A List of SFV Sites and People Lost in 2013

With the 2013 year in the history books, below is a list of notable sites and people in the SFV that were lost in the 2013 year (you can review 2012 here). Its possible I missed something, so please share any notable sites and/or people and I will update accordingly. The list below is not in any specific order. 

Sites

Catalina Yachts at 21200 Victory Blvd Woodland Hills closed its doors and moved to Florida to make way for another apartment project in the ever expanding Warner Center area. You can read a blog post here. 

Image courtesy CitySearch

The Village at Westfield Topanga began construction by demolishing the few remaining businesses on site including the former Home Savings Bank that was used by FedEx and contained a Millard Sheets inspired mural by Marlo Bartels and Astrid Preston. I dont know whatever happened to that mural. You can read a blog post here and here.

The former Vans Shoe Store on 9030 Topanga Canyon Blvd Canoga Park originally closed in 2011 but the cute "circus" like building remained until this year where it was finally demolished. You can read a blog post here. 

Image courtesy Citysearch.com

The original Pinecrest School campus at 14111 Sherman Way Van Nuys closed after 62 years to make way for more housing. Some of these signs were saved by the SFV Relics team. You can read a blog post here. 

Camera Craft at 4800 Lankershim Blvd North Hollywood had been in operation since 1947 but closed its doors in 2013. You can read a blog post here. 

Image courtesy City-data.com

The Van Nuys Army Navy Surplus Store closed its doors in 2013 after first opening in 1950. You can read a blog post here. 

Image courtesy Yelp.

The old school bar and restaurant Sherman Room at 16916 Sherman Way Van Nuys closed its doors after I have no idea how long they have been in business but want to say at least since the 60's. You can read more here at LA Arts Beat.

Image courtesy Loopnet

Although most people would be happy to see a big bank close down, the Universal Studios Bank of America closed its doors after operating for more than 30 years located at 111 Universal Hollywood Drive Ste 2630 Universal City CA 91608. You can read more here at Studio City Patch. 

Image courtesy Google Maps

Image courtesy Yelp

Fortunately not lost or relocated outside of the SFV, the Rocketdyne Saturn 5 space shuttle engine was relocated from Canoga Park to Chatsworth offices which opens the door for the whole plant to be closed to make way for more.....housing. You can read a blog post here. 

Continuing with Rocketdyne, I am not sure what has happened in 2013 at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory but a lot of the old site is no longer present which I was able to visit courtesy a Boeing Bus Tour that was held for the public. As part of the cleanup efforts, the remnants of the cold war era are constantly being removed and cleaned up although there might be delays due to court rulings. At any rate, I expect more removal of the old going into 2014. You can read a blog post here. 

Another site not lost but underwent a name change which was Laemmle's Fallbrook 7 at the Fallbrook Center Mall at 6731 Fallbrook Avenue West Hills which became an AMC Theatre. You can read a blog post here. 

Image coutesy Jeff_Soffer Flickr

People

Huell Howser passed away on January 7 at the age of 67 due to complications from cancer. Although not born or a resident of the SFV, Howser was loved by all Californians and he visited many special and unique sites in the SFV that was broadcast on his popular cable TV shows that helped spread awareness. You can view the SFV sites he visited here.  

Bob Tomasino, longtime owner of Oil Can Harry's, a gay dance club in Studio City opened since the late 1960, died in November 2013 after being killed by a drunk driver. You can read more at Studio City Patch. 

Image courtsy Studio City Patch

Art Ginsburg, longtime Studio City activist and owner of Art's Deli died on July 24 at the age of 78 due to complications from cancer. You can read more at Studio City Patch. 

Image courtesy Studio City Patch

"Mouseketeer" and actress, Annette Funicello passed away on April 8, 2013 after a long battle with MS. Her longtime Encino home was damaged in a house fire in 2011 discussed on this blog. 

Image courtesy Wikipedia

Mort Medway, founder of Mort's Delicatessen in Tarzana, passed away in October after selling his deli which was in operation for 45 years to his manager who kept it running the same. 

Image courtesy Los Angeles Times

Paul Walker who became famous for playing Brian O'Conner in the The Fast and The Furious film series died in an unfortunate accident in Santa Clarita on November 20, 2013 at the age of 40. Walker was born in Glendale, raised in Sun Valley where his parents still continue to call home, and graduated from Sun Valley's Village Christian School in 1991. 

Image courtesy Wikipedia

Fred Kavli founded the Kavlico Coporation in Van Nuys and opened a plant in Chatsworth made a fortune manufacturing automative and aerospace sensors and later gave most of his fortune away to charity. He passed on November 21, 2013 at the age of 86 due to a rare form of cancer. 

Image courtesy Standord News

Lastly, on a personal note, my father passed away after a long and difficult battle with cancer on May 19. You can read a blog post here. 

Historic Rocketdyne Engine Moves Down The Street to Nordhoff and De Soto

I managed to capture this image back in August 2013 in anticipation of something happening to this engine while riding the Orange Line which is probably more popular for bike riders than bus riders. 

For the past couple of years, there have been rumors of a shutdown of the Rocketdyne plant in Canoga Park with all assets and resources being transferred to the Chatsworth plant as a result of the dwindling NASA activity. At one point, Rocketdyne employed over 25,000 engineers during the height of the Apollo missions in the 60's and 70's. 

That shutdown appears to be more evident this past week, as the somewhat famous and historic Saturn V rocket engine that has been sitting as a testament to the hard work of the Rocketdyne folks on Canoga Avenue across from the Topanga Plaza has been moved from the Canoga Park to the Chatsworth plant. 

There was also the possibility that this engine was going to be relocated to a museum outside of the SFV and forever be lost from its home base in Canoga Park. Thankfully, that hasnt happened and the engine will continue to remain in the SFV. Dont quote me on this but I believe there is also a similar engine in the Smithosian and possibly Disney's California Adventure, can anyone confirm?

Below is a pic of the move down De Soto courtesy ABC 7 News:

Below are pics of the engine at its new home in Chatsworth:

On a side note, the Woodland Hills area has undergone a significant transformation with lots of apartment construction as well as the Village coming in the near future in addition to the local Sierra's restaurant located across from Rocketdyne that closed down last year. I hope all these changes bring growth and prosperity to the West Valley compared to what it was before. 

The list shown below is the current development activity in Woodland Hills which doesnt cover the other apartment development activity taking place throughout the SFV. 

1. The Village at Westfield Topanga which will add a Costco, 50 shops, office tower, hotel, and more shops. But there is a pending lawsuit so this could get delayed significantly or even cancelled.
2. The Panavision site being converted to a 707 unit apartment complex at 6219 De Soto Ave.
3. A 300 unit apartment complex near Canoga and Vanowen  at 6701 Eton Ave.
4. The Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne site may also be developed into 4,000 multifamily units which is currently for sale. 
5. The former Catalina Yachts manufacturing site at 21200 Victory Blvd will be converted into 600 units. 

View Woodland Hills Development in a larger map

You can review past posts about the Rocketdyne history below:

1. A Bus Tour of Rocketdyne on June 29, 2013
2. World's First Partial Nuclear Meltdown in the San Fernando Valley
3. Rocketdyne Santa Susana Field Laboratory Still Contains High Level of Radiation

You can view more SFV history here.

A Bus Tour of Rocketdyne on June 29, 2013

I am not sure where this test stand was located within Rocketdyne but could be the Alfa test stand which still remains today.

I have always been fascinated with the Rocketdyne facility hidden up in the Santa Susana mountains perfectly tucked between the San Fernando and Simi Valleys. A location with so much history and influence (and controversy) but yet so secret and inaccessible. For more history on the Rocketdyne facility, I recommend visiting Wikipedia, RocketdyneArchives.com (which has an amazing collection of historical photos), and EnviroReporter.com (numerous articles and pictures).

One of the original Rocketdyne buildings that might not exist anymore.

This site intrigued me so much that it became my first topic discussed on this blog in response to the nuclear meltdown at Fukushima, Japan back on March 2011 which happened to coincide with Rocketdyne since this location unfortunately experienced the world's first partial nuclear meltdown back in 1959. Is it any surprise that this "first" incident happened in the SFV?

The entrance to Rocketdyne at the intersection of Woolsey Canyon and Black  Canyon Roads.

With all of this mystery, technological marvel, the impact on the Apollo missions, and the Cold War, I have always been trying to get closer and see what remains were left. The closest I got was through Sage Ranch Park back on February 2013 which borders the site and has a great view of the northern end of the site where the Component Test Laboratory II is located owned by NASA. But as part of the cleanup efforts, not much actually remains today and the view from Sage Ranch doesnt show everything nor any of the remaining test stands. And for those that dont know, the plan is to turn over this site in 2017 to the State of California as a state park so all entities involved are furiously hurrying to wash their hands from this site, no pun intended. 

The view from Sage Ranch showing the Component Test Laboratory II which is owned by NASA.

So I was excited to find out one day that Boeing actually offers Bus and Walking Tours as part of the outreach efforts to educate the public. Upon hearing this, I immediately signed up for the Bus Tour scheduled for Saturday June 29, 2013 and was drowning in anxiety waiting for the day to finally come to get past the main access security checkpoint which is the only structure view-able by the public from Woolsey Canyon Road.

Inside Rocketdyne with the tour bus on the left hand side.

The map given to attendees courtesy the Boeing Company.

The Bus Tour was awesome as we were led by Boeing and Department of Energy representatives in addition to retired "Engineer Bill" who shared his stories and knowledge from his days working at Rocketdyne. The only thing I didnt like about the tour is that photos were not allowed so I unfortunately dont have anything to share from the tour. The first significant stop we made on the tour was visiting two of the three remaining Alfa test stands on Alfa Road. This was truly an amazing site to behold to be standing in front of the last pieces of Rocket testing history where thousands of tests were conducted for the Apollo Moon and other space missions.

The Alfa test stands still remain. Image courtesy Bing Maps.

The next site we visited was the Energy Technology Engineering Center owned by NASA which is also the location of the infamous Sodium Reactor Experiment (SRE) meltdown. Most of this site was completely torn down but some buildings still remain as part of the cleanup efforts which are currently awaiting environmental review before any removal continues. The SRE site is completely removed which I believe the removal happened a long time ago as a result of the meltdown and is currently undergoing groundwater cleaning with stringent sampling requirements. I am almost think this location might be the safest part of the entire Rocketdyne site because it faces so much scrutiny today.

The Energy Technology Engineering Center slowly being razed with some buildings still remaining awaiting environmental review. At the very top right corner is the location of SRE which is covered in a black tarp to prevent rainfall from entering the ground. 

The last significant site we visited was the Coca test stands on Coca Road which still remain today awaiting the same environmental review before they are completely removed. These test stands are so massive and  any pictures or videos will not do justice in showing the enormity and scale of the stands which need to be viewed in person.

The Coca test stands remain which are massive. Image courtesy Bing Maps.

The rest of the tour was essentially viewing parts of the old Rocketdyne that are no longer present, buildings that had been removed already and currently experiencing groundwater cleanup. The only new facilities to go up were the groundwater cleanup equipment and supporting structures.

Much of Rocketdyne actually looks like a state park with grass, brushes, animals, flowers, trees, etc. Very little of the industrial buildings, contamination (from the naked eye), test stands, concrete foundations, etc remain which I applaud Boeing, NASA, and the DOE for the efforts in cleaning up. However, and this will sound contradictory, it would be nice to save some of the old test stands as memorials to our past and the men and women who worked on the site as well as those in Space. I dont know if its possible to remove all contamination to beautify this last piece of undeveloped land in the SFV and keep the aged, rusted, and exposed (in some fashion) test stands.

A calendar, bag, and various articles in a folder given by the Boeing company  for attending the tour. Thanks Boeing.!

For those interested in the tours and I highly recommend them as I believe one day, nothing of the old Rocketdyne site will remain and if you are a die hard fan of engineering, Rocketdyne, the Apollo missions, NASA, etc., then you need to go on one of these tours. To sign up for the next tour, visit the Boeing site which has the upcoming tours in 2013:

• Bus tour on September 21 9am - 12pm & 1 - 4 PM
• Walking tour October 5 (moderate) and November 2nd (strenuous)

On a somewhat related note, as the tour was nearing its end, I saw a rocket shaped monkey bar at the Rocketdyne facility laying down on its side that I recalled being located at the Boeing Fitness center (shown in the pictures above and below) located at 8500 Fallbrook Ave bordering the Howard Hughes Center and the Chatworth Reservoir. So I visited the Boeing Fitness Center after the tour to confirm if the rocket shaped monkey bars were in fact removed. 

This location was used by Rocketdyne employees and family for various recreation activities and events which contains 4 tennis courts, 3 swimming pools, 2 sand volleyball courts, fitness center, an auditorium with capacity for 225 persons, and large areas of open land which is home to the Aerospace Retirees club, Local UAW union meetings, and fitness classes for seniors. The multiple acre park is a historic landmark for this community that was bought from the original estate landowner in 1959. As of October 2, 2010, this site is closed and I am not sure of the future plans. As is typical with anything in the SFV, this location would be completely razed down and turned into a giant mixed use site consisting of apartments, condos, and shops. Hopefully, this is not the situation and this beautiful multi-acre park can remain as is and available to the public. 

Going back to the monkey bars, they were removed but they can be viewed in the photos below thanks to Bing and Google Maps. 

You can see the rocket shaped monkey bars at the middle left near 'r' in Fallbrook. Above image courtesy Bing Maps.

Above image courtesy Bing Maps.

You can see the rocket shaped monkey bars at the bottom near 'a' in Fallbrook. Above image courtesy Bing Maps.

The rocket shaped monkey bars courtesy Google Street View.

The rocket shaped monkey bars courtesy Google Street View.

Lastly, I concluded my tour eating a burger and fries from the Munch Box with its jet age overhang appearance located in Chatsworth which received its HCM status (#750) on June 3, 2003.

You can view more SFV history here.