By Mary O’KEEFE

At a recent meeting of the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley, Joanna Linkchorst, the president of Friends of Rockhaven, and members of the Historical Society of Crescenta Valley shared information on the history of Rockhaven Sanitarium and the recently announced $8 million state grant.

“We don’t know” was the answer Linkchorst gave of what was happening with the $8 million.

She shared the two histories of Rockhaven: Rockhaven as a woman-owned business for women with mental health needs and Rockhaven’s fate since its purchase by the City of Glendale.

Rockhaven was founded in the 1920s by former nurse Agnes Richards. She had worked in asylums throughout her career and witnessed the sometimes archaic and often abusive treatment and care of those labeled as mentally ill. She knew there was a better way of dealing with these patients. She purchased a small rock cottage in an idyllic setting in an area then called Verdugo City on Honolulu Avenue. Shortly after she opened its doors, she had 24 “ladies” at her Rockhaven sanctuary. It soon expanded with more cottages added to the property.

“Agnes never called them patients,” Linkchorst said. “They were always referred to as ‘ladies.’”

Richards led Rockhaven until 1967 when she retired and turned the responsibilities over to her granddaughter, Patricia Traviss, who ran the sanitarium with the same foundation of dignity and kindness. But running a sanitarium was an all-consuming business and in 2001 Traviss sold Rockhaven to a large medical corporation. Within five years the corporation found that the upkeep was too great and sold it to developers who had planned to demolish the historical site and build condos.

The community worked together to save Rockhaven and in 2008 the City of Glendale purchased the property for $8 million, saving it from demolition. The City had planned to create a park and move the Montrose Library to the location allowing Glendale Fire Station 29 to expand to where the library is presently. But then came the great recession and plans for expansion were stopped.

This is where it gets murky and frustrating and when Friends of Rockhaven became the organization whose mission was to protect this historical property.

The City wanted to develop Rockhaven while still keeping some of its integrity especially after it was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places at the state level. Bids were requested by those who wanted to develop the property. Initially, Gangi Design LED Build won the bid with strong support of Friends of Rockhaven. But then things got murky again. Negotiations were on again, off again, on again and then completely off. City planners then moved on to a boutique hotel developer, one who had lost the initial bid; however, that company also backed out.

In the meantime, the property continued to decay. Then in June, Senator Anthony Portantino let the City of Glendale and Friends of Rockhaven know that his request to preserve Rockhaven Sanitarium was approved. Under the Portantino proposal, the state will allocate $8 million to the City of Glendale to renovate and preserve the historic property for the public to enjoy and appreciate.

And although this was great news after a long and winding path, Linkchorst shared with the Historical Society audience that she was not certain what this means.

“The City could take up to three years to decided whether to accept this [funding],” she said.

“The City is thankful to Senator Portantino for this opportunity, and we eagerly await receipt of funding and additional information regarding the parameters of this funding from the state. We are awaiting this information before we bring the item forward for Council discussion,” said Eliza Papazian, city spokeswoman.

Linkchorst encouraged the community to email or mail Glendale City Councilmembers asking them to accept the funding and restore Rockhaven. Email addresses can be found at glendaleca.gov. The postal address is City of Glendale, [address to the attention of councilmember] 613 E. Broadway, Glendale, California 91206.

More information on Rockhaven can be found at www.friendsofrockhaven.org.