A long-established downtown Los Angeles music space could be safe from the wrecking ball for another year.
Notices posted outside The Smell, an all-ages punk club, as well as the theater next door and another building on the block at the intersection of 3rd and Spring streets warned that an application for a demolition permit had been filed for the buildings.
"We didn't get any other notice prior from the city or the property owner," said Jim Smith, the club's owner and founder.
Smith contacted the L&R Group, which owns his building and his neighbors', as well as parking facilities like WallyPark and Joe's Auto Park, which have lots on each side of The Smell.
The company's COO, Kevin Litwin, told Smith there aren't any plans for his building, or any of the others.
Smith and Litwin met last week to discuss The Smell's options. Smith said Litwin told him his lease is good for at least a year, and he's helping Smith look for a new location.
Litwin said the demolition scare was accidental. L&R files demolition permits for all their buildings, and it's usually just over-the-counter. But because the buildings were over 30 years old, the city had to post a notice to let the community know.
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Though The Smell is safe for now, Litwin said there will probably be plans for the building in the future. Just last year, the company put the property up for sale, pitching a retail and housing development they called "The Hub." Litwin took it off the market earlier this year.
Smith, hoping to avoid the panic of potential eviction in the future, started "Save the Smell," a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to buy a building of his own. So far, it has raised more than $20,000.
Smith said he understands why developers look to build in downtown, but he worries about what's lost in the progress.
"[We're] part of downtown's cool vibe," he said. "There is really not going to be anything to enjoy of what made downtown what it is."
Founded in 1998 in North Hollywood, The Smell calls itself an affordable, alcohol-free music and arts space for people "who are interested in participating in and supporting an environment of creativity and artistic innovation and freedom."
