Talking About Walker’s

Here’s a collective idea for Walker’s. We have a restaurateur who wants to buy and operate it; the current plans will completely destroy any possibility of the cafe becoming viable; all we need is someone (or a group) with deep pockets to buy the place and fix it up.  

Here’s what I sent to Linda Grimes, but I’d change this email to her to suggest putting storage for the Cafe under the Red Car and perhaps making space there, too, for a supplemental kitchen:

I see that Williams has a piece on Walker’s Cafe in the SPToday this month.  I’ve been sending out feelers to find someone with deep pockets who can purchase the property from the current Pasadena developers whose plans for a huge house and ADU totally foreclose Walker’s viability….and probably lead to splitting the lot with the front forced to be torn down, eventually.  Walker’s needs storage and maybe extra kitchen space.  So, here’s what I sent to Mona Reddick:

Are there any current plans for a Red Car museum?  

I’d like to see the old repair shed on Paseo del Mar kept and made into a place for its history, but…

We need someone with about $4-5 million who would be interested in obtaining the property from the current owners, resurrecting Walker’s and not making any money on it for a long time, if ever.

David Calloway suggests that we find an old Red Car and make it into supplemental dining space (not sure the zoning would allow that) but I like the idea of getting and old Red Car (are there any left) or a replica and making a kind of museum to the RC there. Then where the old garage is can be torn down and made into an auxiliary space for Walker’s.  The community has a very reputable restaurateur who wanted to purchase it but the Pasadena people were making it impossible…they wanted too much money. 

Someone also mentioned that both Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway filmed there.  How could we reach them to find out if they might be interested in saving the old place.

Any thoughts?

June Burlingame Smith, 

San Pedro