taxes and a decision by the City of Los Angeles to bill landowners in the area for installation of street lights.

Rosemary Farish, one of Ehn’s daughters who now manages the 78-building complex, said the family is looking into several possible new locations for the statues, including museums and outdoor recreation areas. But no decision had been made, she said.

Richard Vacar, manager of airport affairs, said escrow would probably open next month. He said the sales agreement gives the present owners of the lodge 18 months after that to find homes for the statues and the tenants. But neither search is expected to take more than about three months, he said.

A relocation firm will help. Under federal and city laws, the tenants will receive relocation allowances of between $2,000 and $5,000 a unit, payable from federal grants to the airport.

The airport has no definite plans for the property, which may become a parking lot or hangar site. Airport administrators want to buy any adjacent land that becomes available, and the Ehn family offered to sell, Vacar said.