Historians Give Bob’s a Seal of Approval : Vintage ‘40s Styling Earns Burbank Big Boy Restaurant the Status of a State Landmark

Big news for fans of Bob’s Big Boy restaurants and Southern California kitsch: After a long battle, the nation’s oldest surviving Bob’s was declared a local historical landmark Friday by the California Office of Historic Preservation.

In a decision sure to delight some preservationists and anger some developers, the commissioners voted 7 to 1 to guard for future generations a Burbank restaurant building that preserves the look of the Southern California car culture of the 1950s. The former drive-in at the corner of Riverside Drive and Rose Street is considered one of the best-preserved examples of “coffee-shop moderne” architecture, Jan Wooley, one of five state historians, said Friday.

The designation makes it legally more difficult to tear down the building and replace it with a contemporary shopping center, as the landowner wants to do.

“It’s probably a first, in that it is one of the more modern structures to be placed on the list,” Wooley said.

Just because the building is only 43 years old doesn’t mean it isn’t worthy of such a designation, Wooley said.

“Because something is of a newer style, people don’t seem to give it as much significance or importance,” she said. “But this is moderne style, and as these types of properties come into their own, and there are fewer and fewer of them, we have to realize they have an importance and significance of their own, even if they don’t fit the stereotype of what is significant architecture.”

The state rejects many requests from local governments to add buildings to the list of State Points of Historical Interest, of which there are now 54 in Los Angeles County, historians said.

The restaurant, built in 1949, is one of the six original Bob’s designed by architect Wayne McAllister. The other five have been torn down, making the Burbank Bob’s the nation’s oldest. The original Bob’s in Glendale was torn down in 1990.

The State Historic Resources Commission made the final decision--granting a request by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors--based on an evaluation by state Historian Cynthia Howse. She described the restaurant, which is still a Bob’s, as a classic example of the “blocky abstract” coffee shops of the late 1940s.

One endearing aspect of the site, she wrote, is the “monumental,” free-standing pink-and-white Bob’s sign, which acts as “a beacon day and night on Riverside Drive” for hamburger seekers.

The Bob’s restaurant chain is now operated by the Marriott Corp., which leases the site from Philip R. MacDonald of Newport Beach, whose father built it for his longtime friend, Big Boy founder Robert C. Wian.

In a battle that lasted more than a year, MacDonald fought the designation every step of the way, saying he wanted to raze the restaurant and put a retail complex in its place. A spokeswoman for MacDonald said Friday he was aware of the state’s decision and “does not wish to make a comment.”

Last July, the county supervisors voted 4 to 1 to have the restaurant declared a landmark, escalating the fight between MacDonald and preservationists. The supervisors were lobbied by many historians and the Los Angeles Conservancy, which said local drive-ins and coffee shops from the chrome-and-tail-fin era are underappreciated architectural jewels that need protection.

Local historians hailed Friday’s decision, saying the designation means developers will have a harder time demolishing the building because under state law they will have to show that they could not find alternatives to its destruction, such as incorporating it into the design of whatever they plan to build in its place.

“I think it’s important that the state commission and other bodies recognize the importance of this era of architecture,” said Barbara Hoff, director of preservation issues for the conservancy. “It’s an era of architecture that is so threatened, because it has never been taken seriously. This is a significant day.”