The Eastsider L.A. reports today that Bob Baker's marionette theater, located in an Echo Parkish pocket between First Street and Glendale Boulevard, may have a new lease on life. Citing an earlier Curbed L.A. story claiming the property is no longer for sale, the Eastsider says the theater is now being considered as an L.A. cultural monument. Now, given how many bulldozers have left their tread marks on local historical marker plaques and other protected sites, it's unwise to begin popping the Cristal (or Cook's). Still, this is a good start and a cause for at least muted optimism. Baker's supporters would do well, though, to never forget how much of a real estate-controlled puppet government L.A.'s bureaucracy is, and to always be vigilant against elected officials or city officials who might attempt to attach strings to the theater's continued existence.

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