Local News in Brief : Landmark Gets Reprieve

The once-lavish Edward Strong residence--one of two turn-of-the-century Victorian structures left in the downtown Los Angeles area--won a 60-day reprieve Wednesday when the city’s Cultural Affairs Commission objected to the historic cultural monument’s demolition.

The Community Redevelopment Agency was seeking a demolition permit because the three-story building at 633 W. 15th St. is within a $390-million project to expand the Convention Center and city permission is needed before a municipal cultural monument can be destroyed.

The 101-year-old house was declared a landmark in 1977 because it “is a unique example of Queen Anne architecture in the Caribbean style.” The home is named after a salesman who was its first occupant.

Although the commission acknowledged that the Strong home cannot stay where it is, it asked the redevelopment agency to intensify efforts to find a buyer who could afford to relocate the building.

Redevelopment agency project manager Barbara Kaiser, who had previously estimated the relocation and rehabilitation costs at $1.4 million, told the commission that the building’s front facade could be saved for $400,000.