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SOUTHWEST MARINE SHIPYARD
Update: This item has been removed from the agenda of the August 19 meeting of the Board of Harbor Commissioners. We will keep you posted. The Conservancy has been working for nearly four years to save the historic Southwest Marine Shipyard at the Port of Los Angeles. Proposed for demolition in 2006, the World War II-era shipyard has more recently been threatened with having its slips filled in with contaminated dredge spoils as part of a Port project to deepen the main channel. Linda Dishman, executive director of the Los Angeles Conservancy, was one of several co-authors with Councilmember Janice Hahn of a recent op-ed in the Daily Breeze on the topic. The Board of Harbor Commissioners is slated to make an important decision on the shipyard in the next few weeks.
The shipyard's recent tenant, Gambol Industries, wants to reuse the shipyard for its original purpose, including preserving historic buildings on the site. This site has languished for years, and now we have a proposal from the private sector that would save historic buildings and create hundreds of new jobs. This is a terrific opportunity that has been jeopardized by the Port's lack of leadership. From the outset, the Conservancy has believed - and we still believe - that there are opportunities for a "win-win" solution that will enable the Port to meet its own planning goals while providing a long-term use for the shipyard that will secure its future. How You Can Help If you would like to voice your support for the proposal to reuse the historic shipyard, please contact the Board of Harbor Commissioners and the Mayor's Office and urge them to:
Please send a copy of your e-mail to info@laconservancy.org. Thank you! Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Background
In June 2009, the Conservancy and Gambol Industries entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Port of Los Angeles to drop their appeals of the environmental impact report (EIR) for the Port’s channel deepening project.
Under the MOU , the Port agreed to a one-year exclusive negotiating period to allow Gambol to work with the Port on a detailed business plan to return the historic shipyard to its historic use as a shipbuilding and repair facility. Significantly, the Port agreed to permanently shelve the 2006 EIR for the proposed demolition of the Southwest Marine Buildings, and require a new EIR for any future proposal to raze structures in the National Register-eligible historic district. The Conservancy is grateful for the leadership of Councilmember Hahn in crafting a process for reuse of the site. History The Southwest Marine Shipyard is the last vestige of San Pedro's once mighty but little-known World War II shipbuilding industry. Between 1941 and 1945, ship and aircraft production facilities at Los Angeles Harbor worked around the clock to produce more than fifteen million tons of war equipment, with nearly 90,000 workers employed at four different shipyards. The Bethlehem Shipyard at Berth 240 was one of only fifteen yards nationwide that built destroyers during the war. The site is remarkably intact, with thirteen of the sixteen remaining structures deemed eligible for listing as a National Register historic district. After Bethlehem Steel vacated the site in the early 1980s, Southwest Marine operated it as a repair facility until 2004. Its vast industrial buildings have served as a backdrop for hundreds of television and movie productions over the years. The Port of Los Angeles has a great summary of the Port's history on their site at http://www.laporthistory.org/level3/berth_240.html |
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Wilshire May Company This Streamline Moderne department store with its prominent cylindrical gold tower signals the western entrance of Wilshire Boulevard's Miracle Mile district. The Conservancy swung into action when the May Co. building was threatened with demolition for office towers and a hotel during the early 1990s. After successfully nominating the building for City Historic-Cultural Monument status, the Conservancy worked with County officials to ensure the building's reuse by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Now LACMA West, the May Co. had a splashy reopening in 1999 when it played host to a blockbuster Van Gogh exhibit. Photo courtesy of Julius Shulman |
