Rescuing Resilience: House Museum + Masonry Industry Collaborate On Project Chimney

Words: Jeff Buczkewicz
Photos: House Museum

Please Reach Out If You’d Like To Help This Ongoing Effort
   
On May 29th and 30th, representatives from GBC Concrete and Masonry and R & R Masonry, Inc. took to the Pacific Palisades to salvage and preserve a historic chimney that survived the devastating fires this past January. This effort is being led by the House Museum, a not-for-profit preservation organization based in Los Angeles, CA. The plan is to store this first chimney, which was inadvertently tipped by the Army Corps of Engineers who are clearing lots. Ideally, six additional chimneys will be salvaged and stored until a permanent home is found for the project. 

Some of the 55+ identified historically-significant chimneys were designed by the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright Jr., Paul R. Williams, Richard Neutra, and Ray Kappe. They're part of the history and heritage still standing among the otherwise-devastating impact the fires had on the community. 


House Museum

House Museum's plan is to secure funding while the chimneys remain stored in order to eventually reconstruct the salvaged fireplaces and chimneys in a Palisades Fire Memorial as part of Phase II. The memorial will be developed with the help of local residents and public land stewards to serve as an invitation to gather and recall bygone structures as a critical architectural guide for future rebuild trajectories. They will serve as "beacons for future generations to remember the past."


House Museum
 
These seven chimneys aren't just bricks and mortar; they are historically significant pieces of the area’s past and a lasting testament to the term Masonry Strong. Preserving them is a way to hold onto the heritage of the community that lost so much while looking ahead to future resilience.


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The effort to preserve these historic chimneys is a collaborative one, and there’s room for more to help. If you would like to assist, please reach out to Jeff Buczkiewicz with the MCAA office (jeffb@masoncontractors.org). The MCAA is working with several organizations and groups to complete this task including the California Masonry Council and the Mason Contractors Association of California. Together, they hope to ensure these resilient structures stand as a testament to the community's history and spirit.
 
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