Seems Like Old Times : History: Even with the demolition of the landmark Lindley Building because of quake damage, Whittier keeps a link to the past. Bricks from the 1888 structure are used in facade of the new.

A new building has arisen from the rubble of one of the city’s oldest commercial structures.

The new Lindley Building, outfitted in a facade of bricks from the old building, opened for business once more at the southwest corner of Greenleaf Avenue and Hadley Street late last month.

City officials call the project a triumph of public and private efforts to respect local history and revive downtown commerce.

Preservationists have mixed feelings. They’re glad to see something that looks like the Lindley building in downtown Whittier, but they would have preferred to keep the original, which was demolished after being damaged in the Oct. 1, 1987 earthquake.

“I was terribly disappointed when they tore the Lindley down,” preservation advocate Sue Johanson said. “I felt that it could have stayed. (But) they could have put up anything on earth there. It’s far better than what could have been put there.”

Like the original, the new building has two stories, but the windows are larger and arched rather than square. In addition, the builder decided not to use the original cornices, which had been salvaged. Also, the architects attached an atrium to the back, which connects to a new row of storefronts.

The old Lindley Building was one of four identical brick structures erected at Greenleaf Avenue and Hadley Street. The “four bricks,” as they were called, were built on an open field at the intersection of two dirt roads about 1888. They were home to a bank, the post office, the local newspaper and a Christian church. When classroom space was needed, the buildings served as schools.

Two of the four buildings, the Lindley Building and the Harvey Apartments, survived until the 1987 earthquake. They were the oldest commercial structures in a town filled with old brick buildings. The Lindley Building looked pretty much as it always had. The Harvey Apartments had been expanded and covered with stucco.

By the time the shaking stopped, Whittier had suffered $90 million in damage, and the downtown looked like a brickyard. The city, citing safety concerns, issued demolition permits for 34 buildings, including the Lindley Building and Harvey Apartments.

Preservationists insisted that the buildings could be saved. But all-night protests, court battles and attempts to find restoration funding failed to stop the demolition.

City leaders pledged to help the owners build replicas of the buildings. The city bought the Lindley bricks to use in the new building. Money to salvage the Harvey bricks came from members of the Whittier Conservancy, which formed after the quake to protect historic structures.

The handmade clay bricks were the original buildings’ deepest link with local history. They came from a local vein of San Gabriel River clay on land that area rancher Thomas Hacket Phelan bought in 1869 from Pio Pico, the last Mexican governor of California.

The bricks were never reused on the new Harvey Apartments, which opened in January, 1990. The owner couldn’t afford to incorporate the bricks as originally intended, said David Pickard III, the architect for the new Lindley Building and the Harvey Apartments. A city plan to help pay part of the added cost also fell through, and the Harvey bricks remain on pallets in a city maintenance yard.

The city took a more active role with the Lindley Building. In June, 1989, the city agreed to give $100,000 to owner John Aranguren if he would make his new building resemble the old one. The city would also pay for landscaping and sidewalks.

The completed building was formally dedicated last month, and Aranguren is now recruiting tenants to fill office and restaurant space.

‘THE FOUR BRICKS’

In 1888, land speculator C. W. Harvey built four identical two-story brick buildings at the intersection of Greenleaf Avenue and Hadley Street. It was the beginning of downtown Whittier. Here is what happened to the buildings, according to the Whittier Historical Society:

* Southwest Corner. Known as the Lindley Building in honor of its original owner. Most famous as the home of the Hazlitt family grocery for decades starting about 1920. First-graders would get free ice cream cones on the last day of school. The October, 1987, Whittier earthquake damaged the building and led to its demolition. The original clay bricks compose the facade of the new Lindley, which was built to resemble the original.

* Southeast Corner. Became the post office and later the home of the local newspaper. Torn down in the 1940s and replaced by a service station. Now a Winchell’s Donut Shop.

* Northeast Corner. Began as a commercial building. Doubled in size and covered with stucco in 1913 when it was converted to 12 apartments. Known as the Harvey Apartments, it too was demolished following the 1987 earthquake. The new building is also called the Harvey Apartments, but it bears little resemblance to the prior structure.

* Northwest Corner. Used by the Christian Church as a meeting house in 1889. Already demolished by 1904. The Whittier Christian Church has occupied the site since 1923.