LA HABRA : Razing of Nixon’s Law Office Begins

Preliminary demolition work has begun at former President Richard M. Nixon’s first law office, despite efforts by residents to spare the La Habra landmark.

Workers are clearing trash and removing water meters from around the nine condemned buildings along the 100 block of west La Habra Boulevard in preparation for their razing. The City Council awarded the $33,367 demolition contract last week after the buildings’ final six-month stay was up.

Destruction of the buildings, including Nixon’s office and the Wester Hotel, both built around the turn of the century, is a blow to a group of residents who fought for more than a year to save the structures.

“The city has made a decision to not preserve history,” said Kent Roberts, whose grandfather bought the law office building in the 1930s and owned it until 1966. “Seventy-five years of history will disappear with those buildings and there’s nothing we can do. We’ll be left with vacant lots for years.”

There are no plans in place for the site, although the city expects to build a senior and community center on the site, according to Edward Evans, director of economic development.

The buildings, long considered an eyesore, were determined unsafe because they do not meet earthquake standards. At one point, the city considered restoring them and turning the area into a heritage plaza of specialty shops but found the cost for the project was too high.

Esther Cramer, whose family helped found La Habra, said the city did not meet with preservationists to work out ways to either reduce the cost or raise funds to pay for some of the expenses.

“We had help from all sorts of preservationist organizations. I think if the city was really interested, there could have been a solution,” she said.

A report submitted to the council in March by county architectural historian Diane Marsh noted the significance of the law office and hotel and their possible eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places.

The law office, in the Citizen’s Commercial and Savings Bank building, was built in 1917 or 1918, Marsh noted, and meets national registry criteria. The bank played a major role in the commercial development of the city, she said, and Nixon is “considered a person of significance to our past.” In addition, if restored, the brick construction would have been “one of the few surviving examples in the city.”

The Wester Hotel, built in 1916, deserves saving, the report states, because it was the first two-story brick building in the city and the site of the general store and post office.

City officials agree that the buildings have some historical significance, although they contend that Nixon used the office only occasionally, and therefore they do not warrant the expense of restoration.

“After seismic testing we realized it would be too costly to bring the buildings up to earthquake codes,” Evans said.