Thank You

As Bellis said, it was "like Christmas."

Thank you, Barbara Ellis (aka Bellis), Karin Bugge (aka Altadena Hiker) and Michael Coppess (aka East of Allen) for helping create a terrific groundswell yesterday, a blogging extravaganza to express our communal desire to keep soccer fields out of Hahamongna Watershed Park.

And thank you, Pasadena/Altadena blogging community, for teaming up to make a powerful statement.

When I spoke with Janette Williams of the Pasadena Star-News for her story about our efforts she asked me, in so many words, how one rallies a bunch of disparate bloggers in this world of online snark. I told her I've heard of snarky blogging but that's not my community. San Gabriel Valley Bloggers like each other. We tend not to go that route.

We bloggers don't always agree, we don't vote the same way, we don't care about the same stuff. But we're nice to each other.

Not everyone we invited to participate in yesterday's event responded to the call. Chances are those people want soccer fields at Hahamongna and it's their right to feel that way. But they didn't sabotage, send nasty messages or shout us down. (And blogs we didn't even think of added great posts to the mix.)

So thank you. We were heard on many levels. We made a statement about Hahamongna, and about community. People can work together. People can be nice to each other. At a time when hatespeak has become the vernacular of politics and TV news, I'm proud to say I hang with a crowd that doesn't speak that language.

Deja View

I know. You're thinking I posted this photo the other day. I don't blame you.

Look again. Since I took last Sunday's photo on May 1st, the Crown City Loan And Jewelry "Money To Loan" signs have been removed on both the Colorado Blvd. and Raymond Avenue sides of the building. According to one commenter on that post, that signage has been up since the 1970's.

The older lettering--"For Values," above, and I'm not sure what, below--has suffered in the intervening years. So has the black grid, which I'm going to guess was once clear glass.
I suppose I would have noticed this eventually, but what drew me to Old Town this time was Terry Griest, PDP's Bay Area designer friend, who was in Pasadena for a short family visit. She saw the changes and emailed me, so I ran over to get a shot. This time I actually stopped into the pawn shop. I had never been there before. Nice girls don't go to pawn shops, or something like that.

Well. This is Pasadena after all. Our pawn shop is not your creepy, greasy TV kind of pawn shop but rather a bit upscale. Sunlight streams in through big windows, gleaming on all sorts of cool stuff including jewelry, guitars, rare coins, power tools and three beautiful, antique cash registers. I asked the woman behind the counter about the changes to the facade and she said the plan is to remodel the building to its original appearance. When I told her I thought that was pretty cool, she said she thought so, too. She was excited about it.

I haven't read anything about this in the Pasadena Star-News or on the Pasadena Heritage website. But restoration of one of Pasadena's oldest Greene and Greene buildings, and, according to this 2006 article by Janette Williams, the only commercial building the favorite sons ever designed, is worth getting excited about.

Update 5/26/10:
I heard from Robert Montano, the Project Manager at Pasadena's
Economic Development Division. He says:

"As background to your post, the Owners, helped by a façade grant from the City of Pasadena’s Redevelopment Department are embarking on a façade restoration of the Kinney Building – the only Greene and Greene commercial building. The “Black Grid” is actually a panel of purple glass tiles frequently used in transom windows as can be seen at 55 E Colorado (above the future Intelligentsia and existing Foot Locker), just around the corner.

No one was certain as to the condition of the building when we started out, so needless to say, we are pretty happy to find so much original character in place. We have a long way to go until completion, but are very excited about starting down the path."

I know there's an online photo of 44 E. Colorado, but I couldn't find it today. But this post about Pop Champagne Bar from Fightin' Mad Mary shows the same kind of transom windows, just around the corner from the Pawn Shop.

Owl Drug Store

The old Owl Drug Company doorway now leads into Old Town Pasadena's J. Crew store at 3 W. Colorado Blvd. The corner of Colorado and Fair Oaks is where local commerce began.

Finding information online about this building and about Owl Drug isn't easy. The building, in Zig Zag Modern style, was built in 1930 after the previous Victorian structure burned in 1929. Apparently Owl Drug was there in the 1930s and 1940s (or the 20s-40s, depending on which article you read). Confusing, I know. Also, it looks like Owl was one of the forerunners of Rexall, but not until the 1940s. Yeah. Hard to follow.

This is a treasured old building, but not one of the oldest in town. Pasadena goes back to the turn of the 20th century.

Hey! It's my brother's birthday. One of these days I'd love to tour him around Old Town. He'd love it. Happy birthday, Stu!

This photo was a contender for the November first theme day of Doorways but I set it aside when I discovered how little information I was able to find on the web. In my search, though, I did find this 2006 article about hidden history by Janette Williams for the Pasadena Star-News. It reminded me that if I'll just dig, there are always treasures to uncover here.