WINDSOR HILLS : Happy Days to Health Food for This Landmark : Renovation: A ‘50s-style coffee shop, the Wich Stand, gets new life as a Simply Wholesome store.

The resurrection of a vacant ‘50s-style coffee shop with the tilting blue roof and a 35-foot spire began last week during groundbreaking for a Windsor Hills health food store.

The Wich Stand, which was declared a historic landmark by Los Angeles County six years ago, also housed a cocktail lounge and featured carhop service in the parking lot on Slauson Avenue near Overhill Avenue. Percell Keeling, who owns the Simply Wholesome health food store across the street, bought the Wich Stand two years ago.

The restaurant, which opened in 1957, fell upon hard times in the mid-1980s and declined from a showcase eatery into an eyesore. Vandals gutted the floors and ceilings after the restaurant closed in 1988, and graffiti was sprayed over plywood covering the windows.

Meanwhile, Keeling, who had outgrown the small health food location he had rented since 1984, was looking for a place to expand.

His customers, he said, asked: “What about the Wich Stand?”

After the Wich Stand closed because of a property dispute, the Los Angeles Conservancy challenged its proposed demolition. The restaurant is a unique example of the 1950s coffee shop architecture style known as “Googie,” said the conservancy’s Chris Nichols.

The conservancy, a group that identifies and recommends preservation of historic buildings, and local homeowner groups fought developers who wanted to build housing on the site. The owners earlier had proposed putting a mini-mall there.

After Keeling bought the property, County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke helped him get a $400,000 loan from the county’s Community Development Commission to help cover equipment costs. Burke’s staff also helped him negotiate the county permit process and develop a business plan. Keeling was then able to secure a $1-million loan from Wells Fargo bank.

When his new business opens this summer, Keeling said, he plans to include a yoga and aerobics center. Architect John H. Morris, who designed the renovation, said the building’s eclectic features will remain.

The redevelopment of the Wich Stand represents an effort to revive business and preserve landmarks in the Windsor Hills/Ladera Heights area, Burke said. “We’re happy the Wich Stand is going to be preserved in such a positive way,” she said. “This is preserving our community as well.”