Gateway to Studio City Closes Doors : Landmark: A black Cadillac is the end of the line for a 1950s carwash that made news after being nominated for cultural landmark status.

The last car passed through the “Gateway to Studio City” on Saturday--not with a bang but with a whoosh.

Rolling through the 1950s-style carwash, the black Cadillac Seville was cleaned with rushing water and soap, then was rinsed off.

Then Pat Galati--who has operated the carwash and adjoining gas station for 35 years--watched workers dry off the last beads of water. “That’s that,” he said quietly.

It was 5:30 p.m. and the carwash, which has been the focus of a bitter conflict between San Fernando Valley residents and a developer, was shut down.

Developer Ira Smedra announced in May that he had purchased the corner at Ventura and Laurel Canyon boulevards and would demolish the carwash and adjoining gas station and Tiny Naylor’s coffee shop to make way for a $15-million, 53,000-square-foot mini-mall.

That brought opposition from a Studio City citizens group that wanted the carwash preserved. The conflict attracted worldwide attention when the group lobbied Los Angeles city officials to designate the carwash complex a cultural monument.

But in the end, Smedra won. The citizens group, which calls itself Save Our Corner, lost its bid for cultural monument status. And at the close of business Saturday, Galati threw in the towel--as well as the rags that had been used to clean the cars.

“Sure, it’s emotional,” Galati said. “There have been customers and friends coming in all week, saying goodby. This isn’t about a carwash. It’s about a community. It’s about what makes a neighborhood.”

Walter McIntyre, owner of the Seville and one of the principal organizers of a grass-roots effort to save the carwash, said: “It’s sad. The lights are going out. An era is coming to an end.”

The residents have said all along that the carwash, topped by a 55-foot tower shaped like three boomerangs, and the coffee shop are prime examples of 1950s architecture. Calling the corner the “Gateway to Studio City,” they said that saving the buildings would have been a tribute to the Valley’s car culture.

Smedra countered that the proponents did not reflect the views of the majority of Studio City residents, who want the carwash torn down.

The Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission in July refused to designate the buildings as monuments, clearing the way for Smedra to tear down the buildings and construct his shopping center.

Customers coming in for a last wash Saturday said they regarded Galati as a friend and the carwash as a meeting hall.

“Pat Galati added something to this area that we need and won’t get from some blasted shopping center,” said Bob Costello, 58, a film editor at ABC Studios, who has frequented the wash for 35 years. “This wasn’t a carwash, it was a happening.”

Toni Kimball, 70, who said she was one of the first customers of the carwash when it opened 35 years ago, was saddened by the closure.

“This carwash and the coffee shop was our town hall, our meeting place,” she said. “We need this here. We don’t need a shopping center.”

All through the day, customers came up to Galati and wished him well. They shook his hand, hugged him, kissed him. Some cried. Studio City community leaders staged a cake-and-champagne reception for him.

In other ways, it was business as usual. The 22-man crew washed 600 cars--a large number for a cloudy day, Galati said. Manager Lenny Bauer, 54, who had worked in various jobs at the carwash for 32 years, watched the cars as they passed through.

“The day comes for the end of everything,” he said. “People deserve what they want, and they want the carwash here.”

Some regular customers were not aware of the closure. “This is upsetting,” said Robert England, 26. “They were very thorough here. I guess it’s back to the hose and bucket for me.”

The Los Angeles City Council gave some hope to the mall’s opponents in August when it ordered Smedra to draft a detailed environmental impact report, which could delay the mini-mall project for a year. Smedra filed suit against the city Friday, calling the order illegal and unwarranted.

Neighborhood leaders are still hoping that Councilman Joel Wachs will try to bring the carwash complex back to life. Wachs is considering a proposal to take over the property and turn part of it into a city-owned parking lot. The existing buildings would remain under the plan.

But for the time being, Galati said, he is saying goodby.

“I would love to come back here, renovate the place, do it right,” he said.

“But I want to take it easy for a little while,” he said, his voice trailing off.