Auctioning Off A Final Look at the Ambassador

(Photo by Nancy Duron.)

The Los Angeles Conservancy tipped us off to a silent auction for photos that were taken a few years ago by high school photography students as part of an effort to document the Ambassador Hotel pre-demolition.

The Location Managers Guild, which sponsored the project, is now auctioning off the images from the exhibition. Half of the proceeds will go to Animo Film and Theater Arts High School, a new Green Dot charter school.

The auction takes place at downtown’s Wilshire Grand Hotel. Check out the evite here and the gallery of photos here.

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.

L.A. Conservancy Unveils This Year’s Last Remaining Seats Roster

Los Angeles Theatre, photo courtesy Berger/Conser Photography

For those of us who attend the L.A. Conservancy’s “Last Remaining Seats” festival for the grand old movie palaces, this year’s gonna be a good one. For those of you who attend to check out the classic movies, this year’s gonna be a good one too.

The Los Angeles, Million Dollar and Orpheum theaters have all been booked — and this year, you’ll have a chance to check out quite a cool range of films. Here’s the release:

LOS ANGELES CONSERVANCY ANNOUNCES 2008 SEASON OF LAST REMAINING SEATS

Classic Film and Live Entertainment in the Historic Theatres of Los Angeles Wednesdays at 8 p.m., May 28 – July 2, 2008

LOS ANGELES, March 13 — The Los Angeles Conservancy has announced the 22nd annual season of its signature series Last Remaining Seats, which presents classic films as they were meant to be seen: on the big screen, in movie palaces, surrounded by fellow fans. What began in 1987 as a way to raise awareness of Los Angeles’ neglected historic theatres is now a summer tradition, bringing the glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age to thousands of Angelenos.

The 2008 season runs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. from May 28 through July 2 in downtown Los Angeles’ Broadway Historic Theatre District. The lineup includes:

– May 28: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), starring Marilyn Monroe, at the spectacular Los Angeles Theatre (1931)
– June 4: Mildred Pierce (1945), starring Joan Crawford, at the recently renovated Million Dollar Theatre (1918)
– June 11: Goldfinger (1964), with Sean Connery as James Bond, at the beautifully restored Orpheum Theatre (1926)
– June 18: Young Frankenstein (1974), the Mel Brooks comedy starring Gene Wilder, at the Los Angeles Theatre
– June 25: El rey del barrio (King of the Neighborhood) (1950, in Spanish with English subtitles) at the Million Dollar Theatre, co-presented by the Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles
– July 2: Masters of silent comedy at the Orpheum Theatre, featuring Buster Keaton in The Navigator (1924), plus short films by Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd

See you there!

L.A. Conservancy Unveils This Year’s Last Remaining Seats Roster

Los Angeles Theatre, photo courtesy Berger/Conser Photography

For those of us who attend the L.A. Conservancy’s “Last Remaining Seats” festival for the grand old movie palaces, this year’s gonna be a good one. For those of you who attend to check out the classic movies, this year’s gonna be a good one too.

The Los Angeles, Million Dollar and Orpheum theaters have all been booked — and this year, you’ll have a chance to check out quite a cool range of films. Here’s the release:

LOS ANGELES CONSERVANCY ANNOUNCES 2008 SEASON OF LAST REMAINING SEATS

Classic Film and Live Entertainment in the Historic Theatres of Los Angeles Wednesdays at 8 p.m., May 28 – July 2, 2008

LOS ANGELES, March 13 — The Los Angeles Conservancy has announced the 22nd annual season of its signature series Last Remaining Seats, which presents classic films as they were meant to be seen: on the big screen, in movie palaces, surrounded by fellow fans. What began in 1987 as a way to raise awareness of Los Angeles’ neglected historic theatres is now a summer tradition, bringing the glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age to thousands of Angelenos.

The 2008 season runs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. from May 28 through July 2 in downtown Los Angeles’ Broadway Historic Theatre District. The lineup includes:

– May 28: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), starring Marilyn Monroe, at the spectacular Los Angeles Theatre (1931)
– June 4: Mildred Pierce (1945), starring Joan Crawford, at the recently renovated Million Dollar Theatre (1918)
– June 11: Goldfinger (1964), with Sean Connery as James Bond, at the beautifully restored Orpheum Theatre (1926)
– June 18: Young Frankenstein (1974), the Mel Brooks comedy starring Gene Wilder, at the Los Angeles Theatre
– June 25: El rey del barrio (King of the Neighborhood) (1950, in Spanish with English subtitles) at the Million Dollar Theatre, co-presented by the Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles
– July 2: Masters of silent comedy at the Orpheum Theatre, featuring Buster Keaton in The Navigator (1924), plus short films by Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd

See you there!

New Heritage Day Seeks to Connect L.A.’s Historic Organizations

(Flickr pic by There2Roam.)

The Heritage Square Museum is throwing its first-ever “LA Heritage Day” on March 2, kicking off a new “Heritage Alliance” initiative to link our local history organizations and collections.

Some of the groups participating include the San Marino Historical Society, Lanterman House Museum (La Canada), Los Angeles Conservancy, Culver City Historical Society, Chatsworth Historical Society, Los Angeles City Historical Society, Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum, Lomita Railroad Museum and Foundation, Bilingual Foundation for the Arts, Venice Historical Society, Los Angelitas del Pueblo, Highland Park Heritage Trust, Historical Society of Southern California, Costumers Guild West , Grier Musser Museum, Campo de Cahuenga Historic Memorial Assn., Boyle Heights Historical Society, and Rancho Los Cerritos.

Event will take place on March 2 from noon to 4 p.m. Tours of the museum will be held; Admission is $10/adults, $8/seniors, $5/children ages 6-12.

The museum explains the initiative:

This alliance will work to unify the efforts of heritage organizations on matters of preservation, promotion, and communication.

“This isn’t about raising funds – which is often the focus of museums – but rather, we’re working together to step in and preserve our history,” says Brian Sheridan, one of the organizers of the LA Heritage Day and LA Heritage Alliance. “Though we’ve been successful as individual groups, as an alliance, we will be able to work smarter and more efficiently to preserve the regions heritage and the plan for future efforts, as well.”

Given the amount of history we’ve lost over the past few years (The Ambassador, etc.), an initiative like this couldn’t hurt.

The Heritage Square museum is located at 3800 Homer Street, off the 110 Arroyo Seco Parkway (110/Pasadena Freeway) at Avenue 43, just north of downtown Los Angeles. But hey, take the Gold Line to the Heritage Square/Arroyo Gold station.

New Heritage Day Seeks to Connect L.A.’s Historic Organizations

(Flickr pic by There2Roam.)

The Heritage Square Museum is throwing its first-ever “LA Heritage Day” on March 2, kicking off a new “Heritage Alliance” initiative to link our local history organizations and collections.

Some of the groups participating include the San Marino Historical Society, Lanterman House Museum (La Canada), Los Angeles Conservancy, Culver City Historical Society, Chatsworth Historical Society, Los Angeles City Historical Society, Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum, Lomita Railroad Museum and Foundation, Bilingual Foundation for the Arts, Venice Historical Society, Los Angelitas del Pueblo, Highland Park Heritage Trust, Historical Society of Southern California, Costumers Guild West , Grier Musser Museum, Campo de Cahuenga Historic Memorial Assn., Boyle Heights Historical Society, and Rancho Los Cerritos.

Event will take place on March 2 from noon to 4 p.m. Tours of the museum will be held; Admission is $10/adults, $8/seniors, $5/children ages 6-12.

The museum explains the initiative:

This alliance will work to unify the efforts of heritage organizations on matters of preservation, promotion, and communication.

“This isn’t about raising funds – which is often the focus of museums – but rather, we’re working together to step in and preserve our history,” says Brian Sheridan, one of the organizers of the LA Heritage Day and LA Heritage Alliance. “Though we’ve been successful as individual groups, as an alliance, we will be able to work smarter and more efficiently to preserve the regions heritage and the plan for future efforts, as well.”

Given the amount of history we’ve lost over the past few years (The Ambassador, etc.), an initiative like this couldn’t hurt.

The Heritage Square museum is located at 3800 Homer Street, off the 110 Arroyo Seco Parkway (110/Pasadena Freeway) at Avenue 43, just north of downtown Los Angeles. But hey, take the Gold Line to the Heritage Square/Arroyo Gold station.

Remembering Bullocks Wilshire

It’s been closed now for nearly 15 years, yet Bullocks Wilshire is still fondly remembered by Angelenos as Los Angeles’ showcase department store. The building, now in use by Southwestern Law School, is one of the best examples of adaptive reuse in all of L.A.

Bullocks Wilshire — the first department store in L.A. built for the automotive revolution — catered to Hollywood’s Golden Age of stars. When it was built in 1929, Bullocks Wilshire was surrounded by residential homes, in what was then considered the suburbs (can you imagine that now!). The location was actually originally known as Bullock’s, until the apostrophe was dropped in the 1970s to distinguish it from the regular Bullock’s department stores.

The Times’ Cecilia Rassmussen includes that and other tidbits in her L.A. Then and Now column this week:

On Sept. 26, 1929, the doors opened at the five-story building with a distinctive terra cotta and copper facade and a 241-foot tower that drew the eye from far down the boulevard. At night, the tower was alight until World War II, when it was darkened to shield it from possible enemy bombers.

“Like a jewel of jade upon the breast of a titan goddess, Bullocks Wilshire gleams against the California sky,” The Times announced.

Dubbed “the Cathedral of Commerce,” the grand edifice was built as a paean to automobile culture. Showcase display windows along the sidewalk were designed to catch motorists’ eyes.

Its imposing entrance was in the rear, where a dramatic circular driveway swept up to uniformed valets who parked cars and greeted shoppers under a richly colored Herman Sachs ceiling fresco that depicted the world of transportation: a zeppelin, an airplane and a luxury ocean liner.

When it opened, the store was one of only three commercial buildings in the mid-Wilshire area, along with the Brown Derby and the Ambassador Hotel.

Macy’s, which purchased Bullock’s in the late 1980s, shut down Bullocks Wilshire in 1993 and eliminated the Bullock’s name entirely.

A few years ago, I got to take a tour of the Bullock’s Wilshire building, and see how Southwestern had adapted it, during an L.A. Conservancy tour. The famous tea room, for example, now serves as a cafeteria.

The building will next be open on July 28 for two rare tours. The Times says reservations are required for what’s been dubbed “Tea and Tour”: (213) 738-6814 or events@swlaw.edu. Proceeds go to Friends of the Bullocks Wilshire.

Nine Lives for Downtown’s Felix the Cat

(Flickr pic by Touchdownturnaround.)

Good news on the preservation front: The City’s Cultural Heritage Commission approved plans to give landmark status to Felix Chevrolet’s sign and showroom.

Notes the L.A. Times:

Felix’s fans urged that the sign and showroom be left intact. They noted that landmark status does not permanently block removal of a historic structure but does force property owners, developers and city officials to carefully study the effects of demolition.

“Felix Chevrolet is a landmark in every sense of the word,” said Mitzi March Mogul, a historic preservation consultant.

L.A. Conservancy representative Jay Platt told commissioners he is among millions “who loved the Felix the Cat sign as a kid.”

View from a Loft has been covering Felix’s fate closely, including here and here.

Prior to the committee vote, the blog wrote:

As the Figueroa Corridor grows, and competition between rival developers heats up, the cat is caught in the middle. It’s seen as a speed bump from further developing the site where the sign and showroom is located across the street from the recently completed USC Galen Center.

The sign and showroom at Figueroa and Jefferson was owned by Nickolas Shammas until his death in 2003. The business was passed on to the Shammas Corporation currently under the direction of son-in-law, Darryl Holter. He’s since added
dealerships near Figueroa and Washington. Holter, who also chairs the Figueroa Corridor Partnership, has stated the land where the sign is would be more “beneficial to the community if it were used for student housing.”

Since 2000, Holter has been planning University Gateway development where Felix now stands, and has since added Urban Partners to oversee the project. An added twist is Conquest Student Housing, a “housing provider” for students, have filed appeals and lawsuits against Urban Partners , CRA and the City citing items that range from parking variances or “botched” environmental reports.

We last wrote about Felix’s fate here back in March.

Nine Lives for Downtown’s Felix the Cat

(Flickr pic by Touchdownturnaround.)

Good news on the preservation front: The City’s Cultural Heritage Commission approved plans to give landmark status to Felix Chevrolet’s sign and showroom.

Notes the L.A. Times:

Felix’s fans urged that the sign and showroom be left intact. They noted that landmark status does not permanently block removal of a historic structure but does force property owners, developers and city officials to carefully study the effects of demolition.

“Felix Chevrolet is a landmark in every sense of the word,” said Mitzi March Mogul, a historic preservation consultant.

L.A. Conservancy representative Jay Platt told commissioners he is among millions “who loved the Felix the Cat sign as a kid.”

View from a Loft has been covering Felix’s fate closely, including here and here.

Prior to the committee vote, the blog wrote:

As the Figueroa Corridor grows, and competition between rival developers heats up, the cat is caught in the middle. It’s seen as a speed bump from further developing the site where the sign and showroom is located across the street from the recently completed USC Galen Center.

The sign and showroom at Figueroa and Jefferson was owned by Nickolas Shammas until his death in 2003. The business was passed on to the Shammas Corporation currently under the direction of son-in-law, Darryl Holter. He’s since added
dealerships near Figueroa and Washington. Holter, who also chairs the Figueroa Corridor Partnership, has stated the land where the sign is would be more “beneficial to the community if it were used for student housing.”

Since 2000, Holter has been planning University Gateway development where Felix now stands, and has since added Urban Partners to oversee the project. An added twist is Conquest Student Housing, a “housing provider” for students, have filed appeals and lawsuits against Urban Partners , CRA and the City citing items that range from parking variances or “botched” environmental reports.

We last wrote about Felix’s fate here back in March.