ARMENIAN SOCIETY CELEBRATES MOVE TO NEW SITE
By Jason Wells

Glendale News Press, CA
08/30/politics/gnp-center30.txt
Aug 29 2007

Group has struggled with Presbyterian church, now its neighbor,
over how parking will work.

Photo: John Lalaian holds the shovel full of dirt Wednesday while
Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian blesses it during a groundbreaking
for the Armenian Society of Los Angeles’ new site.

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE – Nearly four years after agreeing to make way for
the Americana at Brand project, officials for the Armenian Society of
Los Angeles on Wednesday celebrated their new location on South Louise
Street, making no attempt to iron over the sometimes contentious path
that got them there.

To help clear the footprint for the Americana development in 2003,
the society turned over its building on Brand Boulevard to the city
in exchange for $5 million and the lot at 117 S. Louise St., which
is next to the Glendale Presbyterian Church.

Armenian Society and church officials have been working through the
issue of environmental impacts borne out of on-site project proposals
submitted over the last two years.

But on Wednesday, a groundbreaking ceremony for the 27,000-square-foot
building that will soon house the society seemed to offer as much
relief as it did certainty for the nearly 100 supporters who attended.

"I’m happy we at least have a place," said John Lalaian, president
of the society. advertisement

In May 2005, the city’s Redevelopment Agency rejected the society’s
original plan for a four-story, 53,000-square-foot building that
included a library, theater and banquet hall, finding the structure
far too massive and incompatible for the area.

That raised concerns over the society’s financial prudence in drawing
up such a large structure, but officials there insisted they were
making a return on investments. No evidence or accusations of
wrongdoing were issued.

Last year, the Armenian Society submitted plans that cut the size of
the building almost in half, at about 27,000 square feet, and lowered
the floor count to three. In May, the agency approved the project,
along with an environmental study and parking exception, giving the
society about 250 nonexclusive spaces at the Glendale Marketplace
structure, in addition to the 14 on site available for staffers and
day-to-day operations.

Still, Glendale Presbyterian Church officials had voiced concerns that
Armenian Society events would draw attendees who would much rather
park at or near the building instead of use the parking structure.

Even as nearly 100 supporters Wednesday filled rows of plastic chairs
on what is now an old asphalt parking lot for the ceremony, officials
with both organizations said they continued to work together to
address issues as the planning and construction process moves forward.

"We’ve had some interesting turns in the discussions," the Rev. Craig
Hall said. "It’s a challenge."

But he, along with his counterparts at the society, also said they
maintain a mutual respect, recognizing the difficulty of relocation
and the difficult circumstances brought on with pressure to move out
of the way for the imposing Americana project.

"We hold them in the highest regard," he said of the society.

Likewise, Mayor Ara Najarian and former Mayor Larry Zarian, in
addressing the crowd Wednesday, thanked the church for the spirit
of cooperation.

"It wasn’t their decision to be here, in this place," Zarian said of
the society’s decision to facilitate city development with their
move, and then thanked the Presbyterian congregation for their
assistance. "Without your cooperation and your board, this could have
dragged out for a long time," he said.