Save Buk's Home

While it's nice to know that Charles Bukowski's archive is safe and sound at the Huntington Library, one of his former Hollywood homes seems to be headed for demolition unless a group of activists can get it designated a cultural landmark:

Activists in Los Angeles are calling on artists, writers, historic preservationists and concerned citizens in Greater Pasadena to help save the onetime Hollywood home of poet and novelist Charles Bukowski from possible demolition.

The Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission will decide on Sept. 20 whether the humble bungalow at 5124 De Longpre Ave., where Bukowski penned "Post Office" and other early works, should be considered for landmark status.

If commissioners decide to start the process, demolition work or other changes to the now vacant and boarded-up property that require city permits would be prohibited until City Council members make a final decision, said LA Office of Historic Resources Manager Ken Bernstein.

Lauren Everett, an office temp and freelance photographer leading the effort, asked the city to consider granting the house landmark status after seeing an ad on Craigslist offering the property for sale as a "vacant lot available for development."

...Everett says anybody who cares about LA's literary history should write a letter of support to the Cultural Heritage Commission or speak out at the meeting, which takes place at 10 a.m. in Room 1010 at LA City Hall, 200 N. Spring St.

Letters should be sent in advance to the commission and its president, Mary Martin, via mail to City Hall (zip code 90012), via fax at (213) 978-1029, or via email to Executive Assistant Sheldred Alexander at Sheldred.Alexander@lacity.org

{Thanks to Dittman for the ht.}

Then again, some folks question whether saving Buk's home is a worthy cause:

It was while burdened with my usual load of literary LA baggage that I tripped over a particularly bold pronouncement that protruded from a Time Magazine article this week.

The piece told of a local effort to preserve author and poet Charles Bukowski's bungalow at 5124 De Longpre Avenue in East Hollywood [just a block from the intersection of W. Sunset Blvd and N. Normandie Ave]. The bit of the story that made me stumble was in the lead paragraph, the part that said Bukowski's residence is "... the epicenter of a cultural earthquake that continues to rock Los Angeles's literary landscape."

Really? A place in which Bukowski flopped and farted on a regular basis is the epicenter of a cultural quake that continues to rock LA's literary landscape? What magnitude are we talking? Wait, I have to read that again.

Comments

[Dittman]

Glad you liked it!

[BusTard]

I harbour doubt about whether Bukowski would be appreciative of the effort, so I channeled him on the day the Cultural Heritage Commission convened to discuss touring the miniature shanty-town:

http://www.thebusbench.com/2007/09/tearing-down-th.html