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Dear Members & Friends of Claremont Heritage,
Please find our monthly Preservation Update and the work that Claremont Heritage is engaged in. Our mission is to advance, preserve and celebrate the historic architectural, natural and cultural resources of our community through collaboration, education and advocacy. This means that our preservation concerns go beyond just the architectural and also extend to both the cultural and natural elements of our community. David Shearer, Executive Director
FIRST FRIDAY ART WALK |OPENING RECEPTION - FRIDAY MAY 1, 2015 6:00 - 8:00 PM | Ginger Elliott Exhibition Center - Claremont Heritage @ Garner House 840 N Indian Hill Blvd
In partnership with Claremont Heritage, First Street Gallery Art Center presents OWN IT, a benefit show featuring 60 artists from the First Street Gallery studio and beyond. With small work from a wide variety of artists, you can find a piece to fit any collection while supporting an innovative program. But OWN IT isn't just about commerce and fundraising. It's about taking ownership of your community and the future that you want to see. Join us in creating an inclusive community where all artists are celebrated for their talents and accomplishments regardless of notions of disability.
Featured: Betty Davenport Ford, Helen Rae, Gina Lawson Egan, Steve Comba and more!
Reception: Friday, May 1st, 6:00pm-8:00pm Viewing Hours: Saturday + Sunday, May 2nd & 3rd, 2:00pm-6:00pm Ginger Elliott Exhibition Center The Garner House at Memorial Park 840 N. Indian Hill Blvd. Claremont, CA 91711 (909) 621.0848INFO First Street Gallery
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
HISTORIC AND SPECIMEN TREES + WATER CONSERVATION Before and after Eucalyptus removal on Foothill Blvd. Trees have always been an important feature in Claremont - the City contains over 24,000 trees of varying species and ages. But two specific groups of trees are especially significant in the City's history: the American Elms at Memorial Park and the College Avenue Eucalyptus trees. Read the full story HERE Claremont has had it challenges keeping our Historic Trees healthy and thriving. The Elms on Indian Hill Blvd. may have sustained some root damage during the sidewalk project last year and with the watering cutbacks could be endangered. When Claremont took over the Foothill Blvd corridor from Cal Trans, we inherited a number of neglected Eucalyptus trees that had to be removed dramatically changing the character of Route 66. More recently, 48 Xylella-infested Liquidambar trees have been slated for removal. The good news is that the current policy is to plant two trees for every one removed. Unfortunately, our signature tree canopy may be dramatically diminished until the new plantings mature. Water Reduction On April 23, 2015 City Manager Tony Ramos declared Level 2 water shortage supply conditions as outlined in the City's Water Conservation Ordinance. The declaration is in response to the State Water Control Resources Board regulations and the Governor's Executive Order calling for statewide water reductions. The City Council affirmed the declaration at the April 28, 2015 City Council meeting. The restrictions will begin May 11, 2015. INFO HERE A number of concerned citizens including the Tree Action Group (TAG) a sub-committee of Sustainable Claremont are advocating for the implementation of an "Urban Forest Master Plan" that will address the increasing challenges that Climate Change and the drought bring to maintaining our Urban Forest, after all we are a Tree City USA.
The City of Claremont has a lot of good information on it's website about our Urban Forest including the current tree policies and guidelines manual HERE
ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE NEWS
NEW DISCOVERIES OF SIGNIFICANT ARCHITECTS WORK IN CLAREMONT Projects by Victor Gruen Associates and Paul R. Williams FAIA Claremont Savings & Loan 1963 - Victor Gruen Associates
Victor Gruen (1903 - 1980) was an Austrian-born architect who immigrated to the US in 1938 and became know as the "Father of the Shopping Mall". By the mid-1970s his office, Victor Gruen Associates had designed over fifty shopping malls including South Coast Plaza in Irvine. The current Chase Bank located at 4th and Yale in the Claremont Village shares certain characteristics and materials with one of Gruen's most famous bank projects, the Bank of America in Palm Springs, CA. The entrance to both banks face the parking lot in true homage to the car culture that helped to create suburban development and the concept of the shopping mall. NOTE: The artist who did the concrete relief sculpture over the entrance is currently unknown. Please contact Claremont Heritage if you have any information. We are anxious to know! Claremont Village residence designed by Paul Revere Williams FAIA in 1945
Paul Revere Williams, FAIA (February 18, 1894 - January 23, 1980) was an American architect based in Los Angeles, California. He practiced largely in Southern California and designed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Lon Chaney, and Charles Correll. He also designed many public and private buildings. Williams became a certified architect in 1921, and the first certified African-American architect west of the Mississippi. SIXTH CLAREMONT SITE ADDED TO THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESIntercultural Council Housing Cross-Cultural Experiment 1947 - Now Historic District Our Historic Resources include not just the physical elements of architecture or landscape, but also include the cultural aspects as well, such as the people or events connected to a physical site. This also applies to elements of preservation, such as honoring a site or building that has contributed to our Cultural Heritage by including it in a local, State or National Register of Historic Places. Currently, Claremont has five sites on the National Register of Historic Places: Russian Village, Santa Fe Train Depot, original Scripps College campus, Padua Hills Theatre and the Pitzer House.
Claremont Heritage recently submitted a nomination to the National Register to recognize the Intercultural Council (ICC) Housing cooperative located in Arbol Verde as a historic district. Developed in the mid-1940's to facilitate the building of new housing in a culturally integrated neighborhood and to upgrade existing sub-standard housing, the ICC was started by a committee of the Congregational Church (UCC). The social experiment that the housing project represented brought together Anglo university graduate students and Mexican-American laborers in an attempt to build bridges of friendship and neighborliness between the two communities. Millard Sheets had one of his students in architecture draw plans for the houses and lot owners either built the houses themselves or hired the work out. The development was as innovative architecturally as it was socially and contained elements of later condominium or Home Owners Associations.
Claremont Heritage was recently notified that the ICC Housing nomination has officially been added to the National Register for approval. Claremont has many significant historic resources that should be recognized as such, and given the protection that they deserve, so that their legacy will endure for future generations to experience and learn from.
PLEASE CONTACT CLAREMONT HERITAGE Executive Director, David Shearer, if you have any questions on historic preservation or need additional information on how you can be involved:
PO Box 742 (mailing)
840 N Indian Hill Blvd (office)
Located in the Historic Garner House in Memorial Park
hours: Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 1:00 PM
(909) 621-0848
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