As guests, my wife and I recently attended a meeting of the Historic Italian Hall Foundation. It was held in the Biscaluz Building, in the Old Adobe Plaza behind the now famous Olvera Street, the first street created in Los Angeles, California when it was settled. Rosemarie Lippman, the president of the foundation, opened the meeting by introducing both the renovation designer and the renovation architect of IQ Magic, who gave the museum committee a presentation of the completion of Phase I. Along with the showing of each rendering, they explained the proposed renovations of the structure and, at the last sketch, they showed the assembly what the one hundred year old Historic Italian Hall, located in El Pueblo Historic Park, would look like at its completion. As soon as the committee approves any one bid from contractors, Phase II of the plan will begin in mid-July less than eight years since the initial conception of the project. In mid-November, The "Taste of Italy Celebration ", which opens the museum to the public, will celebrate The Italian Heritage Hall's completion.

It has been a long, hard fight for this committee. "As a businesswoman," the president said recently, "I am accustomed to completing projects yesterday. The bureaucratic framework of city government, as it applies to these kinds of restoration projects is equally tricky, expensive, tedious and complicated. There are many people to thank for bringing us this far. Among them is Dr. Gloria Lathrop and Ms. Jean Bruce Poole, who helped this naive president and taught me how to work within the system. Thanks to the lobbying efforts of Joe Cerrell and his staff, who, almost single handily obtained our first development funds of near a half a million dollars, we are so far 45% funded. And they haven't given up. They are still trying for additional funds to help see us through Phase II. But because of the state's energy crisis, obtaining more money from the legislator will be more difficult this year. We need more community support," the president finished.

To attract community support, there are many plans the committee offers. One of them is a tribute to Italian-Americans, "The Mille Grazie Wall", which will be located near the entrance of the museum. Everyone donating one thousand dollars or more will have wall space enough for the prominent, visible and permanent engraving of their name, along with three lines of text. Another fundraiser currently in the works is a soft-cover book due out this fall; it will be premiered at the opening of the Hall and it will celebrate the biographies of Italian American families in Los Angeles. You can write your own biography or, for a fee, you can have one written for you. Guy Masciotra and Margaret Bisetti, the organizers of the next donation fundraising event, welcome one and all to attend a free dinner buffet, which will be held on Sunday, July 15, at the cultural center, Casa Italiana, on North Broadway in Los Angeles. There you can view the designer renderings of the Heritage Hall and the displays of artifacts from some of the earliest clubs in Los Angeles. You will also be able to meet there all of the board members of the HIHF, who will be happy to answer your questions about the hall.

EDITOR'S NOTE:
This is a worthwhile cause for the community at large. The Foundation is accepting donations. You may donate on the local level by attending the dinner at the Casa Italiana or you can contact us here and we will direct you on how to make your donations by mail or on the web. We can also obtain the forms for you to enter your family's biography in the Heritage Hall's Family Album. Direct your email to the Editor.