• . Exhibit 8
Architectural
360 E. 2nd Street, Suite 225
Resources Group Los Angeles, California 90012
Memorandum
To Chris Robertson
Senior Vice President, Planning & Development
Caruso
101 The Grove Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Project: Glendale Masonic Temple Signage Secretary of the Interior's Standards Compliance Assessment
ARG Project No.: 250612
Date: August 6, 2025
Via: Email: [email protected]
Architectural Resources Group (ARG) has prepared the following Secretary of the Interior's Standards (the Standards) Compliance Assessment for the addition of two new digital wall signs at the Glendale Masonic Temple (the Project). Located at 234 S. Brand Boulevard in the City of Glendale, the Project Site is developed with a nine-story building constructed between 1928 29.
Originally occupied by three of the largest Masonic bodies in Glendale, the Art Deco style building was designed by Arthur George Lindely of the local firm Lindely & Selkirk. It was listed as Glendale Register of Historic Resources No. 15 in 1997. In 2015-16, Caruso undertook a comprehensive interior and exterior rehabilitation of the building for its use as commercial office and retail space.
ARG staff involved in preparing the Standards Compliance Assessment include Evanne St. Charles, Associate Principal, with oversight by Katie Horak, Principal. Ms. Horak and Ms. St. Charles exceed the Secretary of the Interior's Professional Qualifications Standards (36 CFR Part 61) in Architectural History.
Methodology
Preparation of this Standards Compliance Assessment involved the following tasks related to research, documentation, and analysis:
• Reviewed previous documentation and studies, including the Baseline Documentation prepared as part of the building's Mills Act contract (Page and Turnbull, 2015) • Conducted additional property-specific research, as needed Architects.
Planners &
Conservators
late 19th and early 20" centuries, and were used to advertise on site businesses as well as off-site consumer products. In the early decades of the 20* century, the tops and sides of buildings "seemed to serve more as pages of oversized display advertisements than mere bricks and mortar, as painted signs and printed billboards populated] the landscape." In addition to a "MASONIC TEMPLE" wall sign present on the south elevation by the early 1940s, the subject building has featured wall signs advertising a variety of off-site businesses and consumer products, including Dr. Pepper, Coca-Cola, Kessler Whiskey, and California Bank. The signs measured from approximately 820 to 1,520 square feet and were primarily situated near the top, west ends of the north and south elevations (see photographs below). Throughout the years, the signs were replaced and painted over to make way for new advertisements. None of the painted signs are extant.
Historic Photographs
, BROS
SON
Ba GOL. C.C.YOUNG.
OH C.C. TO
View southeast of the Masonic Temple, 1938. View north of the Masonic Temple, 1940. Note Note original inscribed sign at the top of the painted "MASONIC TEMPLE" and Dr. Pepper signs west façade (California State Library). (https://waterandpower.org/museum/Early Views of Glendale.html).
1 City of Los Angeles, "SurveyLA Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement: Commercial Signs, 1906-1980, prepared by Catherine Gudis for the City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning, Office of Historic Resources (july 2016), 5-6.
3 Architects
Planners &
Conservators
the environment, pursuant to the CEQA Guidelines. Under CEOA, a "historical resource" is a resource that is:
• Listed in the California Register of Historical Resources; is • Determined eligible for listing in the Califoria Register by the State Historical Resources Commission; or is
• Included in a local register of historical resources.
Because it is listed in the Giendale Register of Historic Resources, the Glendale Masonic Temple meets the definition of a historical resource for the purposes of CEQA.
According to CEQA Guidelines, a project has the potential to impact a historical resource when the project involves a "substantial adverse change" in the resource's significance. Substantial adverse change is defined as "physical demolition, destruction, relocation, or alteration of the resource or its immediate surroundings such that the significance of an historical resource will be materially impaired."*
The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation are a set of treatment standards for historic buildings developed by the National Park Service. The Standards for Rehabilitation are used at the federal, state, and local level to provide guidance as to the suitability of various elements of a proposed project that could affect a historic resource. They are employed under CEOA by the lead agency to determine the appropriateness of such a proposed project.
Specifically, Section 15064.5(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines states: "Generally, a project that follows the Secretary of the Interior's Standards... shall be considered as mitigated to a level of less than a significant impact on the historical resource." City of Glendale Review Process for Alterations to Designated Historic Resources According to Chapter 15.20 (Historic Preservation), Sections 082 and 084, of the Glendale Municipal Code, "No person shall make (major or minor) alterations to a designated historic resource, to a resource pending designation as a historic resource, to a potential historic resource, or to a protected interior without completing any environmental review required by CEOA and obtaining permits."3
2 Title 14 CCR, Section 15064.5.
3 Glendale Municipal Code, 15.20.082 and 15.20.084.
5 Architects.
Planners &
Conservators
4. Changes to a property that have acquired historic significance in their own right will be retained and preserved.
The Project complies with Standard No. 4. The Project would not result in the modification of any changes to the property that have acquired historic significance In their own right. Any historically significant changes to the building would be retained and preserved.
5. Distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property will be preserved.
The Project meets Standard No. 5. As described in the discussion of Standard Nos. 1 and 2, all of the building's distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques/examples of craftsmanship would be preserved under the Project.
6. Deteriorated historic features will be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature will match the old in design, color, texture, and, where possible, materials. Replacement of missing features will be substantiated by documentary and physical evidence.
The Project complies with Standard No. 6. Should any deteriorated historic features (i.e. board- formed concrete where north wall sign is proposed) be identified during construction, these features would be repaired rather than replaced.
7. Chemical or physical treatments, if appropriate, will be undertaken using the gentlest means possible. Treatments that cause damage to historic materials will not be used.
The Project complies with Standard No. 7. Any physical treatments, such as mounting the sign structure to the north concrete wall face, would be undertaken in such a way as to minimize damage to historic fabric.
8. Archeological resources will be protected and preserved in place. If such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures will be undertaken.
Because the Project involves the installation of two above-ground signs and would not involve any ground disturbing activities, Standard No. 8 does not apply with regard to the Project's impact on the subject building.
Architects
Planners &
Conservators
• The Project would not degrade the existing visual character or quality of public views of the Masonic Temple or its surroundings. As described above, the north and south elevations of the building have featured a variety of large painted wall signs advertising myriad businesses and consumer products since the late 1930s/early 1940s. Though the proposed signs would be digital as opposed to painted, digital images would not change more frequently than each eight seconds so as to lessen visual distraction. Furthermore, because the signs would be viewed from a densely developed commercial corridor that is lined with a variety of signage, including a rooftop billboard directly north of the subject building, the signs would not visually detract from the quality of public northerly and southerly views along Brand Boulevard. Thus, the installation of the new signs would not adversely impact the visual character of Brand Boulevard or the historic temple building.
As a result, the signs are incorporated as architectural elements in such a way that they will contribute to the pedestrian character of the pedestrian street and to the area in • The signs are compatible with the architectural integrity of the building and are proportional with the massing and scale of the building, taking into consideration windows, doors, and architectural features. Further, given the placement of the signs, they do not contribute to visual overcrowding, and they are compatible with the architecture and siting of adjacent buildings and other public and private improvements.
Conclusion
Based on an analysis of the Project and its potential impact to historical resources and aesthetics/views under CEQA, ARG has determined that all work proposed under the Project would have minimal-to-no impact to the historic materials, character-defining features, or aesthetics of the Glendale Masonic Temple, complies with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation, and would not result in a substantial adverse change to the building or its environment.
Because the Project complies with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards, the Project qualifies for a Class 31 Categorical Exemption under CEA and meets the requirements of the Glendale Municipal Code.
9