Dome Isn’t Historic, Cultural Panel Rules

The Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission on Wednesday turned down pleas by Woodland Hills homeowners to designate the dome-shaped Valley Music Center as a historical monument, apparently clearing the way for the structure to be demolished for condominium or apartment development.

The commission declared in a 4-0 vote that the 2,700-seat auditorium, which once served as a theater-in-the-round for Broadway-style musicals, was not architecturally distinctive or significant enough to be declared a monument. A fifth commission member, Helen Madrid-Worthen, was not present at the commission meeting.

The 25-year-old building, which sits on a hill just off Ventura Boulevard, is used as an assembly hall by several San Fernando Valley congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Board member Reynaldo R. Landero said he was impressed by the center’s architecture. But, he said: “I don’t feel it’s historically significant. My heart bleeds for the homeowners and the supporters of this, but we have to go along with the criteria that’s established.”

The Los Angeles City Council will make a final decision on the controversy in a few weeks.

If the dome had become a historical monument, it would have replaced the 22-foot-tall Tower of Wooden Pallets, built in 1951 in the back yard of a Van Nuys home, as the city’s youngest.

Commission architect Jay Oren said Valley residents for the most part are unaware of the existence of the center. “The fact that no one knows about it is consistent with the fact that there’s nothing to know about it,” Oren said.

Jack Marek, a member of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization, who had filed an application seeking the landmark designation, angrily stormed out of the hearing after the commission’s vote and refused to comment on the decision.

The homeowner group’s tactic in taking the issue to the commission was similar to that of a group of Studio City homeowners who tried unsuccessfully last year to persuade the commission to declare a carwash at Ventura and Laurel Canyon boulevards a historical monument.

In both cases the homeowners wanted to block large projects from replacing the buildings. Leaders of the Woodland Hills group said the building should be saved because it resembles the Pacific Theater Cinerama Dome in Hollywood.

Marek was the only person at the meeting who spoke in favor of saving the center. He said, “The architecture is unique and stands on its own merit.”

The application was opposed by a well-organized team of attorneys, historians and officials for the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“There was no evidence at all that was submitted to show that this is worthy to be a historical monument,” said Burt Pines, the former city attorney who represented the Jehovah’s Witnesses. “This dome doesn’t mean anything. This building has not been a part of anyone’s life.”

Debra Mitz, an architectural historian, said the building had been crudely built and that the structure had only been molded into a dome because it was an inexpensive building technique.

At least two development firms are interested in purchasing the property, said Cindy Miscikowski, chief deputy for Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude, who represents the area.

Church officials say that the structure is too small for their needs and that they have purchased property in the Santa Clarita Valley and are planning to move their operations there.

Before the center went bankrupt and was sold to the Jehovah’s Witnesses in the late 1970’s, Art Linkletter, Robert Goulet and Mitzi Gaynor had performed on the stage, the homeowners said.