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Upper Reservation
Barracks Buildings
By Joe Janesic-
Association Vice-President.
June 12, 2005
Over the years, many people have
asked me about the state of preservation and future plans of
the wooden barracks buildings that dot the former Upper
Reservation of Fort MacArthur. It has long been the policy
of the Fort MacArthur Museum Association that these
buildings should be preserved and interpreted in such a way
that protects their unique architectural style and history.
For many veterans the barracks is the iconic example of
their time in the service. It was the place where they
lived, trained, and socialized. The barracks structures
around the Upper Reservation are structures of unique design
and character. The structures on the lower part of the
property were constructed as part of the recruitment and
mobilization program of the First World War. While only
designed to be kept in service for the duration of that
conflict, more than half of the buildings survive to this
day and are used as classrooms and storage rooms by the Los
Angeles Unified School District.
Beginning in the fall of 1940, the United States began the
first peacetime draft if civilians for service in the
military. Each draftee was expected to serve just over a
year. While the new inductees and sudden influx spending was
a welcome change for the army, it was not fully ready to
support the more than one-million men being drafted. Basic
supplies such as uniforms and training materials had to be
augmented by equipment that had been originally intended for
WWI, this included housing. Early draftees slept in tents,
but it soon became apparent that a more permanent solution
would be necessary.
The barracks on the upper portion of the property are unique
because of the time when they were built. Most of the
buildings were built in the middle part of 1941, over a year
before our nation was drawn into the Second World War. They
were designed to provide housing and shelter for a new group
of citizen soldiers that were drafted into the army for the
first time in our history.
The design of these building is not of the standard design
that would be developed during the war. They are thought to
be the only examples of their kind remaining in the United
States and have features found in no other construction.
It has long been the contention by the Fort MacArthur Museum
Association that these structures should be preserved and
adaptively reused in such a way that preserves their history
and unique architecture. All of them can be considered
contributing resources to the two National Register Historic
Sites in Angeles Gate Park and as well as the California
State Historic District that was established by the hard
work of our volunteers at Whites Point.
Our organization was founded on the principal of protecting
the history of Fort MacArthur and we do believe that a
policy of adaptive reuse should be employed in a way that
preserves the architectural and historical significance of
the structures while still providing the necessary space
needed by the other tenants of Angeles Gate.
While the Association does not at this time have the
resources or access to provide the funding needed for proper
stabilization or restoration of these buildings, other
organizations that are today in control of the buildings do.
The city of Los Angeles has held ownership of the structures
since the army gifted the property to them and for the past
thirty years, it has had a conditional use permit in place
with the Angels Gate Cultural Center. The cultural center
provides low or no-cost studio and exhibit space to artists
and other cultural groups, and both groups have spent little
or no money in that time to maintain the buildings.
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2006
update
At the time of this writing, the Angeles Gate
Cultural Center and the City of Los Angeles
Department of Recreation and Parks are
undertaking negotiations to provide the cultural
center with a thirty year lease on the property
containing the pre-WWII barracks. It is our
understanding at this time that the lease will
have no provisions requiring either party to
properly maintain the structures.
February 2007 update
We understand that as a condition of the lease
that has been signed between the Cultural Center
and the Department of Recreation and parks, the
board of directors for the Angeles Gate Cultural
Center has been given the task of creating a
Master Plan for both the Cultural Center as well
as the rest of Angels Gate Park. The Association
would like to urge our friends and neighbors to
get involved in the process as a way of
protecting these valuable structures and letting
both the Cultural Center and the Department of
Recreation and Parks know what you would like to
see done with this resource.
May 2007 Update
What can you do? The answer starts by asking you
to attend some of the public planning meetings;
the next one is scheduled for Saturday June 2nd
from 10:00am to Noon in building H (the former
indoor pistol range) The meeting is open to the
general public and will be attended by
Association leadership as well as members from
the steering committee and Department of
Recreation and Parks. |
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