San Pedro’s iconic Walker’s Cafe moved closer to getting Los Angeles City Historic-Cultural Monument status Thursday, March 17, when the Cultural Heritage Commission voted unanimously in favor of granting the designation.
The Los Angeles City Council must provide final approval. But Councilman Joe Buscaino, who represents the 15th District in which the cafe resides, supports the move — making it more likely it will pass.
But then comes the next challenge.
“I’m supportive of making this a (historic) monument, I think it’s an important building for San Pedro,” Cultural Heritage Commissioner Richard Barron said at Thursday’s meeting.
But while the city can designate a building an historic monument, Barron said, it can’t require future owners to keep it as a cafe.
“So we always have this problem where someone could turn it into a cigar room; we don’t protect the use,” he said. “It’s really up to the community to get the use back to a cafe.”
Walker’s, across from Point Fermin Park on San Pedro’s picturesque south-facing ocean bluffs, has been an institution in San Pedro since the 1940s.
The 763 square-foot building predates the cafe, having been constructed in 1936 and serving as a grocery store for a while. That is, until Bessie Mae Petersen and her husband, sailor Ray Walker, bought it and turned it into Walker’s Cafe and Grill.
In the years that followed, the cafe earned a hometown reputation as an unpretentious-but-colorful spot, serving up “Bessie burgers,” cold beers — and plenty of camaraderie.
In November, the cafe appeared to be closed — a fact that was confirmed in January by the family that has owned the business since it debuted.
Derek Brummett, the grandson of Bessie Mae Peterson, told commissioners in January that his father and current owner, Richard Brummett, 89, was in poor health and no longer able to run the restaurant.
The effort to save the cafe, 700 W. Paseo del Mar, was led by resident Emma Rault, who grew up in The Netherlands but eventually settled in San Pedro, where she became a regular at Walker’s.
As word spread, San Pedro residents began rallying to the cause of saving it.
“This is a rich part of San Pedro history,” Melanie Jones, a Point Fermin resident of 40 years, said during the public comment section of Thursday’s meeting.
The Central, Coastal and Northwest San Pedro neighborhood councils — along with the San Pedro Bay Historical Society — have all signed on to save the restaurant.
Anya Sipivy, who is on the board of the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council, told commissioners that the cafe is a vital part of San Pedro’s character.
“I grew up in Venice and moved to San Pedro six years ago,” she said, adding that she watched Venice become a “whitewashed and uninteresting town.” Rents became unaffordable, she said, and the town’s unique character was pushed aside.
“The heart of Venice is dead,” Sipivy said, “and we’re at risk of the same thing happening in San Pedro.”
The cafe’s popularity with the film industry has long been well-known. It was prominently featured in “Chinatown,” the 1974 classic starring Jack Nicholson.
“Period locations are more difficult to find every day in Los Angeles,” said film location scout Lori Balton. “Preservation is critical.”
Commissioners visited the site last month to prepare for this week’s final vote.
“People remember what it used to be,” said Commissioner Diane Kanner, “and it’s come to us in time to save it.”