McDonald’s Lets Downey Lease Expire : Landmark: Corporate action virtually rules out any chance of preserving historic food stand. City officials say negotiations to save the restaurant are over.
McDonald’s Corp. said it has allowed its lease to expire at the site of its historic food stand in Downey, virtually ruling out any chance that the structure, with its sweeping golden arches and Speedee mascot, can be preserved and reopened.
The corporation’s decision to abandon the 40-year-old landmark, the oldest to retain the chain’s original Art Deco features, also may jeopardize efforts to move key components of the stand to another location, city officials said.
The company had the option of extending the lease, but decided to let it expire at midnight Thursday.
“I honestly feel that negotiations have now been concluded,” Downey City Manager Gerald M. Caton said Thursday. “The city gave it a good shot.”
Preservationists had been lobbying McDonald’s for months to keep the restaurant open, but McDonald’s closed the establishment after saying it had been damaged in the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake. But even before the quake, the company had planned to close the restaurant and move to another location. Officials said the old food stand, which lacks indoor seating and a drive-through window, wasn’t equipped to meet the needs of today’s consumer.
With the expiration of the lease, the restaurant reverts to the property owner, Pep Boys Corp., an auto parts retailer. A company spokesman said Thursday that, for now, the site would not be disturbed.
“For us to return that area to productive rental use, the building would have to be removed,” said Fred Stampone, senior vice president of administration, in Philadelphia. “We’re not going to go out there on April 1 and tear it down. We’re patient people. But we’re also business people. We will not wait indefinitely.” Stampone said the company continues to hope McDonald’s will decide to preserve the landmark at a new site, but added that chances are slim that the red-and-white-tiled food stand will ever be reopened at Lakewood Boulevard and Florence Avenue.
“We’re all pretty much convinced they have no intentions to stay at this point,” Stampone said.
Negotiations over the preservation of the food stand came to a head last week, when McDonald’s requested a permit from the city to demolish the restaurant. City officials refused, saying that because the food stand is eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, any earthquake damage it sustained must be evaluated before the structure can be altered.
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In the statement issued Thursday, McDonald’s officials said the city’s decision to reject the permit request caused negotiations to falter.
“The fact is, throughout this process, McDonald’s has acted in good faith,” the statement said. “We respect the architectural and historic significance of the 1950s restaurant design. That’s why all along we have wanted to preserve as many elements of the Speedee restaurant as possible. Without the permit, after March 31, it’s unfortunate that this is no longer possible.”
But Downey officials, preservationists and Pep Boys representatives said the restaurant’s key features--the golden arches that pierce the roof and the 60-foot-sign featuring “Speedee,” the winking hamburger mascot--can still be spared if McDonald’s is willing.
“They must understand that we could not issue that demolition permit without the state giving its permission,” Caton said. “Pep Boys is willing to extend the lease on a month-to-month basis. It’s McDonald’s creating this artificial deadline.”
McDonald’s statement said officials will continue working with the city to search for a new restaurant location.
Linda Dishman, executive director of the Los Angeles Conservancy, said negotiations might become more productive even as the changes for preserving the food stand appear increasingly hopeless.
“When the conversation is no longer played out publicly, it gets easier sometimes,” Dishman said. “Now it’s time to talk behind the scenes.”
In recent weeks, attempts to rescue the landmark have captured so much attention from the national media that Gov. Pete Wilson weighed in March 25 with a plea to McDonald’s to spare the restaurant.
“The modern history of fast food and McDonald’s hamburgers will be as important to the cultural history of our nation as the invention of Boston baked beans, Philadelphia cheese Steak and Coca-Cola,” Wilson wrote in a letter to Fred L. Turner, senior chairman of McDonald’s. “I urge you to reconsider your decision, and preserve for posterity the home of the Golden Arches.”
