Conservancy News

For years, it has been the dream of Conservancy leadership and many community members to save and rehabilitate Santa Monica’s Landmark Shotgun House as a Preservation Resource Center for our community. Now, that dream is becoming a reality. Preparations for the opening are nearing completion.

The Shotgun House – one of the few structures remaining from turn-of-the-last-century Ocean Park – was removed from its site just a few blocks south in 2002 and was in storage for over a decade. The Conservancy successfully bid to lease and rehabilitate the house, find a new location, and raise funds so the house could be moved to its new home in March 2014.

The Center will provide residents and visitors with practical, user-friendly information about historic resources in Santa Monica and the methods and benefits of preserving older buildings. An interpretive program is being developed, and docents are being recruited to welcome and inform visitors.

Initial plans are to open the Center on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am to 2 pm, and by appointment. Watch for announcement of our Grand Opening Celebration and join the celebration!

The latest Conservancy newsletter is now available online, as well as past editions. Our newsletter covers upcoming preservation events, preservation issues, features on the people and places of historic Santa Monica and much more.

In the current edition of our newsletter you will find:

• Annual Holiday Party
• Call for 2015 Preservation Awards nominations
• 2015 Annual Meeting
• Shotgun House Progress Report
• Five New Mills Act Contracts
• More News, Reports, and Event Listings

The newsletter is published four times per year. Conservancy members get mailed a copy of each new issue. Not a member? Join today!

Click here to download the current issue.

#GivingTuesday is a growing global movement that aims to make charitable giving a holiday tradition.

You don’t have to contend with the crowds. You won’t have to scour the Internet for the best deal.

On this day dedicated to generosity, there are many ways you can support the Conservancy.

How will you spend #GivingTuesday?

 

• Become a member, renew your membership, or give a gift membership today. If you are a current or recent past member, your expiration date should be listed here: .

• Donate to support our Preservation Resource Center at the Shotgun House.

• Come to a Conservancy event – our Holiday Party on Sunday, December 7 is a great way to get to know us!

• Volunteer – be a docent, join our program or fundraising committee, or tell us how you’d like to contribute to our work online or by sending email to info@smconservancy.org.

• Share a story about a historic place in Santa Monica or a photo of yourself at your favorite historic place by sending email to us atinfo@smconservancy.org or by sharing it on our Facebook page.

• Forward this to friends and family so that they can learn more about the Conservancy and sign up to receive the Conservancy newsletter.

Why is it important to make the Conservancy part of your Giving Tuesday?

Your generous contribution sustains our popular tours of the Annenberg Community Beach House and weekly historic downtown walking tours, as well our educational programs, events in historic homes and neighborhoods, and an annual lecture series – each of which brings residents and visitors in closer touch with Santa Monica’s historic places. Your support enables us to make historic preservation a key objective in City plans, which benefits homeowners who preserve historic structures and strengthens our advocacy and work to save threatened buildings.

Our City’s historic places help make Santa Monica a uniquely attractive beachside community, but we can’t take the survival of these special places for granted. Decisions are made every day that put them at risk.

Together, we’ll keep our historic places a vibrant part of the life of our city. Thank you so much for your support!

The latest Conservancy newsletter is now available online, as well as past editions. Our newsletter covers upcoming preservation events, preservation issues, features on the people and places of historic Santa Monica and much more.

In the current edition of our newsletter you will find:

• Fall Salon at the Bundy House
• Mills Act Strengthened
• Landmark Courtyard Apartments Threatened
• Shotgun House in Miniature + Progress Report
• More News, Reports, and Event Listings

The newsletter is published four times per year. Conservancy members get mailed a copy of each new issue. Not a member? Join today!

Click here to download the current issue.

“Building a Neighborhood” Curriculum receives 2nd grant from Edison International

The Conservancy was pleased to receive a $5000 grant supporting the development of our “Building a Neighborhood” Curriculum.  The curriculum, brainchild of Board Member and former Landmarks Commissioner Nina Fresco, uses the Third Street Historic District as a learning laboratory to teach youth how a community develops over time.  The program, which we hope to roll out to a small number of classrooms as early as 2015, is targeted to meet curriculum requirements for the third grade but is readily adaptable to youth of various ages.

Nina Fresco reviews the teacher’s guide for Building a Neighborhood with Mark Olson, Regional Public Affairs Officer of Southern California Edison.

This is the second Edison International grant sponsored for the Conservancy by Mark Olson, Regional Public Affairs Officer of Southern California Edison.  In 2013 the Conservancy received $5000 — funding that was evenly divided between the rehabilitation of the Shotgun House and development of “Building a Neighborhood.”

Nina Fresco, Carol Lemlein, and Mark Olson display a ceremonial “check” recognizing the $5000 grant.