By Jean Frost

We celebrate another National Preservation month this May with a general membership meeting traditionally and annually hosted by the Historic Preservation Committee. How appropriate that this year we will be in the former Stan’s Kite, an endangered Googie style coffee shop, whose demolition is part of the development proposals for the Washington Square Shopping Center mixed use project. Stan’s Kite, now Vintage Hollywood, is a very special venue. Located in the Washington Square Shopping Center at Washington Boulevard and 10th Avenue, the former Googie Style Stan’s Kite restaurant now houses Leroy Richardson III’s remarkable memorabilia collection of Afro-American celebrity entertainers.

At the May 23 meeting, the WAHA Martin Weil Award for excellence in preservation will be presented for the third time. Named after distinguished preservation architect and WAHA member Martin Eli Weil, it represents the highest honor WAHA can bestow specifically for contributions to preservation in West Adams. Martin was always there to investigate, analyze and support preservation, whether saving a vernacular house or a National Register District.