Four institutions that helped define Beverly Hills' identity in entertainment, commerce, and civic life are one step closer to receiving the city's Golden Shield recognition.
The Cultural Heritage Commission voted Wednesday, July 8, to recommend Golden Shield Awards No. 39 through 42 to the City Council for the Friars Club, the Scout House, the First Commercial Building, and the William Morris Agency. The recommendations cap a selection process that began in April, when commissioners chose four of six candidates put forward by the Landmark Nominations Subcommittee.
The Golden Shield program, created in 2019 by the commission and City Council, honors locations with historical and cultural significance beyond architecture alone. Each recipient gets a custom gilt-bronze plaque installed at the site. Starting in fiscal year 2025-26, the city reduced the annual cap from 12 shields to four, with cost savings funding the new Historic Preservation Awards Program.
During the April selection process, Commission Chair Lori Greene Gordon championed the First Commercial Building, calling it foundational to the city's business district. "To me, the entire business triangle began with the First Commercial Building," Gordon said. "What if they put a house there? What if there never was a commercial building? Then, we wouldn't have the business triangle."
Commissioner Sandy Pressman recalled working at the Scout House decades ago, waiting for Gene Kelly to arrive and vote at the polling station inside.
The Friars Club, founded in 1947 by Milton Berle as a West Coast offshoot of the New York original, counted Al Jolson, Jack Benny, and the Rat Pack among its members. Its distinctive, nearly windowless building at 9900 Santa Monica Blvd. was demolished in 2011, a loss that helped spur Beverly Hills' adoption of its Historic Preservation Ordinance in January 2012.
The William Morris Agency, headquartered at 151 El Camino Drive, operated for more than a century and represented Charlie Chaplin, Elvis Presley, and Marilyn Monroe. In 1998, the city renamed the street "William Morris Place" to mark the agency's centennial. WMA merged with Endeavor in 2009.
The Scout House, designed by the same architect behind Beverly Hills City Hall, served Boy Scout Troop 33, Cub Scout Pack 100, and multiple Girl Scout units over decades. A 2015 petition to preserve the structure drew 420 signatures, including from past mayors.
The commission's recommendations must go to the Beverly Hills City Council for final approval before the plaques are officially awarded. No council vote date has been announced.
The July 8 meeting also marked the swearing in of new Commissioner Michael J. Libow.
What's next
The Golden Shield final approval vote is pending before the Beverly Hills City Council. Residents can track the agenda at beverlyhills.org.
