They Say The Neon Lights Are Bright on Broadway (And The Rest of L.A.)

Above, the renovated Palladium’s new sign — nicely re-created from images of how the sign once looked.

Yesterday, we wrote about the Museum of Neon Arts’ new home in downtown Los Angeles. The MONA’s neon cruises are still going strong, and on Saturday night the museum’s Eric Evavold invited us to check one out.

With the Blogger Preschooler’s grandparents in town, the timing was perfect. Maria and I got there early enough for a wine and cheese at the museum, before heading out at 8 p.m. sharp. Eric led us through downtown (including Broadway) and Chinatown (where the bus took a break). Then it was on to Hollywood (maneuvering around the anti-Prop 8 rally) and Fairfax, where we took another break at Canter’s. Final leg of the tour took us down Wilshire.

Eric Evavold, our guide for the evening.

The Orpheum — Broadway’s best example of how to revitalize the street’s movie palaces.

Also on Broadway: The old Globe theater.

Old Chinatown signs, recently restored (partly by MONA) and installed (in some cases, for the first time in decades).

One of the city’s best examples of adaptive reuse: Bullocks Wilshire, now a part of the Southwestern School of Law.

The floor in front of Clifton’s Brookdale.

Hollywood rallies to put a stop to Prop 8, as seen from the MONA bus.

The Million-Dollar Million Dollar Theatre Gamble

(Flickr pic by Agilitynut.)

One-time movie director-turned-disco promoter-turned developer Robert Voskanian is readying downtown’s Million Dollar Theatre for its close-up.

As the L.A. Times writes, Voskanian and partners signed a 20-year lease in 2006 from the Yellin Co. to run the theatre. The Million Dollar, which opened in 1918, had hit tough times (like most of Broadway’s movie palaces), and has been completely dark since a church left five years ago. Now, Voskanian has invested $1 million in renovations — which is a start.

The paper writes:

Located at Broadway and 3rd Street, the Million Dollar was once considered the grande dame of the marvelous movie palaces that line L.A.’s historic theater district. It was Sid Grauman’s first movie house in town, designed by noted architect Albert C. Martin Sr. and hailed as one of the finest in the world when it opened on Feb. 1, 1918, to a crowd of celebrities including Charlie Chaplin and Cecil B. DeMille. For decades, it would serve as the site of glitzy Hollywood premieres, often preceded by live vaudeville shows featuring the likes of Buster Keaton and Gloria Swanson…

The Spanish Baroque auditorium (designed by William Woollett) must have been awe-inspiring in its day, with its massive arched proscenium, 75-foot-high coved ceilings, filigreed organ grilles and massive balcony, an engineering feat at the time. The tenants have replaced the ragged carpets and painted everything from the gold vases in the alcoves to the ornate chandeliers. But there’s a lot left to do, judging from the water stains on the high ceiling caused before leaks were fixed. The balcony is closed off pending repair of a rickety exterior staircase. But the show must go on. Already scheduled this year are a film festival, a beauty contest and two screenings as part of Last Remaining Seats, the conservancy’s annual film series in historic venues.

For the venue’s first major concert in a decade, Mexico’s Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan will perform there on May 11.

The Million-Dollar Million Dollar Theatre Gamble

(Flickr pic by Agilitynut.)

One-time movie director-turned-disco promoter-turned developer Robert Voskanian is readying downtown’s Million Dollar Theatre for its close-up.

As the L.A. Times writes, Voskanian and partners signed a 20-year lease in 2006 from the Yellin Co. to run the theatre. The Million Dollar, which opened in 1918, had hit tough times (like most of Broadway’s movie palaces), and has been completely dark since a church left five years ago. Now, Voskanian has invested $1 million in renovations — which is a start.

The paper writes:

Located at Broadway and 3rd Street, the Million Dollar was once considered the grande dame of the marvelous movie palaces that line L.A.’s historic theater district. It was Sid Grauman’s first movie house in town, designed by noted architect Albert C. Martin Sr. and hailed as one of the finest in the world when it opened on Feb. 1, 1918, to a crowd of celebrities including Charlie Chaplin and Cecil B. DeMille. For decades, it would serve as the site of glitzy Hollywood premieres, often preceded by live vaudeville shows featuring the likes of Buster Keaton and Gloria Swanson…

The Spanish Baroque auditorium (designed by William Woollett) must have been awe-inspiring in its day, with its massive arched proscenium, 75-foot-high coved ceilings, filigreed organ grilles and massive balcony, an engineering feat at the time. The tenants have replaced the ragged carpets and painted everything from the gold vases in the alcoves to the ornate chandeliers. But there’s a lot left to do, judging from the water stains on the high ceiling caused before leaks were fixed. The balcony is closed off pending repair of a rickety exterior staircase. But the show must go on. Already scheduled this year are a film festival, a beauty contest and two screenings as part of Last Remaining Seats, the conservancy’s annual film series in historic venues.

For the venue’s first major concert in a decade, Mexico’s Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan will perform there on May 11.

Extreme Makeover: Downtown Los Angeles Edition

The downtown blogs are abuzz over the latest Broadway revival proposal, this one spearheaded by city councilman Jose Huizar (see Blogdowntown’s coverage here.

“Bringing Back Broadway” — official website here– promises to revive some of the grand old movie palaces, clean up and restore building facades, make Broadway more pedestrian-friendly, and even install a streetcar to run up and down the street.

Of course, we’ve heard many Broadway proposals through the years, so it’s hard to believe until we actually see some progress made. (And there has been some in recent years, includng the restoration of the Orpheum). The L.A. Times notes that the “Bringing Back Broadway” initiative is counting on $40 million — including both private and public funds. The paper writes:

Broadway, which cuts through the heart of downtown, has long been one of the city’s best barometers of demographic and social change.

Before World War II, it was considered by many to be the center of the city, where residents far and wide came by car and street trolley to catch movies at ornate theaters, such as the Globe, Orpheum and Million Dollar, and shop at department stores.

After the war, even as downtown declined, Broadway continued to bustle — catering to the growing Latino immigrant population settling in neighborhoods to the east and west of the area.”

More recently, however, Broadway has seen the number of consumers in the area decline, as shoppers go elsewhere. That’s why the “Bringing Back Broadway” team doesn’t expect to encounter much resistance.

MEANWHILE, the Times also writes about another revival campaign, this one to declare downtown’s Los Angeles River bridges as historic-cultural monuments to the city’s early-20th century architectural roots.

The paper notes:

The move comes as the city is undertaking a bridge-improvement program that will affect six of the river bridges. The impending upgrades have lent a sense of urgency to those who think that the structures deserve special status.

“Many of these bridges are proposed for sizable seismic upgrades and even possible reconstruction,” said Ken Bernstein, manager of the Office of Historic Resources in the city’s planning department. “We wanted to ensure that the city’s own historic preservation commission was part of the conversation about the future treatment and alteration of these important historic bridges.”

The bridges in question, most of which were constructed between 1910 and 1930, were part of a campaign to deal with a river that was prone to flooding and had destroyed many of the metal truss bridges built in the 1840s.

Beautification was also a goal: In 1903, the L.A. Municipal Art Commission wrote that the city had to “work for the gradual elimination of ugliness from the conspicuous parts of our city.”

The result was a recommendation to begin construction of the Art Deco and beaux-arts bridges that today extend from downtown to Boyle Heights, Cypress Park and Lincoln Heights. Sculpted into the Washington Boulevard Bridge are scenes that depict the men who built it. In muted colors, the figures are shown drilling, pushing wheelbarrows and carrying beams.

As the paper writes, the bridges are very popular with Hollywood location scouts.