
You have probably heard the news that a developer that has purchased the Taix property wants to demolish the building to build an huge residential and commercial project. Now, we have a chance to save this beloved neighborhood place that has been a gathering spot for generations of Angelenos.
We would like you to join the EPHS in having the City of Los Angeles declare the building a Historic Cultural Monument. The Cultural Heritage Commission is scheduled to review the application on Thursday, Oct. 15 and decide if it’s worthy of consideration. The commission then usually arranges a site visit before voting a second time on whether to support the nomination.
We would like your help in expressing your support to the Cultural Heritage Commission and Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell. We will follow up with you on what steps you should take to protect Taix. The demolition of Taix would not only wipe away an important part of neighborhood history, it would also open the door to more super-sized development along Sunset Boulevard that is out of character with Echo Park.
Here’s a copy of the letter with have presented to the Cultural Heritage Commission:
Cultural Heritage Commission
200 N. Spring Street, Room 272
Los Angeles, CA 90012
The Echo Park Historical Society supports declaring Taix French Restaurant, 1911-1929 W. Sunset Boulevard, a city Historic-Cultural Monument.
Our organization is dedicated to preserving and promoting the historic and cultural heritage of Echo Park. Recognizing Taix as a neighborhood and city historic landmark is long overdue.
Taix, which opened in Echo Park nearly 60 years ago, is a touchstone for generations of Angelenos from all classes and races who have dined in its restaurant, sipped cocktails in the lounge and celebrated events and attended civic meetings in its banquet rooms.
The restaurant is a neighborhood icon, with its half-timbered walls, petite tower and glamorous porte cochere. Yet it is also a historic destination for residents of other parts of the city, rivaled in our neighborhood only by such landmarks as Echo Park Lake and Angelus Temple.
Taix’s French-Norman style reflects the era when dining out was a more formal and special occasion.
Until now, the restaurant’s owners had taken great pains to honor that history, showing numerous historic images in the Taix lobby and having the intersection outside the restaurant named “Taix Square.” For that reason, it seemed unfathomable to us that the owners would seek the building’s destruction.
Taix is worthy of monument status for contributing to the city’s broad cultural, economic and social history and embodies a distinctive architectural style adapted for commercial uses.
Many of the historical society’s members know firsthand the special place that Taix has in our community. Now is the time to recognize that cultural and historic significance.
— Echo Park Historical Society