Even though Canyon Service in Santa Monica Canyon is currently closed down and the three vintage orange-and-white gas pumps have been removed for safekeeping, there is still a chance that the station could reopen in the next few months. ”On November 17, in a last-ditch attempt to save the oldest full-service gas station in Los Angeles, the Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association (SMCCA) applied to the L.A. Cultural Heritage Commission to have Canyon Service declared a Historic-Cultural monument. ”The commission is expected to make a decision within the next six weeks. Until it does, no one is permitted to demolish, alter or move the 1922 structure, which was recently fenced in. ”The week before SMCCA filed the application, Brian Clark, who had leased the gas station on Entrada Drive since 1995, found himself locked out. He came to work to find a chain-link fence surrounding the station and Clark was told by Monica Queen, who is selling the property, that he could call and make an appointment to collect his personal belongings. Queen had given Clark notice weeks earlier that the property had been sold and that the escrow could not close until he vacated the premises. ”Within an hour of receiving Queen’s permission to enter the site, Clark, who had restored the station, had several workers on the lot stripping the contents, taking away the vintage Coke machines, the neon lights, the restored gas pumps and the street sign’all of which he owned. His concern then was that as soon as escrow on the property closed, which he knew was imminent, there would be nothing to stop the new owner from demolishing the station. ”Hence the urgency to apply for monument status. ”Any site, building or structure deemed to be of particular significance to the City of Los Angeles, in which the broad cultural, political, economic or social history of the city or community is reflected or exemplified can be declared an Historic-Cultural Monument. Any group or individual can bring prospective landmarks to the attention of the Cultural Heritage Commission. Well-known monuments include the Bradbury Building, Watts Towers and Olvera Street. ”If SMCCA’s proposal is approved it would buy some time for the station’a one-year ‘grace period,’ in which the community could enlist more support. The SMCCA (which represents neighboring residents) already has the backing of Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, the Palisades Historical Society, the Palisades Community Council, the Society for Commercial Archeology and the Route 66 Association. ”The property, which includes the service station and one of the last remaining homes of the Marquez family, the original owners of the Rancho Boca de Santa Monica land grant, is still in escrow with an unknown buyer whose plans are also unknown. The asking price was $2.3 million. The sale appears related to settling the estate of Queen’s mother, Angelina Marquez Olivera, who died in 2002. ”While the property is zoned R-1, there has been a conditional use permit since 1925 for the gas station to operate in this residential neighborhood. Clark, who was leasing for $2,000 a month, offered to purchase the property in September but was rejected by Queen. ”For now, the fixtures of the vintage station are in a storage facility.
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