The Gardner Building, 1925
Malaga Cove Plaza, Palos Verdes Drive, between Via Corta and Via Chico
Webber, Staunton, and Spauling
"First strucutre built as part of the arcaded theme at Malaga Cove Plaza. Dedicated on Sept. 13, 1925. It housed the PV Home Association, Art Jury, Building Commission and Mr. Schaffere's Grocery & Meat Market. " (from Rancho Palos Verdes Historical Society plaque.)
In the 60s, the corner store was a wonderful drugstore with a soda fountain. My husband remembers getting great burgers and hashbrowns there as a kid. Now, the space is occupied by a realty office.
13 comments:
Oh, this is so sad. I want the drugstore back! I have fond memories of my mother and me enjoying hot fudge sundaes in such a place.
What is it about realtors; they always occupy the best buildings. A sign of our times, I guess, that this is a growth industry. I much prefer the drugstore..
The building though remains stunning with its shady arcades no matter who occupies it.
Cool pic, Tash! My mom worked there when it was a drug store when she was in high school.
I love that drugstore, the windows, the lights, the cabinets. I can taste a cheeseburger and french fries.
The 60's photo is like a time machine. It probably hadn't changed much since the Forties.
Tash, the first Palos Verdes Library, a branch of LA County Library, was established in the Gardner Bldg in 1926. In 1928 the people voted to establish the PV Library District, and the Malaga Cove Library was opened on June 3, 1930.
No cheeze on de burgers, please!
That bldg looks awfully familiar.
Where have I seen it around the SGValley??
I'm at Pasadena Adjacent
This is where I was except I took a street down to the cliff side in front of a church complex. You take a trail down to the water near a gazebo.
Bad :(
I don't think it's bad, necessarily, that a realty office occupies the building now. Sometimes one business can't make it, so a healthy business moves in. It would be terrible if we tore down a building every time that happened. This way a building serves a new function and gets to stay, and look at all the different things this building has sheltered.
I do hope, however, the realtors found a way to keep that lunch counter!
It's simply astonishing how that interior looks like. It's a pity they changed its destination.
I had many a choc malt and hamburger in the 50' and 60's here. A pleasant gay fellow ran the soda fountain named Jack. One day, as a closed gay teen, I sat on a stool and drepressingly ordered a malt. Jack must have notice my sighing despair and told me it was on the house. He cheered me up that dark day. Who knew then that happiness could be mine too. Now, after 32 years with my husband, there's no need for a heavy heart.
Thanks for the malt Jack!
Jim
It's been more than a year since I commented on this post but apparently I'm still subscribed to it. Gerald, your story came up in my mailbox this morning. I think it's wonderful that Tash's post brought up that poignant memory.
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