Los Angeles Daily News, CA
May 25 2005

ASLA must redesign center

By Naush Boghossian, Staff Writer

GLENDALE– The city has sent the Armenian Society of Los Angeles back
to the drawing board to dramatically alter plans for a new
53,000-square-foot center, which had received the support of city
staff.
The Redevelopment Agency made up of City Council members voted 3-2
Tuesday to deny the nonprofit organization stage-one approval for its
plans and to send the project back for a complete redesign, saying it
would be incompatible with the neighborhood. The plans, which had
received approval from the design review board, will once again have
to be presented to the board.

Mayor Rafi Manoukian and Councilmen Dave Weaver and Bob Yousefian
said they wanted to see the building’s square footage and height
reduced.

“It’s incompatible. The architecture doesn’t fit. It’s tall, it’s out
of place, so I cannot support it,” Weaver said. “It’s a moneymaker
thing and I don’t think I have an obligation to help an organization
grow. Putting in a 20,000-square-foot building, double what they
originally had, OK, I can do that.”

The 49-year-old organization with 600 members had plans to build a
contemporary structure with glass, metal and stone at 117 S. Louise,
city-owned land given to the group in exchange for its property on
South Brand Boulevard.

Plans included a four-story, 53,100-square-foot cultural center with
a theater, art gallery, library, classrooms, banquet facilities,
gymnasium, administrative offices and storage rooms.

ASLA officials had hoped to begin construction late this year and
complete the project by late 2006.

The group — which has a Saturday school, an 80-member choir and a
theater group — was forced to move from its 11,000-square-foot home
at 221 S. Brand Blvd., which is on the Americana at Brand project
site.

The Redevelopment Agency approved a $5 million deal with the
organization to exchange properties, including setting aside $250,000
to help the ASLA pay for temporary space during construction. The
city has offered the group a 6,300-square-foot office at 320 W.
Wilson Ave.

ASLA president Tomik Alexanian said he felt the organization is
getting the run-around.

“We can’t conduct our business, we might lose members, and now I’m
hearing we might be delayed because there might be issues,” he said.
“We are under humongous pressure to answer members on why there are
delays. What assurance do we have to continue our business and save
this 50-year-old society?”

The pastor and several members of the Glendale Presbyterian Church,
which would be neighbors of the new ASLA, expressed concerns about
the new large center, the planned banquet facility, and the impacts
it would have on their church.

“We continue to believe the project is too massive for the site
itself and would have a number of adverse effects on the
neighborhood,” said Pastor Ken Baker. “We’re urging the board to
re-evaluate the project, scaling it back to 20,000 square feet, which
we feel would be much more compatible with the neighborhood and the
neighbors themselves.”

Councilman Frank Quintero was the only councilman to support the
organization’s plans for a center nearly five times its original
size.

“This was a nonprofit that was forced to move out. Now, we have an
organization that wants to grow, so the fact that they want to build
a larger facility makes sense to me,” he said. “I see no reason to
deny them the ability to build a larger facility. They’re entitled to
it. I have no doubt that they’re going to be an excellent neighbor.”