Examining the Villa Riviera’s rebirth

PHOTO by CARLOS MORENO
“It was a tremendous sacrifice for a lot of us,” says Friends of the Villa Riviera President Jack Lander of the building’s recently completed $4 million restoration. Indeed: Each resident was asked to put upward of $20,000 toward the effort. It’s a steep amount, especially considering construction began [...]

The Historical Society of Long Beach examines how we were
If the recent Art Deco weekend on the Queen Mary wasn’t enough for you, next Thursday the Historical Society of Long Beach will present “Long Beach from the 1920s to the 1940s: A Discussion & Slide Show of Modernistic Architecture.”
What’s modernistic?

PHOTO by RUSS ROCA
BEST MISSING LINK: 2ND CITY COUNCIL GALLERY Some shows play off the actual 2nd City Council Gallery space better than others, but at its best this place is hard to equal—for its link to antiquity and to old Long Beach. You’ll remember: This place used to be Wille’s Tin Shop. It was [...]

Mayor Bob Foster is expected to say more this morning about his $570 million plans to rebuild streets, sidewalks and alleys–plus the more bureaucratic-sounding storm water management systems–but already we know more than we did about what’s in store.
In this morning’s Press-Telegram, Paul Eakins reports on a 102-page streets audit City Auditor Laura Doud released [...]

The giant black bandages are starting to come off one of Long Beach’s most eminent remaining buildings–the Gothic 1929 Villa Riviera, at Alamitos Avenue and Ocean Boulevard–which means its exterior restoration is progressing.
How nicely it’s progressing is … not very nicely at all, according to the Press-Telegram’s Joe Segura, who reports that, under all those [...]

Press-Telegram gargoyles.
No, seriously. There are some stories in today’s P-T which you might read–J.K. Rowling in Los Angeles (yeah), killing wild cats at the port, Kevin Butler on Long Beach teachers’ contract talks. But somehow I got stuck on the Steven Georges photo of the Villa Riviera gargoyles. It’s shiny. And pretty. And shiny.

Long Beach’s best art is right in front of you

VILLA RIVIERA by DANIEL DEBOOM
The most stunning, exciting, and effective piece of visual art in Long Beach today is at the corner of Ocean Boulevard and Shoreline Drive. Draped in black, a blank space rich with possibility, it will frighten, enchant, and roil within you thoughts [...]

PHOTO by DANIEL DEBOOM
Tues | July 24 Have you seen the Villa Riviera lately? You really must.
Wed | July 25 The Amgen Tour of California announces Long Beach won’t be part of its 2008 race course. The city hosted the tour’s climax this year, and I think we all remember where we were when the [...]