The Battle of Lincoln Place by Dennis Hathaway

Author:Dennis Hathaway [Hathaway, Dennis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781732476233
Publisher: Crania Press
Published: 2022-05-23T13:31:17+00:00

16

THE VILLAGE AT VENEZIA

ON THE SATURDAY AFTER Labor Day in 2001, TransAction CEO Robert Bisno stood at a podium in front of an audience of more than fifty Lincoln Place residents gathered outside the management office that occupied a ground-floor apartment in a Frederick Street building. Some sat on rows of folding chairs on the lawn between the two wings of the building; others stood behind. With Bisno were Allan Abshez, TransAction’s attorney, Elly Nesis, manager of nearby Building 18 and the five Lake Street buildings now slated to undergo major remodeling, and a pair of security guards. A large poster with an aerial view of Lincoln Place was set on an easel, with groups of buildings colored in bright hues—orange, magenta, purple, and green.

Laura Burns had to work that day, but she sent her husband, Bernard Perroud, with a tape recorder. As small planes taking off from the nearby Santa Monica airport regularly buzzed overhead, Bisno explained that the colors represented phases that would culminate in the complete remodeling of Lincoln Place, transforming it into a modern, vibrant complex called the Village at Venezia. The building that housed the management office and the one directly behind it, with a total of forty-four apartments, would be demolished and replaced by a recreational facility with a swimming pool and other amenities. A new building with forty-four units would also be built on the site, he said, but instead of rentals these would be condominiums. As the construction work progressed, all tenants would eventually have to move out, but they would be given ample notice and the relocation assistance mandated by the RSO.

The model for this new, improved Lincoln Place—or Village at Venezia—was Building 18, now completely remodeled except for the unit that would be occupied by Laura Ponce for another two months. Sheila Bernard had taken to calling it the “Frankenbuilding.” To add more interior space to second-floor apartments, balconies had been enclosed and new balconies supported by wooden columns now jutted from the building’s face. For Burns and others with a keen interest in Lincoln Place’s architecture, this was a travesty, because the original design, with balconies set within building planes, had given the exteriors their sleek, modernist appearance. Decorative elements unique to each building, like wood motifs and glass inserts above the entries, had been removed. But even more distressing to those who valued Lincoln Place for the way its design promoted a mingling of tenants, Building 18 was now enclosed by a six-foot-high wrought iron fence with security gates at each of the seven entries. Fences also created private yards for each of those entries so that four units shared a private outdoor space. The only remaining public area was a narrow verge of lawn between the sidewalks and the perimeter fence. When all buildings were transformed this way, residents would no longer be able to wander freely, bump into their neighbors, gather on the lawns for birthday parties, barbecues, and the other social occasions. Lincoln Place would

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