Nonprofit1 Panel Created to Renovate Lanterman House

The renovation and operation of the city-owned Lanterman estate was placed into private hands this week when the La Canada Flintridge City Council endorsed the creation of a nonprofit corporation to oversee the estate.

The council voted 4 to 1 to reactivate the Lanterman Advisory Committee to create a nonprofit corporation in accordance with a city staff suggestion.

The Lanterman property consists of a 1915 Craftsman-style house with an organ recital hall built in 1965 and a 1.35-acre plot on Encinas Drive.

Committee Chairman Sue Schecter will appoint 15 trustees and one full-time director for the estate. Schecter said she hopes the majority of the museum staff will be community volunteers.

The board of trustees and the director are expected to supervise much of the renovation and operation of the estate. The city will administer a $500,000 grant for the Lanterman property from the state Office of Historic Preservation.

Eugene Burrows, the estate’s longtime caretaker, should be able to retain his position, Schecter said. Burrows said he will abide by the municipal and committee decisions regarding the property’s use.

The committee will soon file for nonprofit corporation status with the Internal Revenue Service. Mryl R. Scott, a La Canada Flintridge resident, has donated the services of his law firm to help set up the foundation.

Once the foundation is incorporated and has formulated its fund-raising plan, it will report to the city.

City Manager George Caswell said, “We are now waiting for the foundation to come up to us and say what they’d like to do.”

Schecter said she hopes to have a proposal ready within three months.

Caswell predicted that the city would have to contribute to the Lanterman foundation coffers for one to two years before the operation would become self-sustaining.

Councilman Ed Phelps cast the only dissenting vote.

Phelps cautioned that the city may have to devote significant sums of money to the project, beyond the state grant and related fund-raising resources of the Lanterman Advisory Committee.

He added that the city may not be able to appropriate the funds to complete the renovation and administration of the property if there are cost overruns in the as yet undetermined operating budget.

Mayor Pro Tem Chris Valente qualified his support of the nonprofit corporation. “I’m all for it, so long as it’s self-supporting. . . . I don’t want taxpayers’ money devoted to this.”

Councilman O. Warren Hilgren said, “The city has some responsibility in this issue, but we have to look at how big the expenses are and what are options. I don’t want to write a blank check.”

Councilwoman Joan Feehan was more supportive of municipal funding for the project. “You can’t start a foundation from zero. They’ll need assistance,” he said. “The house was a gift, the state grant was a gift. It’s up to us to see that the property is put to good use.” La Canada Flintridge pays $7,000 a year in insurance and utility costs on the property.

The Lanterman Advisory Committee must now evaluate funding sources to cover renovation and operating expenses.

Estimates for the annual operating budget range from $50,000 to $100,000. Schecter said the highest costs to operate the estate would be personnel, projected at $41,500 annually.

On-site fund raising for the project would be limited by the terms of the property’s conditional use permit. The permit restricts the occupancy and hours of operation for the Lanterman estate, thereby prohibiting any large-scale events from occurring on the property itself.

Public access is limited to 100 people at one time and hours of operation are restricted to Tuesdays and Thursdays between 1 and 4 p.m. and the first and third Sunday of every month between 5 and 7 p.m. Parking on the estate is limited to 15 cars. In addition, the property will be closed on every major holiday and during August.

The renovation was delayed about one year when 11 residents filed a lawsuit against the city. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the city late last month.