Arcadia's new city government first formed in 1903 and its first meeting took place at Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin's Oakwood Hotel, located at First Avenue and Santa Clara Road. Baldwin's hotel featured gambling and fine dining along with city government. The Oakwood Hotel burned down in 1911, and the city government moved to the McCoy Building at First Avenue and St. Joseph Street. Two years later, City Hall moved across the street to the Hibbard Building. In 1917, the first building was constructed as a City Hall at Huntington Drive and Second Avenue (?). A two-story colonial building was built for $18,000. This City Hall opened on July 13, 1918. City Hall moved in 1949 to a 13-acre parcel between Huntington Drive and the Pacific Electric railroad tracks.
The fate of several acres of hillside land, the last like it in the city, is pitting developers and property owners against neighbors who cringe at the prospect of earthmovers leveling the land.
Monrovia's Aztec Hotel is showcasing fine art in its non-profit Aztec Art Center Route 66 Gallery. Visitors are not just from Monrovia, but from Pasadena, Duarte and Arcadia. A painting by Manuel Barillas is pictured. The hotel is owned by Kathie Reece-McNeill. The hotel was designed in 1925 by English architect Robert Stacy-Judd and was inspired by Mayan and Aztect structures. The building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976.
A developer of resort-style retirement communities hopes to build a 260 unit senior citizens complex on land currently occupied by the Santa Anita Inn.
The history of the Pony Express Museum that used to be on the land where Santa Anita Inn is today is presented. See VF "Pony Express Museum" for copy of article.
Developers hoping to build 31 houses on land where the Anoakia mansion sits have won a court victory that clears the way for the house to be torn down.
The Arcadia Redevelopment Agency adopted a resolution approving the land acquisition and development agreement to help Paul Rusnak buy five sites for his Mercedes Benz dealership expansion. The Arcadia Elks Lodge doesn't want to move.
Owners of recreational vehicles (RV) have been given 3 months to move from Santa Anita Village, a trailer park on unincorporated land on East Live Oak Avenue. The trailer park does not have permits for RVs.
Three sites are being considered for senior and/or low-income housing. They are: Marketowne at 150 W. Las Tunas Drive, the old Westerner Hotel at 161 W. Colorado Place, and the old Mounted Police site at 600 E. Live Oak Avenue.
A weaponless 15-year-old boy from Los Angeles tried to carjack a man in an Arcadia hotel parking lot. The driver ran to the Extended Stay America on Santa Clara Road where the police were called. The youth was arrested. No names were released by police.
A bronze statue of Andres Avelino Duarte, located at 1600 Huntington Drive in the city of Duarte, will be dedicated on March 31, 2007. Duarte was the Spanish rancher and soldier that owned the land that would later become Duarte, Bradbury, Monrovia, Arcadia, Azusa, Baldwin Park, and Irwindale.
Since Magna Entertainment Corp., the owner of Santa Anita Park, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The race track will be auctioned off in September. That land is zoned for horse racing. Jason Kruckeberg, Arcadia's Development Services Director, said it will remain as a race track.
The City may have to seize Rod's Grill and the Elks Lodge under eminent domain to accommodate Rusnak Arcadia's auto dealership expansion. Manny Romero, owner of Rod's Grill, and the Elks Lodge do not want to move and do not like what the City is offering for the land parcels.
Arcadia City Council is reviewing revisions in the city's General Plan to create land-use concepts that meet statewide density requirements and still preserve Arcadia as a "Community of Homes." The revisions call for increasing the maximum density from 24 units per acre to 30 in high density-zoned areas and following mixed-use development in downtown, First Avenue and Live Oak Avenue areas. Officials want the new land-use guidelines to meet the requirements of SB375, the "anti-sprawl" legislation passed last year that aims to cut down on carbon emissions by requiring local agencies to minimize vehicle travel time through city planning.
Arcadia City Council unanimously approved a plan to let the city of El Monte annex 5.19 acres of vacant land near Durfee Avenue and Clark Street. The plan is to have 34 units of homes developed there. Next, the matter goes to Los Angeles County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).
In an opinion piece, writer Frank C. Girardot laments the suicide of Hunter S. Thompson. He shot and killed himself on Sunday, February 20, 2005. He had written two of his famous works, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", and "Strange Rumblings in Aztlan", when he lived in an Arcadia hotel in 1971.
The City of Arcadia has acquired half of the land originally promised for Rusnak's Mercedes Benz expansion. Arcadia Self-Storage and Church in Arcadia are selling to the city but the Elks Lodge and Rod's Grill refused to sell. The city expects Rusnak to produce a minimum of $700,000 each year in sales tax for 10 years, or until the loan is repaid.
City council members refute charges that they met in private with a developer and property owner. Arcadia councilman Bob Harbicht said council did not meet in closed sessions, but met only with city staff to discuss land located in the parking lot of Santa Anita Park. The Council has never met privately with Caruso Affiliated or Magna Entertainment.