The West Hollywood Historic Preservation Commission has opted to table its decision on whether to designate the former Tower Records building as historic — likely until its next meeting on April 22.

The proposed historical designation for the Tower Records site on Sunset Boulevard has been continued until a future date, likely April 22. (photo copyright © Gary Wayne)

In March, author Domenic Priore, who said he wrote for Tower Records’ “Pulse!” in the 1990s, applied to have the structure, located at 8801 Sunset Blvd., designated as a cultural resource due to its music and counter-culture significance.

“It means a lot to so many people,” he said. “In the greater Los Angeles area, that was the Mecca for exploring your music and getting deeper, deeper, deeper into your music.”

At the first commission meeting, several issues were raised about designating the building as historic, Priore said. He said one concern was that the building was not old enough to be designated.

However, the city of West Hollywood does not have an official requirement that structures be of a certain age, city planning manager John Keho said.

“Each individual building is looked at individually against our designation criteria,” he said, adding that age is not necessarily considered.

Priore said there were also concerns that the structure was not architecturally significant. He submitted a list of recent historic properties in Los Angeles that had been honored due to their social and cultural implications. Priore referenced the Black Cat in Silverlake, one of Los Angeles’ first gay bars.

Somewhat like Tower Records, the building had been painted over the years, though its logo was still intact, he said. The city of Los Angeles designated the structure as a cultural resource anyway, Priore said.

“They just wiped the paint off to make it look original, and now it looks amazing,” he added.

Keho said the commission asked city staff to speak to the city attorney about various issues in the proposal. Most of the inquiries had to do with the integrity of the building, the setting and how they might factor into a cultural resource designation.

While the push to have the former Tower Records site designated has opponents, Priore said he was pleased with the residents who showed up to support the effort. He said former Tower Records manager Tom Meehan attended, wearing his employee shirt and carrying a bag full of memorabilia.

“He just filled the room with spirit,” Priore said.

He said the support generally comes from people who are emotional about the site, which is not surprising to him since people attach so much emotion to the music they’ve listened to throughout their lives.

“We need levity in our life, in some respect,” Priore said. “It’s very easy to be sitting in a political position, counting beans, and not recognize something that affects the human spirit.”

Priore, who would like to see the site become a cultural resource center that celebrates The Sunset Strip’s history, said he is confident in his proposal, despite some opposition.

“I think that it’s a good thing to go from thinking ‘no’ right off the bat to ‘maybe.’ It’s being considered and the support for it far outweighs the against votes,” he added.

Stephanie Reich, the city’s history preservation liaison, said the only formal opponent to the proposal is Centrum Partners, the owner of the property. The company declined to comment for the story.

The next commission meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on April 22 at the Plummer Park Community Center, 7377 Santa Monica Blvd.