Westside : Group Honors Restorations

A West Hollywood hotel, a Santa Monica car dealership and the groups involved in preservation of the former Beverly Hills water treatment plant were among those recognized last week by the Los Angeles Conservancy, the largest historic preservation society in the western United States.

The St. James Club, built between 1929 and 1931, was cited for restoration and adaptive reuse of the Art Deco landmark Sunset Tower building in West Hollywood.

W. I. Simonson Inc., a Mercedes-Benz dealership, received an award for the faithful reconstruction of a 1922 building in Santa Monica that was destroyed by fire in April, 1986. The Beverly Hills City Council, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a citizens group called the Friends of the Beverly Hills Waterworks and the law firm of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton were cited for their efforts to save the 60-year-old La Cienega Water Treatment Plant from its scheduled demolition. The city will lease the building to the academy, which will renovate the structure for use as a film library and archive.