Highland Park Preservationists Seek To Save Supermarket's 'Googie' Design
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A Highland Park supermarket, considered by many to be an architectural treasure, plans on renovating, but residents are fighting to preserve the look it's had for more 50 years — a historic, mid-century Space Age style called "Googie" design.
The Superior Market, which has called the corner of Figueroa Street and Avenue 45 home since 1960, is planning on updating, and anticipates getting rid of the style, which many locals claim is cherished and should be preserved.
"This is a part of who we are," said Christine Pierron, chairwoman of the planning and land use committee for the Arroyo Seco neighborhood council. "There's people here who grew up here, who went to the market, and the Googie style is part of that ongoing context and weave, really, of architectural styles."
Some residents suggest changing the design would be just another step in what they consider the destruction of the community's personality.
"I've lived in Highland Park for the past 33 years, and I've seen a lot of development movement to destroy what this community is all about," Highland Park resident Rosa Rivas said.
Charles Fisher, who fights to save landmarks throughout the city of Los Angeles, considers the preservation of the supermarket's Googie style his primary concern.
"The building literally was the epitome of the hopes and future of people," Fisher said. "The Googie style is really the Space Age style of the day, and this particular building epitomizes that style."
Fisher is fighting, along with the Highland Park Heritage Trust, to preserve the facade of the 34,000-square-foot building.
LA's Planning Use Management Committee will make a decision Tuesday on whether to move forward in naming the building a historic landmark.
