The new site is located at http://preservation.lacity.org.



The Office of Historic Resources (OHR) was created within the City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning in 2006 to coordinate Los Angeles' historic preservation policies. The OHR is working to create a full-service, balanced, state-of-the-art preservation program for Los Angeles.

The new OHR website serves as an interactive and informative clearinghouse of information about historic preservation in the City of Los Angeles. The site contains detailed information about how to preserve Los Angeles' historic resources, and provides educational descriptions of the City's preservation policies and standards.

The new OHR web presence also includes a separate, linked website for SurveyLA – the Los Angeles Historic Resources Survey: http://www.surveyla.org. This ambitious five-year project is aimed at identifying and documenting historically significant properties and resources throughout the City of Los Angeles.

With only about 15% of the city previously surveyed and documented, the SurveyLA project aims to identify significant historic resources long before they become threatened or demolished. The web site will serve as the centerpiece of a far-reaching public outreach program to involve Los Angeles residents in the survey process.

The new SurveyLA website explains why a citywide survey of historic resources is so important to Los Angeles and how the survey will be conducted in the coming years. Regular project updates will be posted on this site, enabling visitors to follow along with the survey as it happens. Public meeting and event information will also be published, giving concerned citizens the opportunity to participate in this exciting program that will touch every community in the city.

One of the most novel features of the SurveyLA site is an interactive "Historic Resources Identification Form" that will enable community members to identify and describe potentially historic properties and areas within their own neighborhoods. The OHR is encouraging community members to help the SurveyLA project discover the hidden, little-known, or often-overlooked places that may have shaped the social and cultural history of Los Angeles' communities. Web visitors may submit detailed information through the website that will assist the survey teams greatly in the coming years.

In addition to these innovative features on the SurveyLA site, the OHR website includes:

• Detailed profiles, maps and photos of Los Angeles' 22 designated historic districts (Historic Preservation Overlay Zones, or HPOZs), and guidance on how to establish a new HPOZ

• A list of all the designated landmarks (Historic-Cultural Monuments), including a photo gallery featuring many of Los Angeles' most notable historic resources

• Step-by-step instructions on how to find whether any property in the city is a designated historic resource

• Helpful information about what it means to be a historic resource or monument

• Summaries of the key financial incentives available for preservation, including the City's Mills Act program that can provide significant property tax relief for owners of historic sites

• Advice on how to secure historic status for properties or neighborhoods within the city

• Sign-up forms for the City of Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources' quarterly email newsletter, providing all of the latest preservation news and information

• Useful links to preservation information from around the nation, and contact information for preservation organizations and historical societies throughout Los Angeles

The Office of Historic Resources website and the SurveyLA project website were built using the open-source web content management system Drupal. Each site is compliant with federally-mandated Section 508 accessibility standards, enabling these important websites to be viewed and read by visitors of all abilities.

The OHR and SurveyLA websites are made possible through the generous support of the J. Paul Getty Trust. The J. Paul Getty Trust has entered into a five-year grant agreement with the City of Los Angeles to support the SurveyLA project; the Trust's Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) is also providing additional technical and advisory support for SurveyLA.

Both new websites were developed by Urban Insight, Inc., a Los Angeles-based Internet consulting and web development firm specializing in website management systems and technology consulting for the urban planning community.

Related Link: The City of Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources

For more information contact:

Ken Bernstein
The Office of Historic Resources
200 N. Spring Street, Room 620
Los Angeles
CA 90012
US

Phone: 213-978-0195
Web: http://preservation.lacity.org