Seeley's Building Grand Opening and Artwalk Tomorrow, 09/19

Curious to see inside the restored Seeley's Building at Brand and San Fernando Road?  Come to the Grand Opening event tomorrow. From the press release:

Glendale, California, September 12, 2012 - After 6 long years and a $8,000,000 restoration/redesign, the historical Seeley's Furniture building is celebrating its heritage and evolution with the grand opening of 'Seeley Studios', a modern and urban remodel of the historical building for use as creative office and live/work space. The event will be held on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 and will feature live paintings, artist galleries, music, entertainment, a ribbon cutting ceremony and more. 

The Seeley Building was originally built in 1925 and underwent a Deco/Modern make-over in the 1940's for George Seeley and his furniture warehouse. The building sat untouched for another 65 years before it was converted to urban office space for creative tenants by Live Work Loft. The building will open publicly on Wednesday for the first time in over 18 years since Seeley's Furniture first closed its doors after 60 years in business. 

Glendale residents and business owners are welcome to the event and are encouraged to celebrate a historic part of the city being transformed into chic modern live/work and creative space. The architecture and individual spaces will be open for viewing, and many units will house premium artwork from the most creative spirits in Glendale and Los Angeles. 

Come and enjoy exhibits and installations from more than thirty prominent artists, some of whom have exhibited in LACMA and MOCA Geffen, as well as other galleries and museums worldwide.  

Historic Seeley Building Artwalk 

Wednesday
September 19th, 2012
Seeley Studios
1800 S. Brand Avenue
Glendale, CA 91204 

3pm- 9pm Artwalk
9pm-12pm After Party
Hosted food and drinks  

More details are available on the Facebook Page for the event:

• Seeley Artwalk and After Party

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Exploring the Restored Seeley's Building

Today I was able to explore the restored Seeley's Furniture building at the south end of Glendale.  After being vacant for many years, it's been converted to pleasant creative office spaces that retain much of the building's original character.  You can find more information from the developer.  Local blog The Sights The Sounds has a nice overview of the history and architectural features of the original building.  During the period in which the building was mostly vacant, it was occasionally used for filming, most prominently in the Coen Bros film "The Man Who Wasn't There."  The entire news station set in Anchorman was also built inside the Seeley's building.

Inside one of the three residential lofts.  They all have the same layout.

The three residential live/work spaces are detached from the main building.

One of the office spaces.

View from the large third floor office.

 Large third floor office.

 Large third floor office.

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The Glendale Triangle, Bank of Tropico, and My Car Wash

My usual car wash on the triangular piece of land bounded by San Fernando, Los Feliz, and Central in Glendale is no longer there - it's been demolished to make way for the Glendale Triangle Project, which I first wrote about in 2008.  I assume the developer's financing stalled during the recession, but now that the economy has improved somewhat the project is moving forward.  Over the last few weeks the car wash, smog check, and Burger King buildings have all been demolished.  What is the Glendale Triangle? From the executive summary of the final environmental impact report: 

PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS 

The Project is a proposed mixed-use development consisting of 218 multi-family residential units, 54,000 square feet of commercial floor area, supporting parking facilities, and recreation and open space amenities. The Project as proposed consists of two five-story structures, with each structure featuring commercial uses on the ground 
level with residential uses occupying the four levels above. The Project would provide 17,300 square feet of common open space and 15,000 square feet of private open space, for a total of 32,300 square feet of open space. A majority of recreational facilities and common open space would be located on the second floor, podium level. The residential portions of each building would include a lobby, outdoor courtyards, storage rooms, service, trash and recycling rooms, and shared clubhouse with outdoor pool area and fitness facility. 707 parking spaces would be provided on the ground floor and within a three-and-a-half-level subterranean parking garage. Development of the proposed Project would require the demolition and removal of three on-site buildings located along the northern and southern portions of the site

Here is the project site as it looked in 2008, and below is a view of the site today -

The triangular shaped piece of land has an interesting history - it was the center of the main business area of Tropico, which was a separate city that ultimately voted to be annexed by Los Angeles and Glendale.  Much of South Glendale was originally Tropico, and the portions that were annexed by Los Angeles became Atwater Village.

From the 1912 promotional brochure, Glendale, California: The Jewel City (full PDF here) -

"A two story brick block has been erected at the junction of San Fernando Road and Central Avenue, in which are located the Tropico Bank, the City Hall and office of the Tropico newspaper, "The Sentinel," below, the second story being devoted to rooming apartments."

The Bank of Tropico is the triangular shaped building on the right.  Below is an image from Google Maps, showing the Burger King that has now been demolished for the Glendale Triangle.

Below is an advertisement for the Bank of Tropico from the same 1912 brochure, "Glendale, California: The Jewel City".

Bank Vice President Burt W. Richardson was the son of W.C.B. Richardson, who owned the Santa Eulalia rancho that became Tropico (before it became South Glendale and Atwater Village).  Burt Richardson was murdered in Tropico in 1915, but I'll save that story for a future post.

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Glendale History Bike Ride Photos

The Glendale History Ride two weeks ago was fantastic. 77 riders came along on a tour of historical and scenic spots in Glendale and Atwater Village. Big thanks to Colin Bogart, Marc Stirdivant, and Marty Braccioti, who helped organize, and ace ABC7 photographer Martin Orozco for taking most of the great photos below. Also thank you to ride volunteers Jennie Rickert, Nathalie Winiarski and Jen from The Cave Wine Storage. The ride was sponsored by The Glendale Historical Society, LA County Bicycle Coalition and the City of Glendale Community Services and Parks Department.

Here are ride reports by George Larios (who was nice enough to help me out at the beginning of the ride) at Montrose Patch and by new blogger Somebody Walks.

Selected photos are below, and I posted the full set on Flickr here. Most of these are by Martin Orozco, a few are by Marty Braccioti, and I think one or two are Marc Stirdivant's. I was too busy to take many photos of my own.

• FULL SET ON FLICKR

Group photo before the ride

Departin the Glendale Train Station. Photo by Martin Orozco


Riding along the scenic LA River Path. Photo by Martin Orozco

Speaking about the history of the Grand Central Air Terminal.

I took this photo looking back at the group on Glenoaks. Don't make a wrong turn!

Riding through the Kenilworth Tunnel under the 134. Photo by Martin Orozco

At the Goode House. Photo by Martin Orozco

Exploring the nooks and crannies of The Cave Wine Storage, in the historic Hotel Glendale. Photo by Martin Orozco

Speaking at the Richardson House, former home of Tropico founder W.C.B Richardson. The oldest wood-frame home in Glendale.

Exploring the tiny Cottage Grove Historic District near Adams Hill. Photo by Martin Orozco

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"Larry Crowne" Filming Locations in Atwater Village

Glendale Blvd in Atwater Village is featured prominently in the trailer for Tom Hanks' Larry Crowne. Hanks wrote, directed, and stars in the film. Several nights were spent filming in front of Tee Gee, but you don't see it in the trailer.

Canele and Bikram Yoga visible in background at Glendale & Larga.



Julia Roberts on a Glendale Blvd bus bench.



Trailer-

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