DWP Lincoln Heights office combines movie-house style with bill paying

If Emerald City had a utility office, it would resemble the DWP’s customer service center in Lincoln Heights. Sheathed in green ceramic tile and  opal glass, the streamlined facade of the Daly Street building includes a marquee featuring two-foot-high letters made from green glass that read: Municipal Light Water Power. All that’s missing are Munchkins lined up to pay overdue electric bills. The building, originally constructed in the 1920s, owes its flashy design to architect  S. Charles Lee, who apparently applied many of  the lessons he learned creating eye-catching movie palaces to this modest, approximately 3,000-square-foot structure.

Lee, who worked on several projects for the utility, transformed the simple brick storefront in Lincoln Heights into a jewel-box with a Regency Moderne facade as part of a $7,000 remodeling project.

The utility’s Lincoln Heights office opened in 1938 complete with a display of an all-electric kitchen and home economic classes, according to the DWP.  After serving Lincoln Heights for nearly 40 years, the Daly Street office closed and the emerald-green glass letters removed after the building was damaged during the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake. The office remained closed until 2008 when it reopened following $2 million in repairs and renovations.  The original glass letters were found in a warehouse and returned to Lincoln Heights office, which is a city historic-cultural monument.

After walking past the glitzy facade and through a doorway framed in copper, DWP customers enter a pretty standard office albeit with historic photos and period lighting fixtures. It’s still no fun paying your utility bill but at least the architecture of the Lincoln Heights office, according to a security guard who works there, “softens the blow.”

Quicksilver Disperses Committee

Quicksilver Resources Inc.'s (KWK - Analyst Report) board announced that it will discontinue with the operation of the transaction committee as the company’s private takeover bid has been withdrawn. The bid was initiated by the family group, which owns 30% of the Quicksilver stock.

Quicksilver's board had formed this committee comprising independent directors to evaluate a potential transaction or other possibilities that might have been proposed by the family.

However, the family decided against carrying out the bid as it considered Quicksilver Resources' current capital structure and governance to be superior to other alternatives. Thus, the withdrawal of the family from the attempted bid rendered redundant the existence of the transaction committee. The board now hopes to work together in the best interest of the company, looking for growth and further development.

Quicksliver's strong financial position is reflected in its year-end results. Cash and cash equivalents of the company as of December 31, 2010 were $54.9 million versus $1.03 million as of December 31, 2009. Total debts at year end were $1.74 billion versus $2.3 billion at prior year end.

Quicksilver's earnings per share of 18 cents in the fourth quarter and 70 cents in fiscal 2010 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimates. The Zacks Consensus Estimates for first-quarter 2011, fiscal year 2011 and fiscal year 2012 are, respectively, 5 cents per share, 24 cents per share and 39 cents per share.

Quicksilver Resources currently retains a Zacks #3 Rank (short-term Hold rating) on the stock. The operating margin of the company was better than its peers Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK - Analyst Report) and Denbury Resources Inc. (DNR - Analyst Report) in the trailing twelve months.

Based in Fort Worth, Texas, independent exploration and production company Quicksilver Resources is primarily engaged in the development of long-lived, unconventional onshore natural gas reserves in the North American continent.

Quicksilver Resources' CEO Discusses Q4 2010 Results - Earnings Call Transcript

Philip Cook - Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President

Thomas Darden - Chairman of the Board, Chairman of the Board of MSR, Chief Executive

Officer of MSR and President of MSR

Glenn Darden - Chief Executive Officer, President and Director

Richard Buterbaugh - Vice President of Investor Relations & Corporate Planning

Richard Buterbaugh

Thank you, Rachel and good morning. Joining me once again today are Toby Darden,

Chairman of Quicksilver Resources; Glenn Darden, President and Chief Executive Officer;

and Phil Cook, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

This morning, the company issued a press release detailing Quicksilver's results for

the fourth quarter of 2010. If you do not have a copy of the release, you may retrieve

a copy on the company's website at www.qrinc.com under the News and Updates tab.

During today's call, the company will be making forward-looking statements which are

subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results might differ materially from those

projected in these forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning risk

factors that could cause such differences is detailed in the company's filings with the

SEC.