Sunland : Contractors Come to the Rescue of Quake-Damaged Restaurant

For a year and a half, Al Jesensky and Ben Caputo battled to keep the Northridge earthquake and a lot of red tape from taking Sterlings Restaurant.

Last month, they walked away from the business to let the restaurant, which first opened in 1938, survive under new ownership.

“We tried our damnedest since the earthquake,” said Jesensky, the former co-owner of the landmark eatery, the only place in Sunland that accommodates major meetings and banquets.

“We had written everybody from the White House on down, you name it,” he said. “Nobody could help us.”

The earthquake caused $350,000 in damage to the restaurant, and Los Angeles city inspectors ordered the building torn down.

More than 2,800 residents signed a petition saying that Sterlings, at 8737 Fenwick St., was vital to the community and should be saved, and City Councilman Joel Wachs’ office interceded so that the city would delay its order to raze the building.

But the restaurant owners failed to get the emergency help other businesses received. A loan from the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency fell through after they had hired contractors to begin the work in April. By the time Jesensky and Caputo realized that they would not have the money to pay the bill, 90% of the work had been done.

“Our last hope was the Community Redevelopment Agency,” said Jesensky.

It was then that the contractors, Ron Battaglia and Nicholas Christopher, came to the rescue. “I’ve been here for half my life,” Battaglia said. “I love this community. When I heard they were thinking of ripping down this building, I had to do something.”

They offered a bid of $140,000 to buy the restaurant, less than half of the original $350,000 estimate of its worth.

Battaglia and Christopher plan to reopen Sterlings in early October. “We wanted to turn it into what it was before and continue it as a community landmark,” said Battaglia.