Weho Councilman Calls for Renovation of Plummer Park's Controversial Great Hall/Long Hall

West Hollywood City Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem John D’Amico will present a plan to repair and reopen Plummer Park’s Historic Great Hall/Long Hall building at the council's Dec. 2 meeting.

The 75-year-old building has been a subject of controversy in West Hollywood, due to it being slated to be torn down as part of the Plummer Park Master Plan. The building was approved this year for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

The city's plans to renovate Plummer Park and demolish the Great Hall/Long Hall stalled in 2011, as many community members protested the move and funds to pay for the project dried up.

“The renaissance of the Eastside of West Hollywood is about to accelerate,” said  D’Amico in a statement. “This measure is the another step toward attending to the ongoing demographic and built environment changes, by developing a forward-looking, community-guided plan for Plummer Park that can fit with the plan for the entire Eastside.” 

The proposal instructs city staff to prepare an assessment of the condition of all structures, landscaping and amenities at Plummer Park, including a cost assessment for any necessary repairs and upgrades, according to a press release.

“I have a sense that some of my colleagues may be squeamish about this vote,” D’Amico said. “The community should know that this is a vote to provide an additional community resource for an interim period, to repair and activate this building until we decide what to do with the entire park. As elected officials, we must be responsible about maintaining this structure. ‘Running out the clock’ on this historic building by leaving it unattended when there is a deficit of community space is not acceptable.”

D'Amcico's proposal calls for the building be used as a rehearsal space for nonprofit theater companies, a meeting space for local community groups, and for use as individual studio spaces.

The buildings were constructed in 1936 through President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration.

"It would be criminal to tear those buildings down," Longtime West Hollywood resident Jeanne Dobrin told the city council at its meeting in April when it voted 4-1 in favor of plan to recommend against the Great Hall/Long Hall being recognized as a historic landmark. John D'Amico cast the dissenting vote.

"Nobody is disputing the historic aspect of these buildings; I was in them before cityhood. I know them quite well. They were terrible buildings to work in then; they're still terrible buildings," Councilman John Heillman at the April meeting.