Preserve the Sontag Building
The former Sontag building is slated for development that will only salvage the facade.
The 1936 Sontag Drug Store building at 5401 Wilshire Boulevard in 1941.
UPDATE:
2024: The Art Deco Society of Los Angeles continues to monitor the Mirabel project development proposed for the site of the Sontag Building. At a September 21, 2024 public meeting with the developer, we learned that the plans still call for the demolition of all but the front facade walls. The plan is to dig under the building and then rebuild the missing walls and roof. The building is now vacant and has been for quite some time.
The Art Deco Society of Los Angeles issued a comment letter on October 7, 2024 to ask that the developer consider a tunneling alternative that does not require demolition and reconstruction. We saw that there are some character defining features left inside, such as streamline staircase.
We went through the process to name this Miracle Mile district building a City Historic Cultural Monument, but due to a filing date issue on the part of City Planning, the building suddenly became ineligible. What is most worrisome is that development has chipped away at the inventory of historic buildings that make this area a historic district. We are dangerously close to losing that designation - and this is a high density area of Art Deco and Streamline Moderne architecture.
OUTCOME:
In 2021 we went through the process to declare the Sontag Building a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument. Unfortunately, because of a city planning department mistake (they failed to act on paperwork in time) it could not be designated.
The Sontag Building was formally determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, and was concurrently listed in the California Register of Historical Resources, as a Contributor to the Miracle Mile Historic District. This gives the build a degree of protection.
A development called the Mirabel is slated to remove the surrounding buildings on the block and likely give the Sontag a “facade-ectomy.”
ABOUT THE SONTAG DRUG STORE BUILDING
The Art Deco Society of Los Angeles goes through a nomination process for buildings that we identify as being “historically significant.” We are now going through phase 1 of this process with the Streamline Moderne Sontag Drug Store Building in the Mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles. Part of the process involves the public getting behind our nomination, by writing letters of support to key decision-makers and advisors in this process and/or appearing (by Zoom or telephone) to express encouragement to the city to landmark the building.
First a bit about the building. Below that there is information about writing a letter of support and/or attending the Cultural Heritage Commission meeting to voice your support verbally.
The Sontag Drug Building embodies the distinctive characteristics of the Streamline Moderne style and was designed by the Los Angeles firm of Norstrom and Anderson, noted commercial architects of the era. The building is located along the Miracle Mile, a linear commercial district in the mid-Wilshire neighborhood that stretches between roughly Fairfax and Highland avenues. The Miracle Mile became one of Los Angeles’s foremost commercial corridors during the 1930s and ‘40s, offering consumers a stylish, automobile-friendly alterative to the Downtown central business district.
Popular in the 1930s and ‘40s, Streamline Moderne architecture was a visual expression of society’s infatuation with modernity, technology, and progress, drawing upon the visual vocabulary of industrial design and the machine age from which the style was derived. The architectural significance of the Sontag Drug building has been acknowledged in various sources over time. Upon its construction, the building was touted as “a model of modern architecture and store designing” in a 1935 Los Angeles Times article.
The California-based Sontag Cut-Rate Drug Company thrived in the 1930s in Los Angeles. Many of their locations were in the fashionable Streamline Modern style.
Current Status: The Sontag Drug Building had the first Cultural Heritage hearing on Zoom on February 4, 2021. The Cultural Heritage Commissioners voted unanimously to take the building under consideration for Historic-Cultural Monument status. Commissioners Kanner and Milofsky went to a walk-thru on March 25, 2021. A second hearing has not yet been scheduled.
The Sontag Drug Building today is still an intact example of Streamline Modern architecture.
WRITE A LETTER OF SUPPORT
The Art Deco Society of Los Angeles needs your help in making the Sontag Drug Building a Historic Cultural Landmark. Will you write a letter supporting our nomination?
The Cultural Heritage Commission (CHC) was first presented with the Sontag Building on Thursday, February 4, 2021 at a 10 AM at a virtual meeting. The next meeting is Thursday, May 6 at 10 AM. It will be virtual. Letters must arrive to the commissioners and council office a few days prior to the meeting to be read in time. What follows is information about the meeting and writing a letter.
Click here for instructions to speak at the meeting. You can both send a letter and speak at the meeting. You will have one minute. Please contact us in advance if you plan to speak, so we can coordinate.
We do not know what our agenda item number will be yet, but we are, CASE NO.: CHC-2021-358-HCM / ENV-2021-361-CE
What You Can Do:
Email a letter of support for the building’s nomination to the Cultural Heritage Commission. Due by 3:00pm Tuesday, May 4, 2021.
email: chc@lacity.org
cc: melissa.jones@lacity.org, ken.bernstein@lacity.org, nithya.raman@lacity.org, contactCD4@lacity.org, Meg.Healy@lacity.org, mashael.majid@lacity.org, artdeco@adsla.org
Subject line:
Letter of support for Sontag Historic Cultural Monument CHC-2021-358-HCM
What to Say:
Letters in your own words are the best, but if you aren't sure what to say, here is a prompt. If you live or work in the area or have some connection to the building, please mention it!
Dear Commissioners,
I am in strong support of the Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument nomination for the 1936 Sontag Building at 5401 Wilshire Blvd.
This building is a striking example of Streamline Moderne architecture, with its horizontal massing, extensive articulation, squared spire, rounded corners, and speedlines. The Sontag Building’s style helped to define the architectural character of the Miracle Mile, establishing the area as a premier destination. This district has slowly been losing its Art Deco and Streamline Moderne heritage.
Stunningly, much of the building’s architectural features are intact, including its curved interior stair with porthole openings.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your address, neighborhood, or zip code very important if you live in the area]
The Sontag Drug Building in 1939.
VOICE YOUR SUPPORT AT THE CULTURAL HERITAGE COMMISSION MEETING ON May 6, 2021 at 10:00 AM
The agenda for the May 6 meeting is not yet available. We will provide you with the agenda item # for the Sontag Building as soon as we know we know what it is. Sometimes items are taken out of order, so it is best to call in by 10:15 AM. How soon the item will be heard depends on how long the presentations are that come before the Sontag Drug Building. You will submit yourself as a speak once you arrive in the meeting. A meeting official will call your name and give you verbal instructions to unmute.
The Sontag Drug Building is CASE NO.: CHC-2021-358-HCM / ENV-2021-361-CE)
By Zoom (Click here or the green button)
USE MEETING ID: TBA. Use passcode: TBA.
By Telephone call 1 (213) 338-8477 or 1 (669) 900-9128 and use Meeting ID No. TBA and then press #. Press # again when prompted for participant ID. You may use passcode: TBA.