Rockhaven Sanitarium - A History in Danger

It is listed on the State and National Registries of Historic Resources, and considered as a Place of Women's Historical Significance with those who have visited and learned about it. A dedicated group of volunteers helps to maintain the property, and advocate its preservation. For a time, the City of Glendale also also embraced the significance of Rockhaven Sanitarium. But not any more.

Today, Rockhaven is on a list of surplus property, and the danger of losing this remarkable landmark and charming facility is very real. It is a public property, a public park…but the gates are closed. It looms, ghost-like, just out of view.

Founded and operated in 1923 by Agnes Richards, Rockhaven was one of a number of respiratory and mental sanitariums in the Crescenta Valley. Renowned for its healthful air quality and tranquil living, the area was indeed a haven. And Rockhaven in particular boasted a beautiful atmosphere, caring staff, an engaging calendar of events, a strong sense of community, and real healing.

The property is, overall, excellently preserved and a perfect candidate for restoration. A sprawling facility with intact artifacts and interior elements, beautiful architecture and endless aesthetic appeal, there is roof repair and some related interior damage to be dealt with in several buildings. There are wooden window frames and several building sidings that need repair or restoration…in some cases nothing more than sanding and paint.

In short, there is nothing to prevent this property from being a crown jewel, extending the vibrant life of the Montrose shopping district up a few blocks and giving it something it does not have…a relationship to its history.

And in these times when women are making strides on so many fronts, addressing the long-accepted status quo of silently accepting the realities of survival in a male-dominated society, embracing this history should be a priority.

It is public property. Perhaps the public should be given the opportunity to experience it, and decide its future. First hand. Walking into the rooms. Feeling the love and care that went into every aspect of its operation. Pausing to ponder that this was a landmark facility in the treatment of women, created less than 3 years after women were given the right to vote.

There are no shortage of ways the history and charm of Rockhaven could be preserved and utilized at the same time. Store fronts in historic spaces are excellent ways for a public property to generate income…although it could be argued that the City of Glendale need not look to this property for income.

To find a working example of historic preservation of public property, we can look locally, to Olvera Street, a thriving marketplace in a historic district.

Without resorting to adaptive re-use (common in private historic properties where an external, visual facade is preserved and the rest of the property gutted), Rockhaven could be a thriving community center. It could hold more than store fronts. The buildings could be made available to any number of local non profit groups for their programs. It could be a haven, literally, for the arts. The rooms, intact, as they are now, offer incredible photography and filming opportunities. The City could work in concert with Glendale College to provide architectural, arts and audiovisual opportunities. It could also court the entertainment industry.

Rockhaven could offer the region something it does not have at all…a hostel. Rockhaven could be a place for international students to find respite on their arrival; for PCT hikers to stage, for touring arts groups to utilize, for travelers of all kinds to visit. With a comparatively minimal investment, The City of Glendale could in fact generate income by utilizing the historic appeal of the property, without disrupting it.

The rooms in many of the buildings are already perfect; they would need little more than a good cleaning, new mattresses on the beds, some fresh drapes and fresh linens. Literally.

There exists an enormous opportunity to revitalize Rockhaven in a way that would create a vibrant, contemporary cultural and artistic center, and everything is already there. All that’s lacking is the vision to embrace that opportunity.

And then there’s the gardens. No shortage of opportunity here either, from creating California native plant demonstration gardens to community food gardens to heirloom ornamental and experimental horticultural spaces. Pollinator gardens. Ecology gardens with small scale water features that demonstrate how native plants like cattails purify water and can be used to do so on a landscape scale. A children’s outdoor play garden. An elder’s garden. The only boundaries are the limits of one’s imagination.

At least one building could be left entirely intact, as a museum, perhaps with a broad scope - the Crescenta Valley Museum of History - with permanent and rotating exhibits embracing not only Rockhaven but the region as a whole. The Western Conservancy of Nursing History stands ready to engage; Rockhaven is the last intact example of California’s once-thriving sanitarium history.

The greatest benefit to the public can be achieved without compromising the historic value and charm of this remarkable place. Rockhaven Sanitarium truly can be a haven reborn. Its champions need to come forward now, and resolutely, to preserve this enchanted piece of endangered history.

You can learn more about Rockhaven via the Friends website, and join the letter writing campaign to speak out to your local representatives:

https://www.friendsofrockhaven.org/write-your-representatives

Reaching out for Rockhaven:

State Senator Anthony Portantino -- senator.portantino@sen.ca.gov

State Assemblymember Laura Friedman -- assemblymember.friedman@assembly.ca.gov

Mayor Zareh Sinanyian ZSinanyan@glendaleca.gov

Councilmember Paula Devine pdevine@glendaleca.gov

Council member Ara Najarian anajarian@glendaleca.gov

Councilmember Vartan Gharpetian VGharpetian@glendaleca.gov

Councilmember Vraj Agajanian VAgajanian@glendaleca.gov

City Manager Yasmin Beers ybeers@glendaleca.gov

City Clerk Ardy Kassakhian akassakhian@glendaleca.gov

Glendale City Hall

613 E. Broadway

Glendale, CA 91206-4391

(818) 548-4844

Glendale News-Press, c/o

Los Angeles Times

Mailing Address:

202 W. 1st St.

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Phone: (213) 237-5000

Burbank Leader, c/0

Los Angeles Times

Mailing Address:

202 W. 1st St.

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Phone: (213) 237-5000

L.A. Times Contact Page link (many of the ways to contact the Times involve forms. You can find them, and a staff directory, at this link):

http://www.latimes.com/about/la-contact-us-htmlstory.html

Los Angeles Daily News

21860 Burbank Blvd., Suite 200

Woodland Hills, CA 91367

Main line: 818-713-3000

Link to contact page:

https://www.dailynews.com/contact-us/

L.A. Weekly Contact Page:

http://www.laweekly.com/about/contact

Crescenta Valley Weekly Contact Page:

http://www.crescentavalleyweekly.com/contact-us/