VAN NUYS : Woman’s Club Seeks Quake Repair Help

After more than 80 years of helping others in their community, members of the Van Nuys Woman’s Club have found no one to help their clubhouse recover from the Northridge earthquake, forcing the group to consider selling the historic cultural monument.

The nonprofit group’s treasury is nearly drained after paying $21,000 toward the $30,050 in earthquake repair costs for their clubhouse on Sylvan Street. But club leaders have yet to hear from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and local banks have spurned the club’s requests for loans, which are needed to make up the balance.

“This club has been a charitable organization and donated so many funds in the area,” said 71-year-old club President Neva Hines.

“And now that we need help, I can’t seem to find any.”

The clubhouse, which suffered quake damage to the fireplace and its interior walls, has been yellow-tagged since the earthquake. It was declared a city of Los Angeles historical-cultural monument in 1978.

If the 56 club members, many of whom are over the age of 70, are unable to raise the funds from their own bank accounts, Hines said this piece of Los Angeles history might never reopen its doors.

“We’ve considered the sale of the property,” said Hines. “We’re practically broke.”

Sale of the property could mean a loss for club members and the community.

Since it was constructed as a meeting spot for club members in 1917, the location has also provided the setting for hundreds of garden parties, card games, Bible readings and public hearings. But the group has only held one of three planned meetings since the quake. And that was in a local eatery.

The clubhouse has also been a focal point of fund-raisers for more than 19 charities, including the American Red Cross and Children of the Night. Since 1986, Hines said, the group has raised more than $18,000 in charity donations.

Until the quake, the city of Los Angeles’ Planning Department had also been paying $750 monthly to conduct its public hearings in the clubhouse auditorium.

Since the quake, however, the city moved its hearings to the Sherman Oaks Woman’s Club.

With prospects dim for the city’s return, Hines said she is counting on a miracle to save the clubhouse from sale. And although the club will continue regardless, members said meeting somewhere else will not be the same.

“It’s been a blow to all of us, “ said 85-year-old member Dorothea M. Neel, a past president of the club.

“The clubhouse is like our second home.”