By Mary O’KEEFE

The construction banners are up and workers with yellow vests can be seen through the gates of Rockhaven Sanitarium as the renovations to the historic property begin. 

In July the Glendale City Council announced that the construction/renovation was finally beginning after years of roller coaster-type efforts. 

The plan adopted by the council will renovate Pines Cottage for use as a museum and will allow for accessibility improvements including off-site parking. 

“… a comprehensive effort to enhance the site’s historical and functional value,” senior project manager Arthur Asaturyan told the council, as reported in an article in CVW in July.

The Pines Cottage is the beginning of the renovation that has been a long time coming. 

Rockhaven has had a roller coaster history. The property itself is a tribute to a woman in business, which at the time was uncommon. Agnes Richards opened Rockhaven Sanitarium in 1923 when she rented a cottage in the 2700 block of Honolulu Avenue. She purchased other houses and soon Rockhaven was a well-known sanitarium that offered a safe place for women. 

Richards kept Rockhaven going until her death in 1967 when it was passed to her granddaughter Patricia Travis. Travis sold the sanitarium in 2001 to a large hospital corporation, which closed the facility in 2006. 

Rockhaven’s future was in question until the City of Glendale purchased the property in 2008. One plan was to relocate the Montrose Library to the Rockhaven property and to also create a park. But the economy took a downturn and everything  stalled. Since then, the future of property has been in question – what would happen to this historic location? Several buildings on the property have been listed on the state and national historical registries. The City and Friends of Rockhaven worked together to conduct historical tours of the location but then the City started pulling back on maintaining the site. 

A city spokesman has said the construction and architecture companies that are doing the renovations have a history of working with historical properties and will take that into consideration as they work on this property. 

Friends of Rockhaven has been for decades a champion of the sanitarium for women. Friends has had its issues with the City as their organization fought – and continues to fight – for the protection of not just the property but the story of this woman-owned and -operated facility. 

Joanna Linkchorst, president of Friends of Rockhaven, has mixed feelings as the construction begins. 

“Bittersweet,” she said when describing feelings about the renovations held by her and members of the organization she leads. “While I am crushed that it will be forever changed, [the City of Glendale] tells us the park should be open ‘shortly after the construction is finished.’ It will be nice for people to finally be able to get onto the grounds more than 17 years after the City purchased it. But it does not know what hours it will be open, according to Onnig Bulanikian (director of Community Services and Parks). He says Council will decide that.”

Almost all of Rockhaven has been listed on the Historical Record, including the Pines Cottage. 

“The full acreage is considered an historic district, including the once threatened Nurses’ Cottage. But the details about the insides of the buildings were not listed in that designation and therefore may be changed,” Linkchorst said. 

Friends of Rockhaven has been very active in the past holding historical walk- throughs of the property, raising funds and getting the word out about the site and the sanitarium that focused on women. However, unfortunately it has been quite a while since Rockhaven and the City had a good working relationship. 

According to a City spokesman, the plan is to reach out to stakeholders, which would include Friends of Rockhaven, about the renovations and future of the property; however, according to Linkchorst no one has been in touch with her organization yet. 

She said she reaches out to the City once a month but has been told the matter is now in the hands of Public Works. According to Linkchorst, an outside museum planner was hired. The last email she received was that construction was to start on Sept. 15, 2025. The City did not reach out to the group for any information concerning the sanitarium. Friends of Rockhaven has a reported tremendous amount of Rockhaven history in its possession.

In the past, Friends of Rockhaven filed a lawsuit against the City. It did this, according to Linkchorst, to get the project moving forward as it saw the property facing a great deal of neglect – including leaking roofs. The lawsuit has come up in conversations with Linkchorst, and CVW, as a reason why the City cannot collaborate with the Friends of Rockhaven organization.

There have been letters sent by over 100 organizations and community members concerned about the integrity of the property. In addition, there are apparent changes to the interior of the historical building that do not maintain the original footprint. 

For information from the City of Glendale about the renovations visit: https://tinyurl.com/bdfwrb9z.

For information on Friends of Rockhaven visit https://www.friendsofrockhaven.org/.