No Further West: The Story of Los Angeles Union Station

Panel discussion with Debra Gerod, Jenna Hornstock, Eugene Moy and Marlyn Musicant Moderated by Kevin Roderick, editor, LA Observed
Thursday, May 29, 2014 | 7:15pm Mark Taper Auditorium-Central Library

In 1939, Union Station opened on the former site of Los Angeles’s original Chinatown displacing thousands of Chinese and Chinese Americans. The new station fulfilled the vision of civic leaders who believed that an impressive gateway was critical to the growth of Los Angeles. In place of Chinatown, a distinctive Mission Revival station proudly stands as the centerpiece of our regional transportation system. Yet balances of power and political economies were disrupted; financial and legal battles raged on for years. This panel including members of the Union Station Master Plan team, an architectural historian (and exhibition curator), and the vice-president of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California will discuss the history of this architectural icon and share visions for its future.

Presented in conjunction with the Getty Research Institute’s exhibition of the same name in Central Library’s Getty Gallery

Kevin Roderick

Kevin Roderick

Kevin Roderick is a journalist, editor, blogger and author living in Los Angeles. He is the creator and publisher of LA Observed, a widely cited news website that Forbes rated as Best of the Web. He is a contributing writer on politics and media at Los Angeles magazine, an award-winning radio commentator, and is often asked by the media to talk about Southern California issues. Currently, he is director of the UCLA Newsroom at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Marlyn Musicant

Marlyn Musicant

Marlyn Musicant is the Senior Exhibitions Coordinator at the Getty Research Institute. She earned her M.A. in the History of Decorative Arts, Design and Culture at the Bard Graduate Center. Her research specialties include twentieth-century industrial design and architectureÑparticularly German Modernism and the history of architecture and planning in Southern California. Musicant is a the editor of Los Angeles Union Station, forthcoming from Getty Publications and the curator of the exhibit of the same name on display in Central Library’s Getty Gallery. Musicant is a native Angeleno.

Eugene Moy

Eugene Moy

Eugene Moy is a past president and the current vice president of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, where he has been a member since 1976. He has conducted research and reviewed many scholarly publications on the history of Chinese in Southern California on behalf of the Historical Society. In 1981 he was part of the team that developed historical walking tours of Los Angeles Chinatown, and has been continuously involved in conducting interpretive walking tours of Old and New Chinatown since that time. In addition, he currently serves as second vice president for the Chinese American Museum at El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument. Professionally, he is retired after over 35 years in municipal planning and redevelopment, working for five different cities in Los Angeles County. He is a native of Los Angeles, a graduate of Cal State Long Beach, and has resided with his family in Alhambra since 1986.

Jenna Hornstock

Jenna Hornstock

Jenna Hornstock is Deputy Executive Officer in Countywide Planning at Metro. She is the project manager for the Union Station Master Plan, and oversees implementation of the new TOD Planning Grant program, the Union Station Linkages Study, and other strategic initiatives related to integrated, transit-oriented planning. Prior to joining Metro, Ms. Hornstock spent nearly 7 years at the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA/LA), most recently as Chief of Strategic Planning and Economic Development. She holds a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a BA in Rhetoric from UC Berkeley.

Debra Gerod

Debra Gerod

Debra Gerod is a partner at Gruen Associates, the planning and architectural firm selected for the Union Station master plan. During her tenure at Gruen Associates, Gerod has focused on the collaborative delivery of projects, primarily in the public sector. Her work includes large-scale, significant civic and cultural projects such as courthouses, embassies, performing arts centers, museums, libraries and transportation projects.

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