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Ojai commission approves sending draft downtown historic‑district plaque text to state for review
Summary
The commission approved sending a draft plaque text commemorating the Downtown Ojai Historic District to the State Historic Preservation Office for review, and discussed wording tweaks about Edward D. Libby and plaque length and permanence.
The Ojai Historic Preservation Commission voted April 10 to forward a draft text for a Downtown Ojai Historic District plaque to the State Historic Preservation Office for review.
Commissioner Craig Walker read an edited plaque draft that would commemorate the district’s listing on the California Register of Historic Resources and recognize Edward Drummond Libby and a suite of architects associated with the downtown redevelopment between about 1914 and 1929. Commissioners and members of the public discussed wording, including whether to call Libby an “industrialist” rather than a “magnate,” and suggested adding a Quick Response (QR) code linking to extended content to avoid overlong inscriptions.
The commission voted — Levitt, Moore, Sims, Besascha, Walker and Chair McCatton all voting yes — to send the draft plaque language to the State Historic Preservation Office for review and comment. Commissioners asked staff to work with local historians (Mark Lewis and Elise DuPois were mentioned as prior contributors) to finalize phrasing; one commissioner suggested limiting plaque text but providing a digital link to longer historical notes.
No funding decision for producing the plaque was made at the meeting; commissioners noted state review was a first step and that the city would later decide plaque placement, mounting material and any purchase and installation funding.
The plaque language read at the meeting credits Libby with hiring architects Frank Mead and Richard Requa (spelled in the record), lists contributing master architects, and describes the Downtown Ojai Historic District as including 28 contributing properties along Ojai Avenue between Blanche and Montgomery Streets. The commission agreed to refine the text with local historians before finalizing design and procurement.
