2010 PRESERVATION AWARDS

President's Award:
Bob's Big Boy Broiler
7447 Firestone Blvd., Downey

Owner / Project Lead: Jim Louder
Partial Funder / Project Partner: City of Downey
Project Partner: The Downey Historical Society
Project Liaison: Adriene Biondo
Lead, Coalition to Rebuild the Broiler: Kevin Preciado
Lead, Friends of Johnie’s: Analisa Ridenour
Architect: Archeion Nevada
Architect, Restaurant Interior / Kitchen Design: Coastline Designs
Preservation Architect: Chattel Architecture, Planning & Preservation, Inc.
Landscape Consultant: Studio One Eleven at Perkowitz + Ruth Architects
Contractor / Construction Manager: Highland Construction
Terrazzo Flooring: Arcadian Flooring Company
Masonry: Juarez Masonry
Photo Documentation: John Eng

Courtesy Minnie Ortner (click on photo to enlarge)

Harvey’s Broiler was the largest drive-in restaurant in Southern California when it opened in 1958. Designed by architect Paul B. Clayton, the combination coffee shop, restaurant, and drive-in sported exuberant Googie features, including a 65-foot-long sign that shone like a beacon on popular Firestone Boulevard. “The Broiler” soon became the hub of Southern California’s booming 1950s cruising culture.

Widely considered the best remaining example of 1950s Googie drive-in architecture, the Broiler was renamed Johnie’s in 1968 and operated continuously until it closed for good on New Year’s Eve 2001. The property served as a used-car dealership for years, with tenants neglecting the historic building and even removing original features. The grassroots Friends of Johnie’s advocacy group formed soon after, working with the Conservancy’s volunteer Modern Committee to designate the Broiler as a state landmark.

Johnie's after partial demolition in January 2007; photo by Adriene Biondo

The Friends of Johnie’s staved off threats to the landmark for years, until bulldozers arrived on a Sunday afternoon in January 2007. Working without permits, the wrecking crew started bulldozing without even fencing off the property or disconnecting the utilities. Alarmed onlookers notified the police, who halted the demolition that afternoon—but not until the roadside icon lay in ruins, with only a portion of the front facade and its distinctive signage still intact. 

Two days later, outraged community members filled the council chambers of the Downey City Hall. The City of Downey took immediate action, prosecuting the tenant and placing a year-long development moratorium on the site.

Bob's Big Boy in 2009; photo by John Eng

In 2008, Bob’s Big Boy franchise operator Jim Louder agreed to rebuild the Broiler and operate it as a Bob’s Big Boy restaurant, with the City of Downey Redevelopment Agency making a significant contribution toward the Broiler’s reconstruction. The task was extraordinary: take a historic site that had been largely destroyed and had weathered the elements for nearly two years, and reconstruct it to meet current building codes and business requirements while retaining its historic character.

The project team worked tirelessly and collaboratively to meet these challenges, meeting with the Los Angeles Conservancy and city officials and using preservation standards and original blueprints to reconstruct the Broiler as a viable business and community asset. Bob’s Big Boy Broiler opened to great fanfare on October 19, 2009, rising from the ruins to reclaim its place as a great source of pride for Southern California.

Learn More

Bob’s Big Boy Website
L.A. Conservancy issue overview
Friends of Johnie’s / Coalition to Rebuild the Broiler

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