Significance of the Carwash

In his letter of July 16, Jack McGrath “responds” to absurd positions that I did not take, either in The Times interview of June 25 or elsewhere. We are not talking here about a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece. This contrived controversy is over an obsolete carwash. That anything so bizarre as McGrath’s proposal that a carwash be made into a “cultural monument” should receive serious consideration from the city Cultural Heritage Commission, and so much coverage in a respected newspaper like The Times, illustrates the sorry state to which our land-use law has sunk. C’mon, Jack, give us a break! Better yet, give common sense a break. California is already the butt of jokes at land-use conferences around the nation; we don’t need any more ridicule.

The owner of the carwash parcel is in compliance with existing laws that McGrath says he supports. So why is McGrath, who doesn’t even live in Studio City, hassling him? What in the world is going on here? What’s with the special T-Shirts, floodlights and an “anthem?” All this for a carwash? Sounds more like a publicity stunt.

First we are told that it’s the boomerang-shaped steel beams on top of the carwash that are the source of the “cultural” ambience. Then, say the Studio City Kultur mavens, it’s the “googie architecture” of Tiny Naylor’s coffee shop. Then, says McGrath, a carwash is just a swell place to commune with one’s kid while smelling the roses and watching the suds. And now, McGrath tells us that it’s really a tourist attraction that he has in mind. Yessiree! Just as soon as the folks in the Heartland find out where John Wayne and his friends get their wheels shampooed, we’ll be up to here in tourists--”long lines” of tourists, says McGrath, waiting “just to catch a glimpse” of all those stars. Oh wow! How wonderful. That’s just what we need, isn’t it? Long lines of tourists at Laurel Canyon and Ventura boulevards--particularly at rush hour--all waiting to “catch a glimpse” of a movie star. Poor tourists; it’ll be a long, hot wait for them. Poor us; with “culture” lovers like that, who needs barbarians?

Jack McGrath must be a student of H. L. Mencken, who observed many years ago that no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. But that was then; this is now. People are smarter now; for one thing, they refused to elect McGrath to public office.

GIDEON KANNER

Burbank