Gene Autry – Here in Van Nuys

In December 1960, the Van Nuys Chamber of Commerce thought it would be a grand idea to have the recently conceived American League LA Angels play in a brand new stadium constructed right in Woodley Park Van Nuys.

In the heart of flood basin. But conveniently located next to the 405 and the 101.

They wrote a telegram to club owners Gene Autry and Bob Reynolds imploring them to think about the “level and vacant” 100 acres “available for little or no cost” and adjacent right next to the just completed San Diego Freeway.

“We expect no local opposition to the plan,” said Nelson LaVally, secretary-manager of the chamber, confident that no families would object to the destruction of their local park.

There were two city-owned golf courses and a model airplane field. And the rest of the land “was leased out for agricultural use.”

LA Mayor Norris Poulson (R) supported the idea and liked the idea of a permanent home for the LA Angels in the heart of the largest park, flood zone and bird sanctuary in the San Fernando Valley.

Councilman Patrick McGee (R) was also in favor of the idea of building a large 50,000 seat stadium with thousands of parking spaces in the middle of Woodley Park. He had given tours of the Sepulveda Basin a few years earlier to another LA ball club owner.

“I made the same suggestion to Walter O’Malley and Del Webb and the NY Yankees before the Dodger contract was adopted,” Councilman McGee said.

In 1958, McGee had vehemently opposed the Dodgers’ Chavez Ravine project (which displaced hundreds of Latino families) because it did not provide enough revenue to the city and would give oil revenues to a Dodger youth program, “spending public money for private individuals.”

1959: Families are Forcibly Evicted from Chavez Ravine to Make Way for Dodger Stadium.

The councilman thought the hotter valley weather more ideal. Most games would be played at night, and warmer temperatures in the SFV was appealing. Chavez Ravine and Wrigley Field in South LA were “20 degrees cooler”.

But the Angels ruled out the move. And the city’s Recreation and Park Department had other plans to add more 18-hole golf courses, tennis courts and several baseball diamonds.

Once again, visionary Van Nuys business minds and politicians came up with a shallow, ill-conceived and brilliantly self-destructive scheme that produced no results.

A pattern they would follow for the next 60 years.

Color photos of Woodley Park: Credit to John Sequeira.

Kester Street, for those who don’t know her, is a narrow road halfway between Van Nuys and Sepulveda Boulevards, paralleling both.

Before WWII, it was on the fringe, out on the wide land, beyond settled Van Nuys.

Rancho Pequeño at 7050 Kester (near Vose) was significant enough to have its own postcard.

These are postcards scanned from the collection amassed by Tommy Gelinas at Valley Relics.

They provide pictorial fantasy, mined from fact, of the places and events and people who once lived in the San Fernando Valley.

A 1931 postcard shows two men in Malaya (Malaysia) procuring exotic birds for shipment back to Bird Wonderland, Inc. in Van Nuys.

It was located at 15640 Ventura Boulevard, Van Nuys, CA, a location that today is known as Encino.

80 years ago, the name Van Nuys was used all the way from Beverly Glen south of Ventura up to Roscoe west past the present day 405. There was no shame in the name.

Our Ventura Boulevard has an interesting article on Bird Wonderland, which also had exotic animals, including, Jackie the Lion who allegedly inspired the roaring one seen in every MGM movie.

No motel on Sepulveda today enjoys an entirely good name. Much of them, especially those north of Victory, are havens for prostitution.

But back when the area was a main highway into the San Fernando Valley, before the freeway, it hosted many family owned motels.

Take it E-Z Motel at 5764 Sepulveda was owned by Mr. and Mrs. GB Parrott.

The motel is still there, at Hatteras, across from Target, and is planned for tear down next year with a new replacement.

The postcard shows two people sitting in chairs on the side of the building, facing the western sun.

Dorothy visited Hollywood and sent a postcard of Gene Autry’s home in Toluca Lake on August 5, 1947.

Writing to The Chalfants of Waynesboro, PA, she reports, “Saw two radio shows today, Queen for a Day and Heart’s Desire. Both good fun.”

Things may change in Southern California. But people still text and email the folks back home to tell them how they came in contact with celebrities and how wonderful the weather is.

Tag: Gene Autry

A Proposal to Build Angels Stadium in Van Nuys

Rancho Pequeño and Other Places….

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