Yesterday Pasadena's own Miss Havisham paid a visit to Pasadena Daily Photo to send me on an errand. Because we were discussing a favorite red brick wall, she expressed concern for a beloved old brick building, the Livingstone Hotel at 139 S. Los Robles Avenue. The poor old hotel is closed and sagging. Signs posted around it say "No Trespassing/Pasadena Police." It's enough to put our Miss Havisham in a tizzy.To be specific: Miss Havisham said the Livingstone was "scheduled for demolition."
Then a mysterious commenter known only as "Anonymous" chimed in and said, "Please take a closer look - the Livingstone is not going to be torn down."
I love a mystery, so I took my trusty little camera and went snooping. I found workmen cleaning out the building.
Why would they bother?There was definitely work going on inside. If they were going to tear it down wouldn't they just smash it and skip the niceties? Unless they wanted the doorknobs.
I love a good Google search, and I turned up this. Of course it proves nothing.
The Japanese restaurant in question, absolutely closed:
(By the way, if you haven't seen the updates to yesterday's post, including historical photos from Pasaden's Public Information Officer, then I suggest you scroll on down.)-------------------------------
Update: The Livingstone is being renovated. It is a matter of public record, it's just that the records were not easy to find on the internet.
Blogger won't load a .pdf, but the one my contact sent lists the Livingstone as a "mixed-use project, 1700 square feet retail, 34 new residential units, hotel renovation." The Stanley next door has a beauty salon on the ground floor. I'll post some shots tomorrow to show you how that looks.
The city website's Major Projects page hasn't been updated lately, but it's still interesting. Unfortunately the Livingstone project wasn't on it or it might have been easier to find.
I'm grateful to Miss Havisham for bringing this to my attention for an fun and interesting post, and to Anonymous for getting more detailed information to us.
