After almost a decade of vacancy and disrepair, the house at
11024 Strathmore Dr. was torn down this week.
The Tilden Study Center, an organization associated with
Catholic group Opus Dei, owns the property and is planning to build
the Ahead Leadership Center, an educational facility expanding the
center’s current operations in Westwood.
The house was owned by Kappa Sigma fraternity until 1995, when
the fraternity left UCLA because of declining membership, according
to Daily Bruin archives.
The Tilden Study Center, which is currently headquartered on
Levering Avenue, acquired the property in August 1997, and has left
it alone for almost eight years.
The center originally intended to renovate the house but
discovered termite and water damage, requiring that the house be
brought up to code, and instead decided to demolish it.
From the outside, the house was not striking to passersby and
many have come to know it as something that has always been
there.
“I’ve walked past it the past 10 years, and
I’m surprised at how good of a shape it was in,” said
Sage Ruggles, a nearby resident.
“I didn’t really think it was an eyesore compared to
other places.”
Hank Lopez-Oña, director of the Tilden Study Center, heard
complaints that the homeless used the vacant house as shelter. Some
residents say they have seen vagrants starting fires in the
house.
While it could be years until something is actually built in the
house’s place, the owners of the property decided to act
now.
“My interest in getting rid of this structure was that it
was an eyesore and a nuisance to the neighborhood,”
Lopez-Oña said.
After the piles of rubble have been cleared, the former Kappa
Sigma house will be a vacant lot, and it could be years until the
Tilden Study Center can build there, Lopez-Oña said.
The funds originally intended for the site were allocated to a
project in New York City, and a fundraising campaign to gather
community support has not yet been started.
The center is seeking funds from the Woodlawn Foundation, which
allocates money mostly to various Opus Dei organizations.
The Tilden Study Center is not sure how much the foundation will
provide, but construction of the Ahead Leadership Center is
estimated to cost about $12 million.
Even if the center receives large donations, the process of
acquiring the correct city permits will prolong the construction of
the building, as well as determining a design that will be
agreeable to the community, Lopez-Oña said.
According to a pamphlet, the center will provide high school
outreach programs and career and academic support.
While the Tilden Study Center is available exclusively to
college-aged men, the directors of the Tilden Study Center have not
yet decided whether the new building will be open to both men and
women, as there is already another Opus Dei facility available for
women, Lopez-Oña said.
The building will have student residences, classrooms and
meeting rooms, which will be open to the general community.
“Those are the sort of things we want to open up for the
community,” Lopez-Oña said. “There seems to be a
dearth of meeting space.”
The house was designed by prominent Los Angeles architect Paul
Revere Williams, and was built in 1936 as one of the almost 2,000
homes designed in his career. Williams also designed several famous
structures in Los Angeles, like the Shrine Auditorium and Los
Angeles International Airport.
The Tilden Study Center is planning to incorporate elements from
Williams’ design into the new building, though they have a
general idea of the design, Lopez-Oña said. There are also
plans to commemorate Williams by placing a plaque on the new
building.
“I’d like it to be another gem in the neighborhood,
and not just another box,” he said.