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Arcadia Weekly Oct 28, 2009
For the period of Sunday, October 4, through Saturday, October 10, the Police Department responded to 983 calls for service of which 116 required formal investigations. The following is a summary report of the major incidents handled by the Department during this period.
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This Article is Part III of our Series on the Historic Hugo Reid Adobe Restoration Project
As you read this, the adobe structure located on the grounds of the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia continues to deteriorate. And its condition is of grave concern to many at the County, Arboretum volunteers and a growing number of Arcadians.
Believing that the adobe might actually crumble, a group of Arcadians have begun to rally support for a project to restore not only the adobe, but rebuild Elias J. “Lucky” Baldwin’s homestead, an effort they see as returning the founder and first mayor of Arcadia to his rightful place in the City’s history. Within the walls of the adobe, Baldwin signed city incorporation papers in 1903 and it is the place he died in 1909.
The city’s history took a jolt when research turned up a shocking piece of news: the adobe in the historic collection at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, long regarded as the historic Hugo Reid Adobe was, in fact, not the 1840 Reid structure, but rather an 1854 adobe built by Joseph Rowe, a subsequent owner of the Santa Anita Rancho property. The Rowe adobe was added to by Baldwin when he acquired the land in 1875. He retained the adobe, and then added a wooden-frame wing that included a broad veranda looking out over the lake, according to recent research.
The Rowe adobe was restored in the 1958 restoration project under the direction of The Arboretum Foundation, then called the California Arboretum Foundation. The planning and construction was carried out by one of California’s most respected archaeologists, William J. Wallace. Under the restoration plan, the Baldwin wing was razed. The adobe that was thought to have been a Hugo Reid dwelling was cleared to its foundation and rebuilt based on what was believed at the time to be a typical California adobe of the 1800s – although that project went forward without any specific documentation proving that the adobe had ever belonged to Hugo Reid.
In fact, the 1958 restoration also removed some of the walls within the adobe. The Reid adobe was apparently located nearby, but not at the restored location. It was these new and important historical revisions that encouraged Sandy Snider, an expert on Baldwin’s life and former curator of the historical section at The Arboretum, and Lauragene Swenson, past President of Los Voluntarios, to form a committee to bring to light elements of the new research and to begin a drive to save the adobe and replace the Baldwin home.
The Baldwin Adobe Restoration Committee formed to bring attention to the new-found research. The photographs taken by Wallace’s wife, Edith, prior to restoration work, were uncovered by Snider in the California State Park Library in Sacramento and floor plans of the original adobe and Baldwin annex were found through the searching of County records and other sources by Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation trustee William W. Ellinger, III.
The issue has been on the table at the Arboretum under its list of important garden projects for at least two years. It appears to continue to languish. In late September, the Curator of Historic Collections at The Arboretum, Mitchell Hearns Bishop, said that Requests for Proposals had been sent out and one had been received by that time. Following that, Bishop reported, an Evaluation Proposal Committee would be formed consisting of County and citizen participation to select a restoration architect to produce drawings and construction plans.
Some delay is accounted for due to the arrival of a new CEO at the Arboretum, Richard Schulhof, who is now only in his third week at the post. Several County officials involved in Arboretum management were contacted for this article, but at this time none have returned calls to confirm what if any movement has occurred relative to the adobe project.
A group of Arcadia residents met to review the research by Snider and Ellinger to determine what action might be appropriate to get the restoration underway. Forming as the Baldwin Adobe Restoration Committee, members Carol Libby, Jean Parrille, Joe Eisele, Lauragene Swenson, Bishop, Snider, Scott Hettrick and Sho Tay, presented the results of the research at Libby’s Arcadia home on Oct. 4 to outline the importance of rebuilding the founder of Arcadia’s 1875 home as well as the adobe he built onto. Just shy of 100 dignitaries attended the event which drew interest from Michael Antonovich, Supervisor of the fifth district of which both the City of Arcadia and the Arboretum reside; County employees who serve at The Arboretum, including the CEO, Schulhof; several Foundation trustees; members of Los Voluntarios, the cadre of volunteers at The Arboretum; three former mayors, and the current Mayor of Arcadia, John Wuo; as well as a number of long-time residents of the area active in community affairs. The urgent nature of the restoration project was recognized by those at the event.
At an event of 100 community dignitaries to raise interest in restoring the Baldwin adobe and home, Arcadia city councilman and former mayor, Gary Kovacic reminds the crowd that a lack of interest from the community lost Anoakia, Anita Baldwin's mansion. Without public funding and little interest from the community, the estate was torn down and replaced by a real estate development. - Photo by Bill Peters
Burks L. Hamner, President of the Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation, says that Foundation trustees are “all in support of [the Baldwin Adobe Restoration project].”
“We want to do it,” he said. The Foundation, Hamner said, has endorsed the concept as it has been discussed over the past years. Several Trustees of the Foundation were on hand at the Oct. 4 event which Hamner cited as support for the project and the “wonderful effort by [the Baldwin Adobe Restoration Committee] working together to make it happen.” But, he pointed out, without a specific restoration proposal it would be hard for the board to say more than the work has the general support of trustees. Hamner did say that the Baldwin-adobe project would “definitely be endorsed and will be supported financially” by the Foundation. “We’re all enthusiastic about the project.”
Beacon Media has received an advance copy of a letter which will be released Friday to a group of volunteers. Los Voluntarios will be receiving a newsletter next week with a call to action. The call comes from the group’s President, Bob Weber. Los Voluntarios is a group of 300 volunteers who have guided school and visitor tours of the Arboretum grounds with special attention devoted to the historical section.
This group is responsible for the spring Baldwin Bonanza, craft items in the gift shop and for maintaining the Gardens for all Seasons in addition to the tours. The men and women serving can represent as much as 30,000 volunteer hours and most serve for many years. Their activities are seen as central and vital to the overall success of The Arboretum.
In the Los Voluntarios newsletter, Arbovitae, Weber spells out in dramatic detail the role the volunteers—and the community—must take to see both this project and other improvements to all the historical buildings come to fruition.
Weber notes that “Los Vols”, as Los Voluntarios are commonly known, often point out the areas at The Arboretum that need attention, but, he writes, “they overwhelmingly chose the historical buildings.” Weber cites general deterioration, paint that is peeling, termite and dry rot damage and reports that many in the group “have voiced your sadness that we have let these buildings get to that condition.” He urges Los Vols to take immediate action to support restoration of all the buildings, beginning with the Baldwin Adobe Restoration project, “to bring back Elias J. “Lucky” Baldwin’s home as it looked over 100 years ago.”
“The lack of attention to our historical buildings must end. History is important and the history of The Arboretum is especially important,” Weber says in his letter. Weber encourages his membership to write Arboretum administrators and the Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation trustees “today about your feelings regarding the historical buildings.
“Tell them you care,” he exhorts them. “And make it a strong letter!”
The story behind the research and what has been turned up is extraordinary. Ellinger becomes excited when he describes the plot-plan of the adobe and the Baldwin home as it was drawn by Dr. Wallace and his restoration group, the archeologist who was hired to perform the 1958 restoration of the adobe. The 1958 drawing shows that the adobe had four rooms-a room with a fireplace installed by Baldwin, two rooms and a closet. The addition added by Baldwin was attached to the room with the fireplace and extended west to contain seven rooms that included a parlor, dining room, kitchen and storage, a guest room and servants quarters.
Next week:
Restoring the Baldwin Home. A peek inside what the interior of the adobe and the Baldwin home looked like before and during the 1958 restoration and prior to the demolition of the Baldwin annex.
