LA HABRA : Nixon Law Office Is Temporarily Spared

The City Council this week voted unanimously to suspend demolition of former President Richard M. Nixon’s first law office and the Wester Hotel for an additional six months while city staff studies the historical significance of the buildings.

The decision came at the end of an hourlong closed session Monday in response to potential litigation threatened by those opposed to the demolition, said City Atty. Richard Jones.

Preservationists want to see the city-owned buildings restored and integrated into the Old Settlers Plaza community center planned at the site in the 100 block of West La Habra Boulevard.

Nixon occasionally used a back room in the law office from 1939 to 1942 while employed by a Whittier-based law firm. Restoration supporters also want to save the hotel, constructed in 1916, because it is the city’s first two-story brick building.

The council also approved a chain-link fence that was placed Tuesday morning around nine condemned buildings at the site, including the office and the hotel. The structures have been deemed unsafe because they do not meet earthquake standards, according to City Manager Lee Risner.

The council also rejected a $35,000 bid to demolish the nine buildings and instructed city staff to retain a consultant to conduct an environmental-impact report on the site. The report will take four to six months to complete and will place a firmer estimate on restoration costs. Risner said the renovation costs for the hotel and the law office are expected to be more than $300,000.

Supporters expressed satisfaction at the council’s decision. Kent Roberts, a leader of the campaign for restoration, said Wednesday that he hopes a “dialogue can be established between the city and the people who want to save the buildings.” He considers the historical significance of the office and hotel “irrefutable.”