Pomona News

Meanwhile, back in the U.S., the news from Pomona isn't all bad. The Daily Bulletin reported yesterday on the Fox Theater renovations. Arteco, the company that did the Claremont Packing House adaptive reuse project, is working on the Fox as well.

It's good to see that the Fox is on the National Register of Historic Places and that they've organized a terrific preservation effort.

Of course, being placed on the Register isn't a guarantee of perfect preservation. The old Bullocks (now Macy's) on Lake Ave. in Pasadena is looking a little tattered. The wood veneer on some of the columns looks water damaged and is split and peeling. It'd be nice to see more effort put into restoring architect Welton Becket's Art Moderne gem.

Time was when Lake Ave. with Bullock's and I. Magnin were special destinations for people in the San Gabriel Valley. Look carefully, and you can see bits and pieces of the building's old grandeur--the 1950's era photo of the interior on display near the stairwell by the women's shoe department and the makeup counters, the old lifts that originally had elevator operators, the hair salon on the upper floor (still with the original furniture).

Becket had a hand in many of Southern California's landmark structures, including the Beverly Hilton, the Capitol Records building, the Cinerama Dome, the LAPD's Parker Center, the Ahmanson, the Dororthy Chandler Pavillion, the Mark Taper Forum and the Century City Complex.

Becket left his mark on Pomona, too. The Pomona Public Library, Pomona City Hall and the Pomona Public Safety Building all involved his work. You can see a slide show of all of these at you-are-here.com.

Look around a little and under all that dust you just might find something worth hanging on to.