Remembering Diane Keaton, Who Worked Tirelessly to Save the Ambassador

On a brisk February evening in 2006, around a hundred people gathered in the venerable Koreatown watering hole HMS Bounty to pay their last respects to Los Angeles’ historic Ambassador Hotel. Despite the best efforts of the Los Angeles Conservancy, the Ambassador had been torn down — and among the speakers decrying the fate of the legendary institution that evening was Diane Keaton.

Keaton, who died Saturday at 79, is of course known the world over for her on-screen credits, from “Annie Hall” to “The Godfather,” “Father of the Bride” and so much more. But in Los Angeles, she was also known for her passionate work in trying to preserve the city’s history. Keaton spent nearly two decades on the board of the L.A. Conservancy, and lent her voice to the org in countless campaigns to save some of the city’s historic and culturally significant homes and buildings.

“The more I got to know her, the more I understood where that passion came from,” said former L.A. Conservancy president Linda Dishman, who retired after 31 years with the org in 2023. “A lot of that came from her family and growing up in Los Angeles. Really having a connection to the stories and places that make L.A. the city that it is. She had a very genuine passion for historic preservation, not only for the buildings or the cultural landscapes, but for what they mean to people and what they would mean in the future. She definitely got the relationship with how we’re doing this for future generations.”

Keaton first became involved through her interest in historic homes — one of which, built by famed architect Lloyd Wright, she called her own. Her association with the group started when she was curious about the Spanish house owned by one of the Conservancy board members — but soon she got deeply involved with the org, speaking at one of its benefits and then joining its board.

“She was just charming, and it was great being with her, because we shared a passion for historic places,” Dishman said. “Houses were her first interest, and she bought historic houses and restored them, like the Lloyd Wright. But she very much cared about the whole architectural landscaoem and so the fight that she probably was most engaged with, because it took so long, was the Ambassador Hotel.”

Read more here.

Ten Years After the Wake: Looking Back at the Ambassador's Last Days

A decade ago, reader Brian Brouse sent in these photos, but I didn't have the ability to post them. Now I can. He writes:

The reason for my email is that I have greatly enjoyed the photos of the Ambassador you post almost daily. I was in Hollywood for a short trip last October 2005 with a friend and one afternoon we toured the Wilshire District to find as many old Hollywood landmarks as we could. After finding the "Sunset Boulevard" mansion location/parking lot, Mae West's Ravenswood Apartments, etc, we headed down Wilshire to find the Ambassador Hotel as I knew it was in the throes of demolition. Unable to really see that much thanks to a security guard, we did take a few pictures of the building, the sign, and the driveway entrance area. Anyway, I'm sending them to you to use as you will, for historical purposes if anything else. The photos were taken by me in the afternoon of October 8th, 2005.

More pics:

RIP Margaret Burk, Former Ambassador Hotel PR Director

 

Writes the Los Angeles Times:

Margaret Tante Burk, a businesswoman, publicist and book enthusiast who co-founded one of the country’s largest literary lunch groups, died Oct. 6 in Los Angeles of natural causes, her son, Harry, said. She was 93.

For 30 years, until 2007, Burk ran Round Table West with business partner Marylin Hudson, hosting authors as varied as Maya Angelou, Walter Cronkite, Ray Bradbury, Jane Russell and Gloria Steinem.

in 1977, Burk, Hudson and St. Johns launched Round Table West at the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard, where Burk and Hudson had an office. St. Johns, who was by then in her 80s, occasionally attended the meetings.

Some of the luncheons were memorable for their last-minute stand-ins, such as the time “Beverly Hillbillies” star Buddy Ebsen and actor-bandleader Charles “Buddy” Rogers filled in for singer Peggy Lee and actor Macdonald Carey. Rogers, who was married to silent-movie actress Mary Pickford, told jokes on himself and played the piano. Ebsen brought down the house with a dance he called the “Shim Sham Shimmy.”

For Burk, running the literary lunches was one in a string of successful careers.

Born in Savannah, Ga., on Aug. 8, 1918, she attended Northwestern University before moving to Los Angeles in the late 1930s. She married entrepreneur Harry John Burk Jr. in 1945 and helped him run his businesses, which included the Lebec Hotel in Central California.

After selling the hotel in the early 1950s, they moved to Palm Springs and later to Los Angeles, where Burk raised their three children.

In addition to son Harry, she is survived by six grandchildren. Her other children, James and Linda Burk Garcia, are deceased.

In 1964, Burk went to work for Huntington Savings and Loan Assn. and a year later was its vice president and director of public relations. In 1969 she became public relations director for the Ambassador Hotel and Cocoanut Grove nightclub. Favored by movie stars and presidents during its heyday, the hotel was by then known as the place where New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was shot in 1968. Burk, her son said, was hired to “help it overcome difficulties in its image that came after the Kennedy assassination.” Among her duties was coordinating the hotel’s bookings as a movie location, which she continued to do after it closed to guests in 1989.

She chronicled its illustrious past in a 1980 book, “Are the Stars Out Tonight? The Story of the World Famous Ambassador and Cocoanut Grove,” a copy of which Bob Hope hand-delivered to President Reagan. With Gary Hudson, Burk also wrote a guide to celebrity grave sites called “Final Curtain: Eternal Resting Places of Hundreds of Stars, Celebrities, Moguls, Misers & Misfits” (1996). Her extensive leg work included prowling Forest Lawn with a pencil and notepad.

And here's a blurb from the LA Conservancy:

Amabassador Cam: Robert F. Kennedy Schools and Pocket Park Finally Open

The LAUSD is finally taking down that ugly chain link fence in front of the Ambassador Hotel site -- making the new street-level "Robert F. Kennedy Inspiration Park" open to the public.

The new park is unveiled just as the long-in-the-making Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools complex officially opens its doors today.



The new schools, which sit on the land where the Ambassador Hotel once stood -- have been controversial, and not just because of how the hotel was razed. The Wall Street Journal just wrote a scathing editorial on the complex's price tag, including the park (pegged at $4.9 million).



Here's how LAUSD describes the park, via the Wilshire Center Business Improvement District:

The Kennedy Inspiration Park occupies a 19,000-square-foot section of the site fronting Wilshire Boulevard. The park slopes downward from the busy street, preserving views of the school buildings from the street, terminating in a focal stainless steel wall designed by artists May Sun and Richard Wyatt. The rectangular sheet is etched with an image of Robert F. Kennedy in sandstone and displays an array of inspiring quotes from champions of social justice. The idea is to create a space that encourages contemplation of Kennedy's legacy of social justice. The park also provides spaces for eating lunch, playing chess and quiet contemplation.

More Before and After Shots of the Ambassador Site

Theresa Inman has been chronicling the fall of the old Ambassador Hotel and the rise of the new school on the site, and periodically sending us some of her great documentation. (She also last year kindly purchased our Ambassador Hotel table, which we ultimately didn't have room for.)

Tess just sent us some great new pics she took of the school -- along with "before" shots of the old hotel's ruins. ABOVE, a pic of the hotel from the early 1950s, along with a shot of the hotel (taken from the same spot) on April 24, 2010.




A relief seen on Wilshire Blvd. -- on March 26, 2006 and then after restoration work, on April 23, 2010.





East side of the Ambassador Hotel in an undated photo; the building, in mid-demolition, in November 2005; and the East side of the new school, on April 24, 2010.




Base of the fountain, on March 26, 2006; and then, restored, on April 24, 2010.

Thanks to Tess Inman for the pics!

Ambassador Cam, #45 in a series

It's been a while since we last checked in with the old Ambassador Hotel site -- and wow, has a lot changed.

The Wilshire-adjacent sidewalk park is shaping up, the building's outer shell is nearly done, and (below) the original driveway entrance way is nearly done with its restoration.



If we're looking for a silver lining in the sad destruction of the Ambassador, we can at least look to this. Having been covered up in the 1970s by a hideous new sign (touting the hotel and the "Now Grove" concept), it's nice to have this back.

Now, of course, I wonder how long it's going to take until that statue is vandalized or stolen. So let's appreciate it while it lasts.

Meanwhile, occupancy for the new "Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools" is still set for this fall.

Dining with the Ambassador: Rare Look at an Old Cocoanut Grove Menu

Thanks to regular Franklin Avenue reader Tess -- who's a huge Ambassador Hotel buff (she even bought an Ambassador table I had to unload) -- we get these cool images of an old Cocoanut Grove menu.

The menu dates all the way back to March 4, 1945. It's pretty fascinating to see just how differently restaurant goers ate back then -- bleech. Lucky we live in modern times.

Ambassador Cam, #44 in a series

One final look this year at the new high school on the Ambassador Hotel site -- still without a name -- as it moves closer to completion. (The school is set to open in fall 2010.)

Here's the updated info on the site, from the LAUSD:

This project is the second phase of improvements for a comprehensive K-12 learning center being constructed at the site of the former Ambassador Hotel in the Mid-Wilshire District of Los Angeles. This project will provide 1,000 new middle school seats, 2,440 new high school seats, construction of a public park, restoration of the Cocoanut Grove and pylon structures, athletic facilities, and two-thirds of the site-wide methane mitigation system. Ultimate improvement of the Cocoanut Grove will include a 500-seat auditorium, and the restored Paul R. Williams Coffee Shop to be used as the staff/teacher lounge. This phase also provides four of the six commissioned art pieces for the site-wide public art program, commemorating the Ambassador Hotel's cultural and social history. The budget for the K-3 facility is included in the total budget for this project.

The school district cut the ribbon on the site's K-5 school back in October. The official press release:

CLALC#1 K-5 opened to more than 800 students on September 9, 2009.

"My father was a champion of those who suffered disadvantages in America. He was actively engaged in helping people help themselves through community action," said Maxwell Kennedy, son of Robert and Ethel Kennedy. "This new K-12 learning center will educate and empower our young people and their parents to fight for economic and social justice. I know of no better way to advance the living legacy of Robert Kennedy."

"The messages Robert F. Kennedy worked to deliver to us decades ago - that we can all be part of a change for a better world, a greater world - are alive with us as we celebrate the opening of not one, but two exciting new pilot schools here at Central Los Angeles Learning Center #1 K-5," Board President García said. "Years of commitment and struggle led by parents and the community come to fruition today as we mark profound change for students that now have two unique small schools dedicated to incorporating new and innovative methods of teaching."

The new elementary school site features two pilot schools (schools within the LAUSD given charter-like autonomy over curriculum): University California Los Angeles (UCLA) Community School (UCS) and New Open World (NOW) Academy. Both schools provide students with an opportunity to continue their education on the same school site once the middle and high school portions of the larger campus are completed.

Ambassador Cam, #43

Construction on the LAUSD's $572 million new high school on the site of the old Ambassador Hotel continues. The district says the new school (still unnamed) is on tap to open in fall 2010. Here's the fact sheet for the construction, which will encompass 391,840 square feet.



And here's the latest LAUSD monthly program status report on the project:

-- The Phase I K-3 project is currently 83% complete and is on schedule for occupancy in fall 2009. The methane mitigation system and underground utility rough-ins are complete. Classroom framing is complete; utility rough-ins are complete and interior fixtures and finishes are nearly complete. The structures for the central plant and parking facility are complete and finishes are nearly complete.

-- Delivery and installation of central plant equipment is complete and initial commissioning steps are underway. Site retaining walls and other structures are nearly complete. Permanent power is expected by the first week in March.

The school promises to deliver 1,000 new middle school seats and 2,440 new high school seats.

Ambassador Cam, #42

A year after the destruction of the final piece of the Ambassador Hotel (the Cocoanut Grove, which had survived the initial tear-down), here's what's now on the site. So far, the frame looks a lot like the old hotel, as if it had been stripped to its studs.

According to the LAUSD's December "Monthly Program Status Report" for new construction, here's the latest news from the site:

• The Phase I K-3 project is currently 70% complete and is scheduled for occupancy in fall 2009. The methane mitigation system and underground utility rough-ins are complete. Classroom framing is complete, utility rough-ins are complete, and interior finishes are well under way. The structures for the central plant and parking facility are complete and finishes have commenced. Delivery and installation of central plant equipment is well under way. Site retaining walls and other structures are well under way.

• The MS/HS project is 38% complete, with school occupancy scheduled for fall 2010. Underground utilities, methane mitigation system and building foundations are nearly complete. Structural steel framing is complete, with a traditional "topping out" ceremony scheduled for November 21, 2008. Fireproofing, utility rough-ins and interior framing are well under way. Site retaining walls are well under way. Off-site work is well under way.

Meanwhile, here's the view from Catalina Street.

Ambassador Cam, #41: The Skeleton Rises

So far, the new building mimics the footprint of the old Ambassador (but what a sad sight). They continue to move fast on the construction.




The Ambassador entryway pillar, now under wraps.

Ambassador Cam, #40: Construction Pace Quickens

After months of waiting, the skeleton of the new school complex is really rising fast at the Ambassador site. Curbed LA has more on the new Robert F. Kennedy pocket park (which will take up just 1/3 acre off Wilshire) here.

Ambassador Cam, #39: The Skeleton Rises

As the LAUSD prepares to break ground on a new, tiny pocket park and Bobby Kennedy memorial at the Ambassador site (see Curbed LA for full details), construction has already begun on what appears to be the high school portion of the site's three-school complex.

Curbed L.A. had more details last month:

The scope of the project includes a K-3 School, a 4-8 Middle School, and a High School, for a total of 4,624 students. The 92,000-square-foot K-3 building will accommodate 1,150 seats within 46 classrooms on three floors. The school will be located on the Ambassador Hotel site. The 4-8/High School building will accommodate 3,474 seats within 130 classrooms on six floors. The area is 382,000 square feet, and the rehabilitated Cocoanut Grove building is an additional 48,410 square feet of enclosed and covered areas.

The proposed subterranean parking structure will accommodate a total of 442 parking spaces on two levels for faculty and administrative staff. Playfields for the proposed 4-8/HS will be constructed above the parking structure. The scope also includes construction of a gymnasium building. This structure will accommodate the gymnasium court for grades 6-8 and Central Plant equipment on the first floor, and a gymnasium court for grades 9-12 on the upper level. This is one of the first LAUSD schools with an extensive public art program.

Yes, you'll notice that the main, high school building has been designed to emulate the old Ambassador. But it's pretty much a token gesture.

Ambassador Cam: New School, Coming in 2010

I've actually been meaning to post this for months, but never had the camera handy... so here goes, the recently revised LAUSD poster for "Central LA New Learning Center #1" -- a.k.a. the Ambassador Hotel school.

Remember when the old drawings for the school made it look virtually identical to the Ambassador? Obviously those plans are long gone, as the school is looking much more modern these days. Not that I object -- attempting to create a fake Ambassador facade is pointless; the real building is gone.

Also, as you can see, the opening date has now been pushed back to fall 2010; until recently, the goal date was fall 2009. Again, makes sense, since actual construction has yet to begin.

Meanwhile, you may have noticed the Angels Walk markers that are all over downtown have now made their way to the Mid-Wilshire area. Starting with MacArthur Park, the signs continue west on Wilshire (until at least Western). Below, the Ambassador Hotel marker -- which just missed being installed in front of the actual Ambassador by two years. (LA Observed's Kevin Roderick handles the text; Kevin, of course, wrote the "Wilshire Boulevard" book.)

Ambassador Cam, #37

Cocoanut Grove demolition, Feb. 13, 2008, 10 a.m.

The demolition continues today...

That's All, Folks!

(Photo by Tod Tamberg, by way of LA Observed.)

And so it goes. The ghosts of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis Jr., the Academy Awards and the hundreds and hundreds of others who once graced the stage of the Cocoanut Grove now have no place to go.

As LA Observed reports, the final tear down of the Ambassador Hotel has begun.

As you're well aware, the final challenge to the LAUSD wound down at the end of last year, paving the way for the school district to tear down the last remaining part of the hotel.

Ambassador Cam, #36

Ambassador remains, 9:45 a.m., January 22, 2008

It's possibly all over today, as the remaining pieces of the Ambassador -- mostly what's left of the Cocoanut Grove -- are demolished. We've already paid our final respects to the grand old hotel via the Ambassador Hotel wake two years ago; now it's time to let it go, I suppose.