The college has received permission to
complete the design of our “Van de Kampus”. Phase III—the building complex that completes the quadrangle
on the San Fernando Road side—will contain a small theatre, wellness
center, and multi-purpose community room.
The theatre seats 160 and can be used for both performances and
large lectures. The wellness center
will provide a vital community resource on health and nutrition,
(Congressman Xavier Becerra’s office has worked closely with the college to
secure $240,000 of federal funding for the testing equipment). The community room will be available to
organizations for events and will also be used for health and fitness
classes. The second floor will
feature our workforce development offices and various city and county
programs. Finally, Phase IV will be
an outdoor recreation complex with lighted basketball and tennis
courts. It will also have bathrooms
and showers/lockers (adjacent to our bike racks). This will complete the build-out of the site and provide the
community with a full-service education/cultural center. Los Angeles City College conducted two tours
of the Historic Van de Kamp’s Bakery before demolition of the rear portion
of the bakery building. Roschen Van
Cleve Architects and the California’s architect of the year (for 2003) Steven
Ehrlich Architects conducted the tours.
Roschen Van Cleve highlighted the preservation work that will be
done to transform the bakery building: from bakery to college. Steven Ehrlich Architects highlighted the
locations and design of the two new buildings added to the site. Local residents and
community leaders attended the event to pay homage to the bakery building
before it begins its full transformation.
In fact, previous employees of the Van de Kamp’s joined the local
tourist; they reminded everyone of the unique adoring qualities that are
outside of the architectural features.
Also in attendance were some of the very people who fought to keep
this building in their neighborhood—members of the Coalition to Save Van de
Kamp’s. Thus, it was not only a
time to hear the current and future work; but to also celebrate the many
glorious memories that will be a part of the Van de Kamp’s future. Pictured from left to
right are previous VDK Employees: Charlie Hawkins, Horace Boggs, Leon
Williams, and Kenny Rayl
Onward and
Upward—
Phase III and
IV Design to Proceed
November
Demolition of VDK’s Factory Building
Mail
Bag Our last newsletter generated the following response
from a very special reader: Dear Jeff, During the period
1933-1938 (when I was 1 through 6 years old) my parents and I lived in one
of the old Southern Pacific section hand houses at 3039 Casitas Avenue,
just off Fletcher Drive. Reduced business for the railroad encouraged
them to rent to WPA workers for $2 per month, and since my father was on
WPA (my mother did housework for the "rich folks" in the
Silverlake district), we got one of them. The house backed up to the
Southern Pacific Main Line, and was immediately across from the Van de
Kamp’s Bakery building. From the time I was
3, I was regularly paddled for running away to visit the bakers at Van de
Kamp’s. The bakers welcomed this redheaded, freckle-faced tike
royally, and fed him all the broken cookies he could hold. We became
close friends, and when I turned 6, the bakers got together and baked a
cake as big as a washtub and brought it across the tracks to our little
house. We invited all of the kids from the neighborhood and from my
Kindergarten class at Atwater School to eat it up. Even the bakers themselves
came at the end of their shift. I do have a picture
from that day of me with my huge cake, if it would be of any interest. Of course the years passed with many
other adventures. I left Atwater for Pacoima and Lincoln Heights,
left San Fernando High School and went directly to Los Angeles City
College, from which I graduated in 1951, then a BA from Pepperdine, 2 years
in the U. S. Marine Corps in the Korean War, a JD from USC Law School, and
in 1967 I was elected the Member of the Los Angeles City Council from the
14th District, which included (at that time) my childhood home and the Van
de Kamp’s Bakery, and where I served for 20 years. So much has taken place in my life, but one of
the truly pleasant memories still is the friendship of those jolly bakers at
Van de Kamp’s. We are interested in capturing your memories and memorabilia for
a permanent display that will give testimony to “the Bakery’s” role as both
a neighborhood landmark and valued community member. Please contact Jeff Obana.
Sincerely,
Art Snyder
Los Angeles City College, Class of 1951
The
Bakery and the City Council City College was asked to make a VDK
presentation to the Los Angeles City Council meeting at the end of
September. The meeting was held at
Washington Irving Middle School, within a few blocks of the new
campus. With all the city council
members present, an auditorium full of people, and the TV cameras rolling,
Dan Seymour, the Site Administrator, gave everyone an update on the construction
and programming plans. He took the
opportunity to introduce Doris Givens, the college’s new interim president,
as well as the project’s architects—Steven Ehrlich Architects and Roschen
Van Cleve. The audience interrupted
several times with spontaneous applause and Council Member Ed Reyes and
Council Member Eric Garcetti responded to the presentation by praising the
college for its extraordinary efforts to save the bakery and to bring an
educational center to northeast Los Angeles. A model of the campus was displayed in the foyer of the
auditorium and Assistant Site Administrators Trent Tornabene and Jeff Obana
spent their time answering questions—the most often of which was, “When
will it open?” Northeast
Campus Development Team: Dan Seymour – (323) 953-4000 x2377, seymoud@lacitycollege.edu Trent Tornabene – (323) 953-4000 x2445, tornabte@lacitycollege.edu Jeff Obana – (323) 953-4000 x2446, obanajd@lacitycollege.edu
