Burbank Bob’s Big Boy Takes Step Toward Historic Status

The nation’s oldest Bob’s Big Boy Restaurant should be declared a state historic landmark, preserving for future generations a scene in Burbank of the Southern California car culture of the 1950s, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors concluded Tuesday.

In a decision that delighted preservationists and dismayed the building’s owner, the supervisors voted 4 to 1 to urge the state Office of Historic Preservation, which will make the final decision, to declare the former drive-in a state Historic Point of Interest. Supervisor Deane Dana cast the only no vote.

“It’s a wonderful, precedent-setting decision,” said Pete Moruzzi, chairman of the 50s Task Force of the Los Angeles Conservancy, who said the supervisors’ vote may pave the way to preserve other historic hamburger stands. “It’s the only coffeehouse of its type left here.”

But Philip R. MacDonald of Newport Beach, who owns the coffee shop and wants to replace it with an office building, called the vote “ridiculous.” If the restaurant, which he contends has no architectural importance, can be so honored because of nostalgia for a long-ago rendezvous spot for teen-agers, then “everything is eligible for this designation.

“Anything that anyone has good memories of is now eligible to become a designated landmark,” he said.

The supervisors’ vote was an endorsement of a recommendation by the county Historical Landmarks and Records Commission. The commission had been lobbied to save the restaurant by the Los Angeles Conservancy, which contends that Los Angeles drive-ins and coffee shops of the chrome and tail fin era are sometimes under-appreciated architectural jewels.

MacDonald said he intends to fight the decision before the state Office of Historic Preservation and, if unsuccessful there, possibly in court.

“We just want the freedom to do what we want in the future,” MacDonald said.

The restaurant was built in 1949 and is one of the six original Big Boy’s built by owner Bob Wian and designed by architect Wayne McAllister. The other five have been torn down, making the Burbank Bob’s the nation’s oldest.

The restaurant chain is operated by the Marriott Corp., which leases the site from MacDonald, who said he is negotiating to buy out the lease. The lease expires in 1996 but Marriott has the option to extend it to 2016.

MacDonald said he wants to demolish the coffee shop and put up a two-story retail complex or a three-story office building.

MacDonald had asked supervisors to defer action until after the Burbank City Council completes work on its landmark preservation ordinance, which would take precedence over the county law.

The Burbank Council has not adopted an ordinance yet, and last week declined to take a position on state landmark status for the restaurant.

“You will simply have to call it like you see it,” Burbank Mayor Robert R. Bowne wrote to County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, whose 5th District includes Burbank.

Preservationists said a landmark designation could influence other municipalities to take post-World War II architecture more seriously, instead of tearing such buildings down to make way for construction.

“Anytime something is within living memory, it’s hard to step back and see the significance,” said David Cameron, chairman of the county Historical Landmarks and Records Commission.

The Conservancy’s Moruzzi agreed: “People used to laugh at Art Deco movie palaces, but now they’re considered gems.”