Before its recent closure earlier in 2018, Tom Bergin’s Public House was long a site for Miracle Mile and Carthay Circle residents to gather, celebrate, and maybe even mingle with a few famous patrons, from Cary Grant and Bing Crosby to Kiefer Sutherland and Julia Roberts.

The Miracle Mile Residential Association and the Los Angeles Conservancy hope to preserve the Tom Bergin’s Public House building through historic-cultural monument status. The tavern has been closed since early 2018. (photo by Maura Turcotte)

“A lot of Angelenos have one, two, three stories from Tom Bergin’s,” said Adrian Scott Fine, director of advocacy at the Los Angeles Conservancy.

The Miracle Mile Residential Association and the Los Angeles Conservancy, with support from the Mid City West Community Council, hope to now fully cement that history by nominating the pub for historic-cultural monument status by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission.

“When I would talk to people about it, people were confused that [Tom Bergin’s] doesn’t already have landmark status,” said Ken Hixon, MMRA vice president. “We looked into doing it years ago, but people became busy. Finally we just said, ‘It’s time to do this.’”

The pub first opened its doors as Tom Bergin’s Old Horseshoe Tavern and Thoroughbred Club in 1936 at 6110 Wilshire Blvd., but moved to its present-day location at 840 S. Fairfax Ave. in 1949, where the pub grew to be one of the most iconic bars in the city with its Tudor Revival style-building. It’s one of the oldest too – according to Hixon, Tom Bergin’s holds the second-oldest liquor license in Los Angeles.

Over its eight decades in business, Tom Bergin’s became known for not only its Irish coffee – made of Irish whiskey, coffee, sugar and topped with a layer of cream – but also its ability to foster community and camaraderie.

“It was kind of a place you would go to with your grandparents for Sunday brunch and then with your friends to get drinks after a game,” Hixon said.

Tom LaBonge, a former Los Angeles city councilman for the 4th District, similarly recalled the congenial spirit and bonds at Tom Bergin’s, which he attributed in part to the drinks and also how “walkable” the pub was to the Miracle Mile and Carthay Circle neighborhoods.

“This is one of the wonders of the greater Miracle Mile,” LaBonge said. “It had tremendous legacy. Growing up, I remember just how everyone would talk about Bergin’s as you get older.”

The current council member for the 4th District, Councilman David Ryu, does not take positions on historic-cultural nominations until the Cultural Heritage Commission weighs in on the topic.

Besides the building’s architectural aesthetic, reminiscent of the Irish countryside, another one of Tom Bergin’s most distinguishing and revered characteristics are the hundreds of cardboard shamrocks affixed to the walls of the main dining area inside. Over the years, the business added these crafts to the building to memorialize regular patrons. Cary Grant has one, supposedly over the booth he would always reserve, and President Ronald Reagan received one while in the Oval Office celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in 1983.

“Many people had a tangible, emotional connection to Tom Bergin’s,” Hixon said.

Tom Bergin’s future, however, remains uncertain. In its 82 years of operation, the pub has had only four sets of owners, but has recently struggled to turn a profit, according to the MMRA and Los Angeles Conservancy’s nomination application. In January 2018, Tom Bergin’s current owner, Derek Schreck, announced that the business would close later that month. Schreck briefly reopened the pub to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in March, but since, has ceased all operations. Schreck did not respond for comment.

As a result of the pub’s recent struggles, the MMRA and Los Angeles Conservancy felt even more compelled to have the pub be considered for historic-cultural monument status. If Tom Bergin’s is deemed a landmark, any changes to the building would have to first go through a design-review process, according to Fine.

“With the advent of the Purple Line Extension, and given the bar’s proximity to the Fairfax and Wilshire stop, we wanted to be proactive,” Hixon said. “This is a part of our identity, and so we thought, ‘Let’s not wait until the bulldozers are here.’”

Fine echoed that sentiment, noting that preserving the Tom Bergin’s building serves both older and future generations of Angelenos.

“Los Angeles is constantly changing, and these places, like Canter’s or Formosa Cafe, are vestiges of the past,” he said. “It’s important to keep touchstone and legacy businesses to maintain the city’s identity as Los Angeles continues to grow for the next generation.”