Student Vision May Guide Whittier’s Post-Quake Renewal

One idea was to turn a dark alleyway into a gateway to a gourmet galleria, with flags of the United States and France fluttering side by side overhead.

Another would have spotlights directing the way through tree-lined streets that lead to an elegant theater and courtyard. And then there are those who want to make a parking garage the focal point of the business district.

It was all free advice for the city of Whittier about what to do with the earthquake-devastated Uptown business district, where the Oct. 1 temblor and its aftershocks have forced the demolition of 26 buildings.

Student Opinions

The advice came from 15 architecture students from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo who went to Whittier for a weekend under the supervision of professors and architects affiliated with the California Council of the American Institute of Architects.

Somewhat bleary-eyed after working much of the night to complete their designs, the students presented the ideas to city officials Sunday and got an enthusiastic reception.

“I’m very impressed with this in-depth vision,” said Lane Langford, president of the Whittier Uptown Assn., which represents businesses in the 24-block area. “I think people would want to spend more money in a place designed like this.”

The students and architects arrived Friday afternoon and were briefed by the city’s planning staff. The group split into three teams, each assigned to come up with its own vision for four blocks of Uptown surrounding the intersection of Greenleaf Avenue and Philadelphia Street.

A lot of time was spent roaming the streets of Uptown, sometimes until midnight. “The police asked them to wear badges so they wouldn’t be arrested as vagrants,” said William A. Howard, director of Cal Poly’s School of Architecture and Environmental Design.

‘Village’ Concept

The design work was conducted in two rooms of the Whittier Senior Center, a few blocks from Uptown. Leaning over maps and aerial photographs, the students sketched design options on transparent tissue paper.

All three teams recommended retaining the “village” concept, but also urged adding housing in the area. The housing would be either above retail shops or in separate buildings, in the hope of bringing some night life to streets that are now deserted after dark.

“This would be for the kind of people who would live in Paris. Paris, Whittier,” one student said to titters from the audience.

Other ideas were to create a courtyard on one corner of Greenleaf and Philadelphia, to convert service alleys into brick-lined pedestrian walkways, and to beautify parking areas behind shops. One group wanted to place a parking garage at the center of town, decorated with an outside stair tower and wall design, with the stairs depositing patrons directly into a central plaza.

Although the ideas were praised by city officials, they were also greeted with some skepticism because Whittier has for years unsuccessfully tried to attract restaurants and a theater to the Uptown area.

Basic Problems

“We still have the fundamental problems of freeway access, street traffic and parking,” said City Manager Thomas G. Mauk. “That won’t change.”

City officials said they will consider the student proposals when they finally decide on how to rebuild Uptown.

Student John Hill, 23, said he was aware that economic and political realities might prevent implementation of the designs, but added that an outsider’s perspective can be valuable.

“We may be naive about the actual issues (in Whittier), but we’re also not biased,” Hill said. “We’re not regimented by what another architect in the area would be.”

Another student, Bill Reeve, 23, said the weekend was a dose of the real world for students accustomed to working independently on classroom projects. “In a short time period like this, you’ve got to gel working with five or six people,” he said. “That’s more realistic.”

The weekend was funded by a $10,000 grant from the state Department of Commerce, which also paid for similar redesign help when the city of Coalinga, Calif., was devastated by earthquakes in 1983. Paul R. Neel, the Cal Poly professor supervising the project, estimated it would cost Whittier about $100,000 if a team of architectural consultants came out for a weekend.

In his closing remarks on Sunday, Neel said he and the students were pleasantly surprised by the character and potential of Uptown. “You have something quite special here,” Neel said.