Wednesday, 3/5/97
Visions of the Future
Residents hope village takes on cultural, art-oriented
personality
By Michelle Navarro
Daily Bruin Contributor
This could be the future of Westwood…
The room bounces in unison with the bass of the music blaring
through the speakers, a bartender mixes a screwdriver for the man
at the edge of the counter, bodies packed like sardines flood the
dance floor, lights sweep across the walls and the air is thick
with heat and the smell of beer.
or…
Lights twinkle amidst the trees framing the street, an elderly
couple quietly sits on a bench under a tree watching people go by,
the clinking of dishes and silverware can be heard from the
restaurant serving $20 entrees across the way, and families wait in
line to purchase tickets to an old Audrey Hepburn flick shown at
the nearby revival theater.
At what has been called a "turning point" for Westwood Village,
much controversy has surrounded several proposed plans for the
town’s future. Different interest groups have their own vision of
what should and should not be built and what personality Westwood
Village ought to develop from this point in time. Which possible
persona — the night-life college town for students, or the calm,
arts and culture pedestrian village — is more realistic and
feasible for the locale is still being debated.
The Friends of Westwood, an organization that has continually
been active in voicing their concerns for the village, is creating
its own design for the future.
"The Friends of Westwood has a plan that would play off the
culture and background of the area," said Laura Lake, president of
the preservation organization.
Lake said their plan would possibly include such modifications
as constructing a park and a branch public library. The
organization is also seeking to bring the UCLA film archives, a
project involved with saving university archive films, to the
Village in an existing theater rather than to its current Beverly
Hills destination.
"Also, Geffen Playhouse is looking to expand, so that would be
great," Lake said. "We’re looking towards an arts and culture
center that brings adults who can afford the kind of retail we want
to see. We already have enough of cookies and yogurt."
Movie theaters are another thing Lake said Westwood Village has
enough of. However, they are still a component of the Ira Smedra
Village Center Westwood plan and the Mann’s movie theater
complex.
According to Lake, Smedra’s first draft of the plan will not
continue unless he eliminates the design to increase the number of
movie seats and finds a way to supply adequate parking and avoid
closing off public streets like Glendon.
"I believe it is possible to come back with a viable project
that will conform with the Specific Plan," Lake said.
The Westwood Specific Plan, a set of guidelines created for
village property owners, established a limit on the amount of movie
seats in the village as well as other strict specifications, like
building size.
The abundance of theaters are also part of what Lake said
generated the downfall of Westwood Village.
"The movie-based economy, greed of the property owners,
perception of crime and lack of free parking all contributed. We
can’t compete with other areas. Too many people come back, find a
parking ticket and say ‘I’m not coming back,’" Lake said.
Instead of building additional theaters, Lake said structures
like Jerry’s Deli, which cater to the neighborhood’s needs and are
more "family oriented," need to be set up so everyone from the
community can benefit.
"The idea of a mall is alien to the village because it is one of
the few walking villages. Smedra’s plan to build a mall follows the
old suburban way. We need more imagination and vision than that,"
Lake said.
Westwood Hills Property Owners Association President Harriet
Miller agrees with Lake’s vision of an arts, culture and
family-oriented Westwood.
"I would like for it to be a culture center with live theater,
museums, arts and book stores and the types of shops and
restaurants those who visit museums would go to," Miller said.
Miller also objects to Smedra’s intent to add more movie
theaters and said it would not revitalize the village or attract
more visitors but instead would just create more traffic on the
streets.
"The plan will exceed the limit for movie theaters stated in the
Specific Plan for Westwood," Miller said, "I like the looks of the
plan that Kanner Architects presented, but it’s too large, it’s way
out of the limits of the Specific Plan."
She also argues how the structure would become a separate entity
in the village.
"It’ll just be putting a mall there and it doesn’t really tie
into Westwood," Miller said.
Stressing high-quality business for the village is what Miller
said needs to be focused on. Westwood Village should be able to
offer things that other places like Westside Pavilion and Century
City do not, she said.
Both Miller and Lake have geared their ideas to attract an
older, more mature crowd. Joyce Foster, president of the Westwood
Homeowners Association, however, is more concerned with bringing
the students back to the town’s streets.
"I’d love to see students here – I was a student and I care a
lot about the village. I’m not blaming them though, I mean there’s
really not much here for them to do. There needs to be more places
for student use. When I was a student there was a pool hall. The
campus is building so much now that students don’t need to go to
the village anymore."
Foster realizes that more entertainment options must be
established in order to bring the students back to Westwood
Village. However, she is not sure if the popular request, a
nightclub, is the answer.
"The word nightclub scares a lot of people, but it doesn’t scare
me – if it’s done right. There used to be great beer halls where
you’d sing songs and eat peanuts, something like that would be
great. But, nowadays nightclubs create more problems. I think of
Hollywood Boulevard when I think of nightclubs. There are plenty of
other things that could attract students to the village short of a
nightclub," Foster said.
In terms of the Smedra plan, Foster basically sees eye to eye
with Miller and Lake. Her only tangent is her desire to see a night
life develop for the students.
"I think I remember being a student too much," Foster said.
Sandy Brown, co-president of Holmby Westwood Property Owners
Association, disagrees with Foster’s interest in the student’s
needs. She said students already have enough facilities available
on campus.
"We feel students have 6,000 movie seats and stuff on campus,
they don’t need a nightclub. They should be studying, not looking
for a nightclub. They can go to Third Street for that," Brown said.
"It’s time to look at the neighborhood’s needs."
A daytime Westwood is what Brown said homeowners around the
village need. An area to supply them with clothing stores for the
family as well as furniture, hardware and bookstores rather than a
town that only buzzes at night with restaurants and movie
theaters.
"We live here and use the village and stores. We frequently cook
at home, believe it or not, and don’t need all those restaurants.
We want a lot more than dinner and a movie and we don’t want to
leave the upcoming generation with just dinner and movies," Brown
said.
Brown liked the idea of giving an arts and culture edge to the
village, but she questioned whether or not it could happen.
"It would be wonderful, but it requires money. Without the
money, it’s like whistling "Dixie" in the wind. I would love to see
that happen, but it has to be financed by someone," Brown said. "We
need to get going on this village but we need to be careful about
what we put."AARON TOUT
Ira Smedra’s proposed Village Center would add a grocery store,
movie theaters, a pharmacy and other retail shops to Westwood.