The Ambassador Hotel is Gone.

[havershaw]

see for yourself:

http://ambassadorhotel.blogspot.com/

depressing. There's talk of a wake in the next week or two at the RMS Bounty. I might try to come in for that. I wanted to try to see the hotel in her final days, but it just went down too fast.

 

[VivianRegan]

Why does this affect me? I live a state away, but still manage to feel bummed about this. I went through that entire site, read as many posts as I could and sighed over the photos. THIS is a tremendous loss, and not just because of the building's famous associations. What a great building! Look how long it stood and served people!

Hasn't the LAUSD heard of adaptive re-use? I'd have been a proud kid to attend the Ambassador Elementary/Junior High/High School. Wouldn't that have been something...

Such a sad thing.

 

[havershaw]

Vivian, we live in the same town. Man, there are a lot of Arizonians here now! awesome.

The Adaptive reuse thing was an option at some point, but if you ask me, it was just the school district trying to make it look like they actualy entertained the idea, when in fact I don't think they ever had any intentions of reusing the building. They paid a LOT of mooney to have studies done and had several different plans created for adaptive reuse. I believe they spent somewhere close to $100,000 in making these plans. They had five options to choose from, each one offering different amounts of reuse. There was a public review period, at the end of which the school district announced that they weren't going to use any of the plans they themselves had devised, but would instead demolish the building altogether. I don't understand why on earth they went through the trouble of making the plans. They also claimed the bungalows would be moved, and a month later, they were demolished. Oh, and they also claimed that the Embassy Ballroom and Kennedy assasination site would be saved...they too are gone. At least the Grove is saved, and some of the shopping area. And I did get to spend a fair amount of quality time there.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Sad, so very sad, how so many cities seem unable to save their historic structures. And not every building is historic, but this one sure was.

Someday, people will look back with remorse.

 

[scotrace]

Hate to see it

SO much of historic significance happened there, not just the RFK assassination.
I subscribe to Historic Preservation magazine (as biased a publication as you'll ever read). There was recently an article about this. In the end, the Kennedy family wanted it torn down, and they won out.
I hope they will put up some of their own money for the replacement structure.

 

[Nick Charles]

I think I've seen part of that lobby Fountain somewhere, I just can't put my thumb on it?

 

[havershaw]

One of my representatives will be visiting you soon.
(You know too much.)

 

[Lauren]

This is really awful... and I never even made it to see it. Not once. Did they keep the Coconut Grove? My grandma had her prom there back in 38 or 39.

 

[Rigby Reardon]

If I'm seeing this right, then yes, the Coconut Grove looks like it's still there. As of the last few pics, anyway. And sounds like it is still slated to be incorporated in as a building of the high school. IF they don't change the plans AGAIN.

Maybe that was a compromise to keep some of the legacy, but still remove the place RFK died. Terrible that an infamous tragedy overwhelmed all the other history, but it happens, and I can understand the feelings of the Kennedy family if they did in fact want it torn down.

J

 

[havershaw]

The Grove, such as it is, is still there, although it was heavily redesigned in 1969. They did take a good portion of that newer facade off, though, and supposedly they're going to restore the front of it to its former (pre-70s) glory. We'll see, though.
That also means that the west side Grove entrance to the hotel (the most famous one, probably) will also be preserved (it's in great shape thanks to the film crew from "That Thing You Do," who restored it for that film), as well as a good portion of the arcade level (shopping level). There were tons of glass storefronts on that level - Ambassador Flowers, Ambassador Post Office, Ambassador this and that. I wonder if they've kept all of those? I know some are missing, but for the most part, the arcade level had not changed in many many years. To wit:

I hope some of these glass fronts were saved...although I actually think that the post office may have been in the section that was demolished. I tried to get the school to let me have them - I even offered to cut them out myself. No one ever gave me an answer.

 

[Wild Root]

LA is dumber then a post!

I'm so sick of the LA school board! Knocking down perfectly good buildings for schools. Now, I'm not against the idea of kids learning at all, it's the thought that there are real lousy and shabby places that could come down and make way for a school and not a historical place. I remember when I heard that Hollywood Lanes was bulldozed! I was so upset! I used to bowl there all the time and I have had some great memories there. It was knocked over to make way for yet another school. For the love of Pete! Can't they make way for schools by using abandoned gas stations or malls? There are plenty of places like that in Hollywood and LA. Gangsters I tell ya, Gangsters!

All and all, the City of LA is as lame as it gets and they have no thought to what tomorrow holds historically. I tell ya, just look at how Down Town is! Used to be the hub of activity pre 1960 now, it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s just a villa of Payless shoes stores and 99c only stores for the love of Jeff!

Oh, I'm sick of it!

=WR=

 

[VivianRegan]

The preservation movement can be an exercise in futility and sadness.

I'm sure if you've been in the Valley for any amount of time, Havershaw, you've seen great things torn down.

If I could chain myself to every cool old building that was in danger of falling (here in the Valley, anyway), I'd certainly do it!

Downtowns have been languishing for 40-50 years... merchants took their businesses to malls on the outskirts (lower rents, better/more parking), and downtowns died. Only now are people coming back (those who can afford to move into the overpriced "lofts" offered!) They'll never be the same as they were, however. Suburbs are simply too attractive to the masses.

 

[up196]

It wouldn't surprise me . . .

. . . that when all is said and done, the school offers a course about the history of the Ambassador Hotel. Then the class participants can adjourn to the parking lot and stand on approximately the very spots where those historic events occurred. Ironic, isn't it?

 

[Robert Conway]

I tell ya, just look at how Down Town is! Used to be the hub of activity pre 1960 now, it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s just a villa of Payless shoes stores and 99c only stores for the love of Jeff!
Oh, I'm sick of it!
=WR=

Down Town L.A. is in an interesting state of flux.

Every time I think of the old Victorian mansions and tenement buildings that were torn down around Angel's Flight, I become ill. You can see this area in many film noir movies and it was truly unique. The design of the tenement buildings had a very German expressionist look to them (tall narrow windows and doors etc), that you simply don't see anywhere else. All gone. A real disaster.

When I moved to L.A. about ten years ago, most of down town was so bad, that I almost didn't dare get out of the car and I'm from New York. It's a real shame too. The historic core is the largest intact, downtown area in the country. I'm not sure why, but down town was abandoned almost overnight, several decades ago, so it sort of remained frozen in time for decades. There is some truly amazing architecture down there.

But in the past few years, developers have poured massive amounts of money in to the historic district and started to clean the place up all along Broadway. Granted it's turning in to yuppie-ville, but at least the old theaters and buildings will be preserved. Every available building is being converted in to lofts that are starting to go for a bloody fortune. The historical society is very active and everyone seems to be working together.

The Mission/Skid Row, still is a war zone. There is one half mile long stretch, that looks like a shanty town in a third world country, except these 'people aren't just poor, but there is an enormous amount of substance abuse going on and there is a large number of people with mental health problems. I do a lot of documentary photography in down town and ran that gauntlet on foot one day. To be honest, I really didn't think I was going to make it and in hind sight it was a pretty stupid thing to do. Needless to say I didn't take my camera out.

Anyhow, I think there is a lot of hope for down town L.A. As long as people keep buying those lofts, the upward trend will continue and from what I hear they are selling like hot cakes. The city also seems to understand the value of preserving the integrity of the historic district.