Preservation group awarded grant

DOWNEY - The Downey Conservancy, a non-profit aiming to preserve historic homes and neighborhoods in Downey, has been awarded a $4,000 grant from the Los Angeles County Preservation Fund to help survey the Molly Pitcher Estates.Located on Chaney Avenue south of Florence Avenue, the ranch-style neighborhood was built in the 1950s, said Harold Tseklenis, treasurer of the Conservancy. "The survey will prioritize historic resources in the 1950s Molly Pitcher Estates, and will serve as a baseline for a local preservation designation program in Downey," Anthea Hartig, director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, wrote to the Conservancy in announcing the grant. The Downey Conservancy was one of 12 organizations to receive a grant from the Los Angeles County Preservation Fund, which was created in 2009 by a gift from the Getty Foundation. Downey was chosen as a survey site due to its "urgency of need, geographical distribution, preservation significance and overall project impacts," Hartig said.

********** Published: August 11, 2011 - Volume 10 - Issue 17