Architect's Wife Angered by Demolition of Old Weho Library

The widow of the architect who designed the original West Hollywood Library is angry and devastated that the city without notifying her.

“I think it’s the most sneaky, disgusting thing that I’ve experienced in my lifetime,” Joycie Fickett said during a phone interview Thursday.

She is the wife of the late Edward H. Fickett, FAIA (Fellow of the American Institute of Architects), who designed many buildings and public spaces in Los Angeles, including the port of Los Angeles cargo and passenger areas.

“Not one of them had the decency to even call me and say, ‘Would you like some photography?’, ‘Would you like to walk through the building one last time?’ ” she said.

The library, which sat in on San Vicente Boulevard, was demolished Tuesday, according to Assistant City Manager Joan English. Although its demolition was slated for part of the park’s redesign, an exact date was never announced.

As recently as two weeks ago, city officials said they did not have a date set for the demolition. At the Sept. 14 Public Facilities Commission meeting, Facilities and Field Services Manager Steve Campbell was asked twice about the date for the demolition. Campbell replied that he did not know an exact date.

When asked why the city did not notify anyone of the demolition date once it had been set, English said, "The city does not give notice of phases of construction projects.”

That lack of notice prevented anyone from being on hand to witness the demolition or to photograph the demolition process. “It was inside a construction area,” said English. “No one could have seen it through the fence [which is covered in black tarp].”

Fickett said she learned of the demolition on Wednesday about 5:30 p.m. when her friend Barbara Lazaroff, ex-wife of chef Wolfgang Puck, called to tell her. She initially did not believe it, but drove to the site to see for herself.

“I sat in my car and cried for three hours,” Fickett said.

Initially told no plans for demolition

Fickett said she had been reassured by the City Council in 2003 and 2004 that it did not intend to demolish the library as part of the park redesign.

“They told me the building would never come down. It was not part of the redesign of the park,” she said. “My husband designed the entire West Hollywood Park. They said [the library] would remain in tribute to my husband and it was not part of the demolition project.”

During the summer, she started hearing that the city did plan to demolish the 5,100-square-foot library. That library was built in 1959 and won two top international awards—an International Architectural Design award and a Progressive Architecture Design award, as well as several local awards.

Fickett spoke before the council several times pleading with the members to save the library. She presented a plan for alternative uses for the building, including a place to host parties or gay wedding receptions. 

“It certainly would have been much more eco-friendly to use it for other purposes than to tear it down and replace it with grass,” she said.

'Sad day' for the city

Realtor Steve Ward, a member of Los Angeles Conservancy Modern Committee, called the demolition a “sad day” for West Hollywood. Ward has also spoken at City Council meetings several times in recent months and

“The city felt the heat from our perspective and chose to deal with the matter through demolition,” Ward said. “Not once did they consider the eco-friendly alternative of adaptive reuse of a historic resource. They chose to distance themselves instead. The shortsightedness of the city to overlook and adapt the Fickett resource was plain foolish.”

Ward and Fickett both talked of suing the city in an effort to preserve the library. When asked why the city demolished the library when the threat of a lawsuit was looming, English said, “Those lawsuits never materialized.”

According to English, when the city was working on the park redesign, a panel of experts felt the library did not meet the criteria for preservation.

English points out that the city does appreciate Fickett’s work and has designated three other properties he designed as cultural resources—the Hollywood Riviera on Hayworth, the Sunset Patio on Horn and the Fountain Lanai on Sweetzer, all apartment buildings.

As for why the library was demolished five days before the English said the construction crews were not going to sit around with nothing to do. They are on a “hard deadline,” English said, to finish Phase II of the park redesign in time for the to be held there in June.

Fickett says if the city was dead set on removing the library from West Hollywood Park, it could have moved the building to another location, perhaps .

“What do we have left to show the future generations?” she asked. “There’s nothing left to show them of what a renowned architect did, a building that he won the highest awards possible on. I think it’s one of the biggest sins that could ever happen.”

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