Mayor Eric Garcetti’s “A Bridge Home” temporary homeless shelter program, meant to address the city’s deepening crisis, is advancing despite protests.
A women’s shelter is scheduled to open in November at a landmarked building in Hollywood, according to Curbed. It will eventually have 126 bed. The shelter will be the program’s second one to open, following the 45-bed shelter in Downtown that opened in September.
The 64-bed shelter will occupy the third floor at 1215-1233 Lodi Place, famous as the former Hollywood Studio Club, a dormitory for young Hollywood actresses whose residents included Marilyn Monroe, Rita Moreno and Sharon Tate.
The 92-year-old building is a Historic-Cultural Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designed by Julia Morgan, architect of William Randolph Hearst’s famous Hearst Castle. The Hollywood Studio Club closed in the 1970s.
The YMCA occupies the first two floors of the building, where it operates a print and job training center. The YMCA will eventually move those operations to make way for 62 more beds.
The mayor created “A Bridge Home” to address the mounting homeless crisis in Los Angeles. The goal is to build units for 3,300 beds by 2020, which will be spread throughout the 15 City Council districts. Seven of 15 districts have approved the units for 222 beds, but the program isn’t popular everywhere.
Tempers have flared in Venice and Koreatown over proposed shelters there, with some residents alleging crime will increase and the areas will become less of a draw. [Curbed] — Dennis Lynch