To celebrate the 97th anniversary of the University City/North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, a gala will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, March 16, at the LeFoyer restaurant, located at 9730 Laurel Canyon Blvd., North Hollywood.
Admission is $65 per person. For more information and reservations, call (818) 508-5155.
Music will be provided by Justice Live Sound.
The chamber was originally founded in 1910 and was called, at that time, the Lankershim Businessmen's Associaiton. The members included a bank, cannery and retail stores.
The association became the Lankershim Chamber of Commerce in 1924. It changed its name in 1927 to the North Hollywood Chamber Commerce. Then in 1985, the name changed to the Universal CityNorth Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
The Pacific Electric Co. brought its "Red Cars" - which were red trolley cars -in 1911as Universal Studios opened in 1915 under the leadership of
Carl Laemmle.
The chamber in the 1920s supported a library, park, the El Portal Theatre and North Hollywood High. Teachers had to live in North Hollywood to teach here. Security Bank replaced the Bank of Lankershim and Rathbun's Department Store opened up along with Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions, Optimist clubs, but the Depression hit hard in the 1930s.
The community was progressive, moving from, "Home of the Peach" to "A Peach of a Place to Have a Home". The chamber became the unemployment relief headquarters for the Valley. The
Valley Times opened up, the new post office opened; our president
Jim Wilson became the first Valley councilman for the entire Valley. Our
Amelia Earhart disappeared at sea and the Jaycees were formed as the 1938 flood devastated the area.
The 1940s started with the new Cahuenga Freeway. World War II began and we became the Civil Defense Headquarters for the Valley. A new fire station was opened as the war ended and suburbia was on the way in.
In the l950s, we supported the development of Laurel Plaza and Valley Plaza Mall. We begrudgingly said good by to 'Big Red," won with a Rose Parade Float, and led the battle to get the trucks off Lankershim Boulvard ... We became a stable, bedroom community.
In the 1960s, the first Valley freeway was opened, Weddington Park was dedicated, MCA built their Black Tower and the Sheraton Universal Hotel, Campo de Cahuenga was also dedicated. The More Modern North Hollywood Committee and Citizen Advisory Committee were formed to develop a master plan with the city of Los Angeles. The plan passed City Hall in 1975, calling for a light-rail line, which finally became a subway to North Hollywood in 2000.
The 1970s through the 1990s saw the good and bad of urbanization. We pushed for the Community Redevelopment Agency to join with private enterprise to help develop the North Hollywood and Valley Plaza areas. We have seen construction of the Hewlett Packard building,a 13-story Magnolia Towers building and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences building. Also, the NoHo Arts Festival was started.
Getty Oil built a 36-story building that was bought by Texaco Oil and later purchased by Universal Studios. The building now houses various offices. In the past few decades, we've seen the construction of the Odeon 18-Screen Theater, Universal CityWalk and the Universal Hilton Hotel. Universal, now known as NBC Universal, is now developing a new vision plan since being purchased by NBC.
Our current Honorary Mayor
Beverly Garland has held this honorary post since the 1970s. Whe is the owner and operator of the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn in North Hollywood.
Today, J. H. Snyder Co. is developing a downtown project in excess of 1 million square feet and a major project in Valley Plaza, too. Developer JSM has developed a 15-story building and additional projects in the area. Hows Market is set to open in April 2007 with other retail to follow.