Trust Lists McDonald’s in Downey as a Landmark : Buildings: Inclusion on list of endangered structures provides no protection, but boosts those hoping to save the restaurant chain’s oldest surviving drive-in.

The oldest surviving McDonald’s restaurant, a red-and-white-tiled food stand in Downey that was boarded up and abandoned by the company in January, has been declared an endangered historical landmark by one of the nation’s leading preservation organizations.

The restaurant, built in 1953 and originally operated by the McDonald brothers who founded the chain, was designated as one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The listing provides no government protection for the Downey landmark, on the corner of Lakewood Boulevard and Florence Avenue, but up to $5,000 in trust grant money may be available to help launch a preservation drive, officials said.

Trust officials and local preservationists also hope the listing will again draw national media attention to the building, which is famed for Art Deco architectural features including a pair of golden arches that pierce the food stand’s roof and a neon “Speedee” mascot that sits atop a nearby 60-foot perch.

Local preservationists announced the listing at a Wednesday morning news conference held at the restaurant site.

The trust describes the Downey restaurant as a cultural landmark that “symbolizes America’s love affair with the automobile and the eye-catching vigor of roadside architecture.” Unless plans change, the organization concludes, “an authentic icon of contemporary American life will be just a memory.”

Downey Councilwoman Joyce L. Lawrence, who frequented the food stand as a teen-ager in the 1950s, said the listing offered a needed boost to the efforts of city leaders and local preservationists. Saving the restaurant remains “a long shot,” she said. “But my hopes are rising.”

McDonald’s officials shuttered the restaurant after it suffered damage in the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake. Before the quake, company officials had announced plans to close it, saying sales had slumped partly because it lacked modern amenities, including indoor seating and a drive-up window.

When McDonald’s allowed its lease to expire in April, control of the restaurant site reverted to the property owner, auto parts retailer Pep Boys. Fred Stampone, a vice president of Pep Boys, said Wednesday that a Southern California McDonald’s franchise operator had recently expressed interest in reopening the Downey building but apparently was unable to obtain a license from McDonald’s Corp.

“I think the situation is becoming dim,” Stampone said. He said Pep Boys executives still hope the restaurant can be preserved or reopened.

Peter Brink, vice president of the trust, said Tuesday that the trust’s written plea to McDonald’s executives was answered with a form letter from the company’s customer complaint department.

In a statement released Wednesday, McDonald’s officials expressed no interest in reopening the Downey food stand, but suggested that the company may retrieve its “Speedee” sign and other historic elements for use in a new restaurant to be built in the city.