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.

The Ambassador's Truly Last Stand

(Pic thanks to Franklin Avenue reader Theresa Inman)

The L.A. Conservancy has given up the fight to try to save the final standing elements of the Ambassador Hotel -- including the remaining pieces of the famed Cocoanut Grove (above, seen during an Academy Awards ceremony). The L.A. Times had the details on Wednesday:

Ending perhaps its most contentious battle over a new campus, the Los Angeles Unified School District will pay $4 million to fund historic school conservation in exchange for the Los Angeles Conservancy dropping a lawsuit that sought to preserve the once-glitzy Cocoanut Grove nightclub at the former Ambassador Hotel.

"We still continue to believe that it was feasible to save the hotel," said Linda Dishman, the conservancy's executive director. "At this point, we as an organization want to move on. What's left at the Ambassador site is not really historic preservation at this point, and there's a lot of other buildings we can focus on."

The settlement will allow the school system to demolish most of the Cocoanut Grove's structure and begin building a sprawling, 4,200-student K-12 campus on the site, which it had been eyeing for a school for decades.

"It is my greatest hope that this puts the whole saga finally to an end," said Kevin Reed, the district's general counsel. He said the district would have won the lawsuit, but decided to end the case so the $566-million project could continue on schedule. The first of the schools, a K-3 building, is slated to open in 2009.

Such a move was inevitable; as you can see below (in a picture taken in October), there just wasn't much left anyway. As so this sad chapter in L.A. preservation comes to a close. The remaining portion of the Ambassador will be torn down on Jan. 22.

Cocoanut Grove Demolition Halted -- For Now

Some movement on the Cocoanut Grove (well, what's left of it) preservation front: The L.A. Times writes that the Los Angeles Unified School District has agreed to temporarily halt demolition of the famed nightclub:

The Los Angeles Conservancy sought to halt the wrecking ball until a judge had time to rule on whether the district was breaking the law by tearing the club down...

In a second, related matter, the conservancy dropped its call for an injunction to bar the district from destroying items collected from the hotel's pantry, the site of the 1968 assassination of U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.

The district said the matter was moot, as it has no plans to destroy the items, including electrical fixtures.

Demolition is halted until at least February, when a hearing will discuss the conservancy's allegations.

The L.A. Conservancy has filed suit over the decision to tear down the Cocoanut Grove -- which originally was slated to be saved, even as the rest of the Ambassador Hotel was sadly torn down.

Adds the paper:

The district also quietly destroyed the pantry but saved fixtures, sections of the structure, and the ice machine, and 3-D imagery was taken of the room.

Those moves led to the current lawsuit, in which the conservancy alleges that the district hasn't proven that its only option is to tear down and replicate the club and that it improperly handled the pantry. The district said it discovered that the pantry would crumble if it were moved in one piece and that its method of preservation was better.

Meanwhile, Hensel Phelps has been contracted to build the middle school, high school, auditorium and other structures on the 24-acre site for $566 million.

The Cocoanut Grove's Last Stand

Cocoanut Grove at its peak. Of course, by the 1970s, Sammy Davis had turned the room into the cheesy, disco-ish "Now Grove." Which is how it pretty much remained to the end.

This shouldn't come as a surprise to Franklin Avenue and Ambassador's Last Stand readers, but it's now official: Most of the last remnants of the fabled Cocoanut Grove structure -- part of the last remaining pieces of the 1921 hotel still standing after last year's demolition -- will be torn down shortly.

As I noted back in November, the L.A. Unified School District had posted signs at the Ambassador site, noting that it felt the original plan to preserve the Cocoanut Grove structure was no longer feasible:

The "Notice of Preparation, Supplement to Final Environmental Impact Report" reads: The 2004 FEIR included mitigation measures for the adaptive reuse of the Cocoanut Grove as an auditorium subject to structural materials testing. Based upon extensive testing and evaluation by the District's structural engineer, consultants and staff, the District determined that it is technically infeasible to retain and reuse all of the features that were described in the 2004 FEIR due to their age and degraded and unstable condition.

Now, the L.A. Times reports that the LAUSD board voted 7-0 to approve the changes -- and tear down what's left of the old Cocoanut Grove. Demolition begins next month; the paper notes that the new school should be completed by 2010:

In a state-mandated environmental impact report, the district acknowledged that the property was historically significant. To mitigate the impact of tearing most of it down, L.A. Unified said it would preserve the pantry where Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968 and keep the Cocoanut Grove, turning it into a high school auditorium.

In public statements and during court proceedings, the district said it would cut out the pantry and preserve it whole. Officials said those plans were based on a review of blueprints and visual inspection of the site.

But under current plans, only the east wall, the circular entry and a portion of the glass west wall of the nightclub and historic Paul Williams cafeteria will not be destroyed, along with some interior features that were removed and will be incorporated into the design. As for the pantry, L.A. Unified decided in 2005 that the district would collect 29 items from it -- mostly doors, electrical items and an ice machine -- put them in storage, and tear down the rest of it.

According to a supplemental environmental impact report approved by the board Tuesday, testing found that the concrete connections were inadequate and the cement content and strength of the concrete were too low in most of the Cocoanut Grove.

Shoring the walls would take up so much space that ceilings would be low and hallways too narrow for the area to be functional, said Jim Cowell, the outgoing head of new construction for the district. Instead, the district will tear down the concrete walls and build new ones in the same place, move the stage and slope the floor, so the nightclub can work as an auditorium. The east wing was stronger than the rest of the building, so the structural elements there will be maintained.

Another nail in the coffin, I suppose, but since the Ambassador has already been buried, all I can do is once again sigh.

What Could Have Been (And Thankfully Wasn't): The Doomed Ambassador International Project

"Ambassador International"

Talk about a fascinating find: Franklin Avenue reader Steven dug up these old drawings from 1957 of an ill-fated plan to completely re-develop the Ambassador Hotel site. (Above, a drawing of the proposed site. That's Wilshire Blvd. in front, and yes, the hotel here has been complete rebuilt and turned 90 degrees.)

Fifty years before bulldozers finally tore down the Ambassador for good, plans were already in the works to do the same thing, but replace it with a new, streamlined Ambassador Hotel surrounded by high-rises.

Yup, it looks like the Ambassador narrowly avoided its fate several times before disappearing last year. The so-called "Ambassador International" project, with its several high rises, also reminds one of Donald Trump's failed plans to build the world's tallest building there.


A night shot of the proposed development.

Steve writes in:

I've been following the dismantling of the Ambassador on your site with great sadness. I worked next door at what was then Tishman Plaza at 3440 Wilshire beginning in 1971. The monthly parking fee there was a bit too steep (when you're starting at $85 a week), but I found a lot just east of the Ambassador, off Catalina where 7th St. dead-ends at the grounds, where parking was only $8 a month. So, every morning, I crossed the grounds and went through the hotel lobby and the little arcade of shops, and out the main entrance to get to my office. That and the walk back
through in the evening were my favorites parts of the day. That parking lot can still be seen (as can the intact hotel itself, bungalows and all) on Google Earth. I rather hope they never get around to updating those images.

Yes, I know; all terribly exciting. But my main purpose here is to share some renderings from 1957 of a project called Ambassador International, which, mercifully, never got off the ground. They serve to illustrate that the LAUSD project which ultimately led to its demise was not the
first threat the Ambassador faced, and I thought you might find them interesting..

Beyond interesting, Steven, and thanks for sharing with us.

Now, here are the renderings of how the Ambassador International would have been built, in three phases:


Phase one: A new hotel lobby is built, as well as a new chunk of hotel off the existing Ambassador's north wing. An office building replaces the northeast bungalows.


Phase two: More office buildings, including one that takes over a chunk of the south east wing. The new hotel arm off the old hotel's north wing gets larger.


Phase three: Even more office buildings, while the old Ambassador is destroyed (and the new one completed).

AMBASSADOR UPDATE: The Cocoanut Grove to be Demolished As Well

So much for even the L.A. Unified School District's token attempt at preservation at the Ambassador site.

As you know, most of the Ambassador was torn down earlier this year, as the LAUSD plans to build a new school complex where the historic hotel once stood. But as a tiny consolation prize, the school district agreed to save the famed Cocoanut Grove and refashion it into the school's auditorium.

More recently, rumors started to swirl that plans to salvage the Cocoanut Grove was lip service. And anyone who's passed by the Ambassador site can see (above) that the old nightclub has already been mostly gutted.

Now, Franklin Avenue reader Kevin emails us about signs that have popped up in front of the Ambassador site:

Mike & Maria,

I was driving by the Ambassador tonight & saw a few of these attached to the fence.

It looks like there will be very little, if anything, reused of the Cocoanut Grove.

It does seem that there is the opportunity to give written comment on LAUSD's desire not to have to revise the EIR.

The "Notice of Preparation, Supplement to Final Environmental Impact Report" reads: The 2004 FEIR included mitigation measures for the adaptive reuse of the Cocoanut Grove as an auditorium subject to structural materials testing. Based upon extensive testing and evaluation by the District's structural engineer, consultants and staff, the District determined that it is technically infeasible to retain and reuse all of the features that were described in the 2004 FEIR due to their age and degraded and unstable condition. In view of the potential changes in the retention and reuse of the Cocoanut Grove, LAUSD is preparing a Supplement to the 2004 FEIR to document these changes.

Written comments and responses are being accepted through Dec. 15, via fax (213-893-7412), email (ceqa-comments@laschools.org), or regular mail (Barbara Wu, LAUSD Office of Environmental Health and Safety, 1055 W. 7th St., Los Angeles, 90017).

I know what most of you are probably thinking: Yeah, well, if the building is unsound, then of course it should be torn down. But for those of us already stung by the decision to knock the Ambassador down, this just adds more salt to that wound.

The Virtual Ambassador Hotel

In marketing the new Emilio Estevez-helmed "Bobby" -- about Robert Kennedy's final moments -- the producers have wisely realized that the Ambassador Hotel is one of the film's major characters.

Sadly, it's the Ambassador's final role. The hotel, which has appeared in countless films, was demolished right after "Bobby" finished shooting -- making Estevez the last filmmaker to roam the classic hotel's halls.

The Weinstein Co., which is releasing the film, has added a cool Ambassador-themed section to the "Bobby" website, located at ambassador.bobby-the-movie.com. The site includes a computer-generated 360-degree view of the Ambassador lobby, as well as a guestbook and New York Times front pages leading up to the death of Bobby Kennedy.

The filmmakers have also launched a Flickr group (at www.flickr.com/groups/bobbythemovie), where people can upload shots they may have of the Ambassador.

Above, a screen grab of the computer-depicted Ambassador lobby, including the famous water fountain. Below, here's a real-life shot of the lobby water fountain I took in 2003:


And the water fountain, as it sadly searched for a new home at last year's Ambassador auction:

Ambassador Site Breaks Ground

It's been nearly a year since the Ambassador Hotel was demolished. Now, groundbreaking on the new school complex that will be built on the historic hotel's remains finally took place Monday. (Above, the latest rendering of what the high school will look like.)

The L.A. Times writes:

The price tag, estimated at $309 million, has jumped more than 14% in recent months after the discovery of potentially explosive methane gas deposits beneath the site that will require an elaborate mitigation plan. And, unless staggering increases in construction costs that have persisted in Los Angeles abate, the final cost of the school could climb higher, district officials said.

Guests at Monday's ceremony, however, were not talking about money. It was a day of celebration and photo ops replete with golden shovels for tossing dirt. Speakers, including Councilmen Herb Wesson and Jose Huizar, repeatedly praised recently departed Supt. Roy Romer and school board members for shepherding the project forward despite preservation groups who fought to save the historic hotel.

"There could be no better memorial to my father than a living memorial that educates the children of this city," said an emotional Max Kennedy, speaking from a plateau of tightly packed dirt on the 24-acre construction site, overlooking the remains of buildings where Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968.

Not much is left of the original hotel. And rumors are swirling that the LAUSD has canceled plans to preserve portions of the Cocoanut Grove and other remaining parts -- that the structures are beyond rehab.

But the LAUSD's most recent Ambassador Progress Report says preservation plans (well, of what little is left) are on going.

That includes:

-- Incorporating the Embassy Ballroom Ceiling (above, left) into the school's library

-- "The historic Cocoanut Grove will be renovated with a complete structural retrofit and modern electrical, HVAC and technological systems to covert it for use as a new auditorium... Additionally, the lower level shopping arcade, including the Paul R. Williams-designed coffee shop, will be used as faculty and student lounges and cafeterias."

-- The Ambassador Hotel pylon sign (above, right) -- uncovered in the demolition after decades of existing under a coffin of concrete -- may be restored. "The District is working with expert advisors and the Historic Monitor to determine a feasible strategy for the preservation of this feature, including considerations for its use as a feature in the public park."

There you have it. Not much. A sad day for those of us who had held on to hope (well, until a year ago) that the hotel could be saved. But the Ambassador ship has now sailed. Let's now hope that the LAUSD can build this new educational center quickly and with no more cost overruns.

Ambassador Cam, #35

Ambassador Hotel, Oct. 30, 2006; 10 a.m.

With Emilio Estevez's "Bobby about to hit theatres, I thought we'd check in on the progress at the former Ambassador site. The tractors are busy pushing dirt around, and more work (or is it destruction?) is taking place on the remaining Cocoanut Grove structure.


The east side of the old hotel


And the west side of the old hotel



Yup, the school won't be done until 2009 -- which seems like a terribly long time, until you realize it's almost 2007!

Meanwhile, former L.A. resident Robert Peate -- who's now up in Portland -- writes Franklin Avenue to share word that Oprah wants to use some of his cool Ambassador shots (which can be found here:

Today I was contacted by the Oprah Winfrey Show, which is running a show next week on Emilio Estevez’ movie *Bobby*, and asked if I would be willing to let them use my shots of the Ambassador Hotel for credit. I said yes. If they do use any, they will let me know the airdate, and I will let you know.

Estevez scrambled and was able to shoot parts of "Bobby" at the Ambassador (which, as you all know, is where Bobby Kennedy was assassinated) right before the hotel was tragically torn down.

Ambassador Cam, #34

Ambassador Hotel, 9:45 am, Sept. 13, 2006

The tractors are busy at the Ambassador site, clearing out the grassy field that was once in front of the building.

Finally, Action at the Ambassador?

The Ambassador Hotel site hasn't changed much in several months (it still looks the same as above, which was shot back in April).

But it looks like there's finally some activity on the site for the first time in several months.

Reader James writes in:

I've really enjoyed your Ambassador Hotel blog. I live about 10 feet from the hotel property, so I've been very interested in what's happening there, and your site has been a source of much useful info.

Thought you might be interested to know: after a couple months of silence, the bulldozers have been back to work there for the past three days (they showed up on Saturday morning, and continued on Monday and Tuesday). They're not doing anything to the building itself (what's left of it), but they're hard at work digging up portions of the property behind the building.

Does this renewed activity signal anything important? (for example, are they gearing up to start working on the school?) Useful intel has been hard to find.

Meanwhile, I just discovered that the fine folks at TheAmbassadorHotel.com have posted Diane Keaton's speech from the Ambassador Wake online at You Tube -- check it out here.

Ambassador Cam, #33

Ambassador Hotel site; April 18, 2006; 7:02 p.m.

Things have been relatively quiet over the last month at the Ambassador Hotel site. As you can see, the hollowed shell of the Cocoanut Grove still remains, some of it now covered up by siding. We'll continue to periodically check in on the impending school construction.

Ambassador Pantry in Limbo

The LAUSD still isn't sure what to do with artifacts collected from the Ambassador Hotel's now-demolished pantry, where Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in 1968. The Kennedy family wants the pieces to be destroyed. The pantry itself was supposed to be preserved -- but was too damaged, supposedly, to be saved. And for now, remnants of the crime scene sit in containers.

The LA Times picks up on the story:

The two unmarked metal bins sitting in a storage lot in Los Angeles' garment district hold artifacts from one of the most shocking events in modern American history: equipment and fixtures from the pantry where Robert F. Kennedy was fatally wounded June 5, 1968.

The 29 items from the now-demolished Ambassador Hotel, including chandelier lights, wainscoting and the ice machine behind which assassin Sirhan Sirhan may have hid, face an uncertain fate.

Are they really the stuff of history? Do they enhance national memory? And what is to be done with them as school officials prepare to build a campus on the former hotel site?

As with anything connected to assassinations and the Kennedys, answers do not come easily.

Some preservationists contend the collection should be used in a re-creation of the pantry at the school. Some historians want the artifacts given to a museum or library for permanent safekeeping. The Kennedy family wants all of them destroyed and kept out of the hands of ghoulish collectors.

By the way, if you haven't checked out Robert Peate's heartbreaking collection of shots from the Ambassador's last days, do so. It's at his site, www,nlphotos.com. Here's one from Jan. 31, taken from next door, at the Archdiocese of Los Angeles offices:

Classic Ambassador

Reader and frequent The Ambassador's Last Stand contributor Tess has been researching the late, grand hotel at the library, where she's found more than 100 photos of the Ambassador through the years.

She shares a few:


A "Music Week Parade" takes place on the Ambassador's front lawn, in 1941. Tess notes: You can see that the facade of the Cocoanut Grove is quite different than the one you and I were used to..

Indeed, those arches in the front of the Cocoanut Grove have only become visible recently as the former hotspot as been almost completely gutted.


Aerial view of the Ambassador, credited to 1924.

One Last RFK Tribute at the Ambassador

One of the cool things about launching The Ambassador's Last Stand has been hearing from people across the country who have fond or personal memories of the hotel -- even, for some, after it had already been shut down.

I recently received a letter and some pictures from Brent Lyons of Illinois, who visited L.A. in June 1998 upon the 30th anniversary of Bobby Kennedy's assassination.

He writes:

On the morning of June 5, 1998, I purchased two sets of white flowers. I decided to try to put the flowers on the property of the Ambassador Hotel. So from Wilshire Boulevard, I walked up the drive to the parking lot and asked the parking lot attendant, who was at his booth, if I could g on the Ambassador grounds and put my flowers down. To my amazement, the parking lot attendant said to me nicely, "Go ahead."

I walked from the parking lot area to the front of the Cocoanut Grove entrance. I then put one set of white flowers on the lawn and took pictures... I noticed that the front doors of the Cocoanut Grove were open, and I decided to go inside. (You will notice, in my pictures, that there were vans and people were unloading them for making films at the Ambassador. I laid down the second set of white flowers on the floor in the Cocoanut Grove.

I felt lucky enough for this experience, and left the Ambassador grounds without a hassle.

Thanks Brent -- and for everyone else, please keep sending in your memories.

Ambassador Hotel, 1936

Spotted on eBay, this cool ad promoting the late hotel. The text reads:

Unsolicited Tribute from a Great American Author
"The Ambassador, with its own gay streets of shops, a theatre and restaurants and the world-famous 'Cocoanut Grove" is believed by some to be only another magnificant hotel, but it's much more... it is a three-ring circus of indoor and outdoor amusements in a layout filled with happy conceptions."
-- Gouverneur Morris

Ambassador Cam #32

Turns out the original Ambassador Hotel sign, which graced the hotel's automobile entrance upon its 1921 opening, has been trapped inside the hotel's own hideous, 1970s-era concrete silo. Chipping away at that old exterior, workers found the long-buried original sign inside;


You can easily make out the letters that spell "Ambassador Hotel."


How the entrance sign looked in the Ambassador's early days. (The words "Ambassador Hotel" have not yet been added to the post in this classic postcard image.)


One more pic from Friday.

(Thanks to reader Kathy for the shots -- by the time I got to the Ambassador on Friday, it was too dark to get decent pics.)

"Don't Let This Happen to Your Historic Building"

Photographer Robert Peate, who submitted several shots to The Ambassador's Last Stand, has complied 17 of his favorite images (out of over 800) he took of the grand hotel's final days.

Check it out at nlphotos.com. Robert explains his mission:

For the past four years I have worked near the site of the famous Ambassador Hotel, beloved Los Angeles landmark. In 2001 the Los Angeles Unified School District bought the site to build a new school, with the plan to demolish the entire historic structure. This prompted a lawsuit by the Los Angeles Conservancy, which was settled in 2005, clearing the way for the demolition of most, but not all, of the structure.

When I learned of the settlement, I began photographing the demolition for posterity. These images will be donated to the Conservancy for use in future preservation efforts. “Don’t let this happen to your historic building,” will be the message. What follow are my favorite of hundreds of images I took for this project, The Death of the Ambassador.

I met Robert and his wife Robin at the Ambassador Wake earlier this month -- both really good people.

Ambassador Cam, #31: Cocoanut Grooves No More

(Pic by LAist's Carolyn Kellogg)

Like I mentioned in my previous Ambassador Cam post, the LAUSD sure has a funny way of "preserving" the Ambassador Hotel's Cocoanut Grove (which, we've mentioned before was bastardized so much in the 1970s that I'm not sure it's worth saving anyway). As you can see in this shot and the previous one, the Cocoanut Grove has been completely gutted and stripped. Not much left besides the four walls -- well, make that two walls, as the front and back sides have been torn off (yes, you can see right through).

LA Observed first reported on Friday that even the Cocoanut Grove's distinguishing characteristic -- its front entrance -- was demolished:

Staffers at the Archdiocese of Los Angeles—in the office building at 3424 Wilshire—just heard a loud crash outside. They ran to the window and saw that a crane had torn the front off the old Cocoanut Grove, the last part of the Ambassador Hotel still standing. An email concludes: "Gee, not much left to preserve now."

I decided to call the LAUSD Friday to ask them about it -- and they're still sticking to the company line, that the Cocoanut Grove (as well as the Paul Williams-designed coffee shop underneath) is being preseved.

LAUSD spokeswoman Shannon Johnson told me : "The entire structure is still standing. We're not tearing it down. It will be a part of the school's new auditorium."

Uh, Shannon, you might want to drive down Wilshire and take a look for yourself. Johnson tells us that the demolition will continue through mid-March.


(Another shot by Carolyn)


Mike's dark pic (sorry, it was nighttime) of the Ambassador Hotel remains, 2/10/06, 6:55 p.m.

Ambassador Cam, #30

The Ambassador Hotel, 2/6/06, 10 a.m.

C'mon, LAUSD, let's be honest here: The idea that the Cocoanut Grove has been spared the wrecking ball is an exaggeration. As you can see here, the insides of the Grove have been stripped clean. Actually, you can see right through the building. Not much left except the walls -- and even most of those are gone.

Granted, one wonders why they even bothered saving the Cocoanut Grove after knocking down most of the rest of the Ambassador. The once-glamorous ballroom had already been bastardized in the 1970s, when the so-called "Now Grove" took away the palm tree ambience and replaced it with a nightmare disco feel (in one last-ditch attempt to revive the aging venue).


A closer view

The Ambassador Wake: The Aftermath

UPDATED



Thanks to all of you who made it out to the Gaylord Apartments and HMS Bounty last night! I got to meet several of you for the first time and reconnect with others of you. (Special thanks to Pat Saperstein for loaning me her camera -- can't believe I left mine at home!)

I arrived at the Gaylord/HMS Bounty at around 7:15, and the line was already down the red carpet. (Yes, red carpet -- indeed, this was a much more stylized event than what I had originally planned with my wake.) The crowd in the Gaylord lobby was thick but manageable -- most of the people were outside, near the open bar, natch.

Out on the patio I ran into Joseph Mailander and Lynn, as well as KFI's Justin Levine... and several other people who recognized me from Franklin Avenue and The Ambassador's Last Stand. Moving to the HMS, I met 5th and Spring's Celia for the first time, and Trained Monkey's Jim for the second time. I think they recently started dating -- guys, true? (Update: Yes!) Later popped in LAist's Carolyn, who recounted her terrible mugging experience a few weeks ago right around the corner. Also, met LARitz's Jessica Ritz -- whose father, I later found out, co-wrote Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing"!

Also, thanks to Blogging.la and Wildbell's Will Campbell for figuring out how to use the flash on Pat's camera; and his wife Susan, who took several pics for The Ambassador's Last Stand via her job's vantage point across the street. Also met Losanjealous' Ryan, and Josh from Curbed LA.

Can't forget Shannon from Sha in LA, and her pal Eric Lynxwiler, the co-author of the fantastic "Wilshire Boulevard: Grand Concourse of Los Angeles." The book's other co-author, LA Observed's Kevin Roderick, was there, as was Los Angeles mag's Mary Melton (who wrote about our Birthday Race in 2003, you may recall). And LAVoice's Mack Reed, who wrote up the best coverage of anyone. A tidbit:

The loveliest tribute came from Carlyn Frank Benjamin - daughter of one of the Ambassador's first caretakers, and a 16-year resident of the hotel from the time it opened in 1921: "I'd always hoped the old girl would put on some new clothes and some comfortable shoes and some rose-scented moisturizing lotion, and that she could have had a new lease on life. ..."

And then she conjured the image of the Ambassador's ghosts rising up, filtering up through the debris and inspiring the LAUSD students who will occupy the school soon to be built on the site.

If that can happen, the death of the Ambassador won't have been a huge waste.

Besides getting to speak before Diane Keaton (who I stood next to on the stage), the highlight was meeting Mrs. Benjamin (the subject of Thursday's LATimes cover story about the Ambassador). Don't let her age fool you -- she was one of the liveliest attendees at the event. Not only did she give the best speech, but she and her sister (who also lived at the Ambassador in her youth) remember the hotel like it was yesterday. (Her husband was also an agent back in the day, and she told me she got to know Army Archerd very well. I told her Army was now blogging as well!)

Most amazingly, Mrs. Benjamin reads the blog! And knows all about me and Maria! I can't even get some of my friends to check it out, yet here's a woman who not only outlived the Ambassador but is still going strong! She was an inspiration. Here's a pic of me with her:


Me with Carlyn Frank Benjamin, who grew up at the Ambassador

Some other shots:


Diane Keaton speaks


Longtime Ambassador P.R. manager Margaret Burk, who wrote a fantastic history on the hotel, "Are The Stars Out Tonight?"


5th and Spring's Celia, her friend Kathy and Trained Monkey's Jim


LAist's Carolyn Kellogg


Martini Republic's Joseph with wife Lynn and KFI's Justin Levine


Sha in LA's Shannon, with "Wilshire Boulevard" co-author Eric Lynxwiler


LAVoice's Mack Reed, Los Angeles mag's Mary Melton and LAObserved's Kevin Roderick


Losanjealous' Ryan, with Will and Susan Campbell


Robert Peate, who also sent us a lot of great shots over the past few months, and his wife Robin


In the HMS Bounty


Crowd in the Gaylord lobby listen to speakers


More HMS Bounty crowd


Red carpet

Other recaps:

Caroline On Crack wishes it was more of a wake, less of a party but notes the impressive turnout.

Sha in LA hates to admit it, but perhaps Adaptive Reuse just wasn't possible with the Ambassador. She has a great rundown of who was there, and some cool pics here.

Joseph at Martini Republic doesn't quite get the hullabaloo surrounding the Ambassador's demise.

Jim at Trained Monkey also briefly checks in and lists some of the blogger attendees.

LA Observed also mentions a few highlights in its Friday roundup.

Carolyn at LAist has some last words for the Ambassador -- and is relieved that Hilary Duff didn't show up.

Jorge and Claudy took some great shots, and note that one-time "Melrose Place" and "Growing Pains" star Jamie Luner was there.

Celia from 5th and Spring tells a bittersweet story of meeting a onetime Cocoanut Grove musician with some great stories to tell -- but sadly, none of his former bandmates to reminisce with.

Thanks to the L.A. Conservancy and Ken Bernstein as well. Were you there? Did I meet you? Let me know!

Pay Your Last Respects Tonight

I'll see you at tonight's Ambassador Hotel Wake!



By the way, most of the festivities will actually take place at the Gaylord apartments lobby, with spillover heading to the HMS Bounty. Look for the tables that say "Bloggers Corner, sponsored by The Ambassador's Last Stand" to find some familiar faces -- or at least some familiar names from the L.A. blogsophere!

Meanwhile, the front page of today's L.A. Times has a nice story by Bob Pool on Carlyn Frank Benjamin, who grew up at the Ambassador:

Benjamin lived at the Ambassador between 1921, when it opened, and 1938. Her father, Ben Frank, managed the hotel and her grandfather, Abe Frank, was the hotel company's vice president and the person she credits with creating the palm-decorated Cocoanut Grove. She likes to point out that she and the hotel were born five months apart.

"The Ambassador and I are the same age. Except I'm still here," the 84-year-old Brentwood resident said Tuesday as she gazed sadly at the remains of what many consider the symbol of Los Angeles' golden era.

Tonight, Benjamin will be among hundreds who are expected to gather across Wilshire Boulevard from the hotel site for a wake that will commemorate its role in defining Los Angeles' popular culture.

But when the stories are swapped, none are likely to be as vivid as Benjamin's.

As a young child, she roamed the grounds, building castles in the hotel golf course's sand traps.

The pastry chefs whipped up a giant chocolate cake for her third birthday and Josephine, the hotel organ grinder's trained monkey, showed up to entertain her and her friends.

As she grew older, Benjamin learned to swim in the hotel's pool, practiced marksmanship on its rifle range and explored every nook and cranny of the 500-room resort.

She cajoled staff members into saving so many hotel newspapers for 3rd Street Elementary School's annual paper drive that her class won the collection contest every year. After school each day, she had snacks in the Ambassador's Fountain Room cafe. In the lobby, she regularly encountered royalty and celebrities.

She met pilot Charles Lindbergh there shortly after his pioneering 1927 transatlantic flight. She considered Hollywood movie impresario Sid Grauman, who was a hotel resident, an unofficial uncle.

Gossip columnist Walter Winchell lived next door and his young daughter was a friend of Benjamin and her younger sister, Jackie Schwartz, now a Santa Ana resident.

"The elevator operator would let me practice running it when no guests were in it. I'd go from the basement to the sixth floor — we'd bounce around until I got it level at each floor," Benjamin said.

Shameless self-promotion moment... Pool quotes me toward the end of the story:

Also involved is Michael Schneider, a 32-year-old Variety writer who chronicled the Ambassador's final days on a website that attracted worldwide attention. "The hotel symbolizes the glamorous old Hollywood and Los Angeles that my generation never got to experience firsthand," Schneider said.

Hope to see you all tonight!

Tomorrow's The Ambassador Hotel Wake!

An old postcard shows the Ambassador's Wilshire entrance, back when it included a statue and fountain. The postcard says, "Where the flying fishes play. Ornamental fountain at Wilshire Entrance to the Los Angeles AMBASSADOR." (Thanks to Mary Ellen!)

I've heard from many of you planning on attending Thursday's Ambassador Hotel send-off being thrown by the L.A. Conservancy, with some help by us here at Franklin Avenue/The Ambassador's Last Stand. Don't forget to RSVP, if you haven't already!

Some details: The festivities start at 7, with speeches, etc. at around 8:15. If you're looking for some fellow bloggers/blog readers/Franklin Avenue folk (well, that's me -- Blogger Baby and Maria can't make it, unfortunately), look for the specially marked tables. (It will say something like "Blogger's Corner, sponsored by The Ambassador's Last Stand). That way you can hang with some like-minded folk and we can toast the Ambassador together.

See you Thursday!

Ambassador Cam, #29

A belated (sorry, been busy) shot of the now fallen Ambassador Hotel sign:



(Thanks to reader Kathy.)

Ambassador Update: The Sign is Gone

Sure, it was cheesy. And a relic of the hotel's last-ditch effort to revive itself. Just check out that font -- how dated! But still, the Ambassador Hotel sign graced its Wilshire Blvd. entrance for decades... and its disappearance is another reminder that the historic building is gone.

From reader Kathy:

I drove down Wilshire this am (Thursday Jan. 26) and was shocked to see an empty cement pole in front by the sidewalk. I parked, took my camera, walked over and saw that beautiful Ambassador sign on the ground, in the drive way!

I felt so bad that I couldn't even take a photo of it. I'm glad I got lots of photos while it was still in place--at the top smiling out on Wilshire Blvd. where it belongs. Where do you suppose they'll store it? I think even CoCo (Coconut Grove) looks sad.:(

I know, second Ambassador post of the day. Meanwhile, have you RSVP'ed for the Ambassador Wake yet? See you next Thursday!

Ambassador Cam, #28

Some cool new shots from Franklin Avenue reader Wojtek, who took these on Tuesday:














Meanwhile, Thursday's LA Daily News reported on the uncertain future of the Ambassador pantry. The walls themselves are gone, but the equipment from the scene of RFK's assassination have been preserved, despitethe Kennedy family's objection. Now, what to do with it?

Against the wishes of the Kennedy family, the pantry equipment from the mostly demolished Ambassador Hotel is being packed up instead of destroyed. Now school officials, who bought the vacant hotel in 2001 to make way for new classrooms, are saddled with the question of what to do with the remnants of the tragic spot in American history.

The Kennedys fear that the fixtures - including a food-warming table, an ice machine, wainscoting and ceiling lights - could end for sale online as morbid souvenirs. Several pieces that are purported to be from the landmark hotel are already being offered over the Internet.

A Los Angeles Unified School District advisory panel concluded the pantry had no historical significance and urged the school system to get rid of it. But the district is legally bound to preserve the items under the demolition plan approved by the school board, said district spokeswoman Shannon Johnson-Haber.

According to Paul Schrade, a Kennedy family friend who was wounded in the June 1968 assassination, Superintendent Roy Romer promised one of the senator's sons that the district would dispose of the pantry.

"The agreement was to get rid of all of it," said Schrade, who said he attended a meeting where Romer gave that assurance to Maxwell Kennedy, the assassinated senator's son. Kennedy fears that if the items are not destroyed, "this winds up on eBay," Schrade added.

Glenn Gritzer, the former school official who worked most closely on the Ambassador project as a special assistant to Romer, said the superintendent was expressing a personal desire, not a guarantee.

Because of legal restrictions, "the superintendent can't just wake up one morning and say, 'Boom, it's gone,"' Gritzner said.

Memories of the Ambassador, Part One

Franklin Avenue reader Don Stewart sent us this shot of the Ambassador, which he took some time last year. Thanks to everyone who's sending us pics of the now-demolished building -- keep 'em coming! And don't forget to RSVP for the Feb. 2 Ambassador Hotel wake!

An update on the Wake: I've been informed that the majority of the party -- including, yes, the open bar -- will actually be at the Gaylord Apartments (which is the same location -- The HMS Bounty is connected to the Gaylord's lobby). The crowd will likely spill into the HMS Bounty. But drinks aren't free there -- so don't try to pull a fast one on my man Ramon!

In other Ambassador news, the LAUSD is looking for artists to depict the history of the once-grand hotel, according to the Downtown News:

With the demolition of the Ambassador Hotel wrapping up last week, the Los Angeles Unified School District has started the process of selecting artwork to grace the new schools complex that will occupy the site. The district wants original pieces that depict the history of the Ambassador Hotel within the context of Los Angeles from 1921 to 1968.

Corinne Weitzman, an art consultant hired by the school district, said plans are being worked out as to how many pieces will be on the new campus. "It really depends on the response we get and the proposals that come in," she said.

Ambassador Cam, #27

The Ambassador Hotel's remains, including the Cocoanut Grove, 1/18/06



Thanks to reader Robert Peate, who passed along these new shots. (Which are obviously facing east -- well, sort of southeast -- as you can see the downtown skyline in the background.)

Hope to see you at the Ambassador Hotel wake on Feb. 2 -- be sure to RSVP soon!

The Ambassador Wake, Take 2

Spread the word... here's the info for the Ambassador farewell party on Feb. 2. It's a slightly more formal event than the one I'd been organizing -- in other words, you've got to RSVP. But on the flip side, there's a hosted bar -- which should appeal to the inner journalist in all of you. Hope to see you there...

WHAT: Toast the life and death of the legendary Ambassador Hotel

WHEN: Feb. 2 at 7 p.m.

WHERE: The HMS Bounty

WHO: You -- RSVP at 310-858-2224 (as soon as possible -- there's only room for so many people at the HMS Bounty)

You Are Cordially Invited to The Ambassador Hotel's Wake

UPDATE: New plans! Next Tuesday's wake has been canceled. Instead, Ken Bernstein of the L.A. Conservancy contacted me this afternoon to let me know that the organization was planning its own Ambassador hotel tribute -- also at the HMS Bounty -- the week after ours. As a result, we're going to merge events. Information to come... hang tight!



The Ambassador Hotel, 1921-2005

Come join Franklin Avenue and The Ambassador's Last Stand as we have a few drinks in the memory of the late, lamented Ambassador!

WHAT: Franklin Avenue and The Ambassador's Last Stand present The Ambassador Hotel's Wake

WHEN: INFO TO COME

WHERE: The HMS Bounty
3357 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90010
(across from the Ambassador site)



WHY: To celebrate Los Angeles history and the demise of a key historical building. And to meet other bloggers, blog readers, L.A. enthusiasts and freaks.

The HMS Bounty has plenty of its own history. Operating under its present name since 1962, the HMS Bounty remains a favorite neighborhood watering hole. According to its website, it's rumored Sirhan Sirhan ate at the Bounty shortly before the assassination of Robert Kennedy.

If you're interested, please email us at mikemaria@sbcglobal.net

A Fitting (?) Farewell

The same day the Ambassador Hotel bit the dust, my former colleague Travis -- now living up in Canada -- found an apropos soft-core flick sitting on his TiVo (which, he promises, innocently found its way to the DVR's hard drive):

I was perusing my TiVo, which had mysteriously recorded for me a screening of “Deviant Vixens 2,” probably because of my love of nature documentaries. “Vixens,” however, is not about foxes at all!

One of the perks of Canadian TV is that there’s a much more relaxed attitude towards sexuality on the boob tube. And in fact, this “Vixen” movie is a bit of a sex romp. (Hi, Mom!)

But what I found interesting about it — and other than this, the film’s awful in every respect, trust me — is that it was filmed in 2002 on the grounds of the Ambassador Hotel!

The plot, such as it is, revolves around “Hotel Amore,” which was the playground of celebrities married and less married. The crew appears not to have gotten inside, but the building and grounds are filmed from all sorts of different angles, and the Coconut Grove is easy to spot. The long driveway with palm trees is also present, as is a little graffiti and various barred-off courtyards.

Is someone at CityTV a cineaste tearfully mourning the passing of a Hollywood icon? Was the last film made at the historic Ambassador a talentless yet strikingly appropriate blue movie? I don’t know. But I do know that TiVo’s ability to identify programs I like to watch just became a little scary.

Thankfully, this little piece of Skinemax cinema wasn't the final pic shot at the Ambassador -- Emilio Estevez's "RFK" was -- but it goes to show how extensively the hotel was used as a location in the final years of its life.

BREAKING NEWS: The Ambassador Is Gone (Updated with Pictures)

The Cocoanut Grove is all that remains of the Ambassador Hotel. Jan. 16, 2005 -- 1:30 p.m.


The same view from Wilshire Boulevard in September, as demolition had just begun.

Just came from the Ambassador Hotel site, and documented the final demise of the once mighty structure. It's all gone. All that's left is a heap of rubble, and the Cocoanut Grove building (which will be incorporated into the new school on the site).

Some shots from Catalina and 7th, as I face west:





The same view, as taken in 2002 by the folks behind TheAmbassadorHotel.com:



RIP, The Ambassador Hotel and your many, many ghosts. Stay tuned for details on an Ambassador wake we hope to throw, perhaps at the HMS Bounty next week.

Ambassador Cam, #26

Believe it or not, that's all that's left of the once proud Ambassador Hotel. Pic comes from Jennifer Sharpe, who passes along this note:

After having dreamt about the Ambassador Hotel last night, i drove over there and shot this photo of the last remaining piece of it this morning. it looks like an ancient ruin, part of a fallen civilization. i just discovered your weblog and wanted to pass along this photo as a token of my wistful solidarity.

Thanks to Jennifer, who took this pic Sunday morning -- the remaining strip of hotel even smaller than when I last checked on Friday.

The final days of the Ambassador has brought out photographers, pro and amateur alike, and I've seen several of them snapping shots as I took my own "Ambassador Cam" pics. This anonymous comment at The Ambassador's Last Stand also stopped by the site today, and reports what we've suspected: That this is the week the last portion of the hotel (excepting the Cocoanut Grove) disappears:

I was taking photos at the Ambassador Hotel today (Sunday 1/15) and an administrator drove up. He said that the remaining portion of the hotel will be down "in two days". I don't know if the two days are Monday and Tuesday of the coming week or Tuesday and Wednesday, since Monday is a holiday. But the hotel's remaining structure (other than the area of the Cocoanut Grove which is being preserved) will probably be gone by Thursday!

Several photographers were present today, and the weather was fine for photography. The view of the south facade of the hotel was shocking, to say the least, as the last time I saw it at Christmas, the south facade was still intact.
The only remaining structure is a small piece of the main building separated from the Cocoanut Grove portion and standing precariously on it's own.

I think we may have to throw an Ambassador wake at the HMS Bounty in the coming weeks. Anyone else game?

The Ambassador's Last Stand, As Seen From Above

Thanks to Darleene, who found this great shot of the Ambassador Hotel taken by blogger Doc Searls, who flew above much of L.A. recently and chronicled much of it. (Also via Blogging.la.)

This is a shot of the hotel from the back; Wilshire is at the top of the pic; the bungalows used to be on the right. As you've seen from our ground shots, most of the hotel is already gone -- this just gives it another perspective from the sky.

Quite a contrast to this Windows Live Local pic from a few years ago, taken from the same angle, with Wilshire at the top of the photo:

Ambassador Cam, #25

The demolition accelerated this week, as construction crews focused on the last remaining section of the hotel -- the middle part. By Friday, even that was mostly gone. I now expect the structure to be completely gone (with the exception of the Cocoanut Grove, which is being rehabbed) by end of next week.

Some views from Wilshire:


Jan. 12, 2006


Jan. 11, 2006


Jan. 9, 2006

And some shots taken from Catalina street on Jan. 11:


Not much more to see here...


Closer view... not much left but a few walls and a lot of asbestos!


Where the hotel lobby and the Cocoanut Grove connected.


Entrance to the demolition site for the "Central Los Angeles New Learning Center." I do hope they decide to call the facilities Ambassador High. (Although I suppose there's a good argument that it should be RFK High.)

Ambassador Cam, #24

The south wing of the Ambassador Hotel is now gone, i saw while driving by this morning. Meanwhile, Susan Campbell, who works across the street, took these shots on Friday of the demolition.

Ambassador Cam, #23

Ambassador Hotel, 1/6/06, 10:25 a.m.

Soon, the Cocoanut Grove is all that will be left. Meanwhile, a reader writes in and wonders what has happened to the Paul Williams-designed coffee shop (below). As part of the LAUSD's original plan, the coffee shop was originally slated to be saved as the new high school's break room.



But given how fluid the Ambassador high school plans seem to be (such as the recent decision to scrap the previously announced design, which looked like the hotel), who knows. I'll see if I can get an answer from the LAUSD as well, but feel free to chime in if you know.

Meanwhile, we'll have more pics for you later today from Susan Campbell's camera. Susan works in one of the tall buildings next to the Ambassador, and has watched the slow demolition for months.

(Coffee shop pic via www.hollywoodusa.co.uk.)

The Ambassador's Drawn-Out Farewell

We've been chronicling the Ambassador's final days here at Franklin Avenue for months, and have wondered, like you, when the demolition will finally be completed. First we heard word that the hotel would be gone by the end of the year.

Now, the L.A. Times reports that the process should be done by March:

Demolition of the landmark Ambassador Hotel to make way for a 4,200-seat campus is dragging on and on, they say, even though school officials have argued since the early 1990s that they desperately need its space for classrooms — and need it quickly.

The tear-down is in its fifth month — and to many Wilshire Boulevard passersby and neighbors, there appears to be no end in sight. In fact, there's not even not a wrecking ball in sight.

Los Angeles Unified School District planners say the demolition only appears to be going slowly because workers were forced to remove asbestos and lead from the 85-year-old hotel before knocking down its concrete walls.

Now authorities have to deal with the unexpected discovery of methane gas beneath the 24-acre hotel grounds.

Soil tests last month revealed the problem. Experts said school builders will probably be required to install an "impermeable membrane" beneath the new campus, along with a network of pipes to vent the gas.

Authorities said Thursday that could add millions to the campus' $270-million cost and could affect the planned 2008 opening of its elementary school. A middle school and a high school are also planned for the site; they are scheduled to open in 2009.

Still, LAUSD officials downplay the methane, refusing to compare it to the Belmont school debacle. Meanwhile, the story also explains why dynamite wasn't used to take the building down (too messy -- no one wants asbestos flying everywhere) and notes that the school district hasn't yet figured out what to do with the pantry where Bobby Kennedy was assassinated:

Jim Cowell, the school district's director of construction, said documentation of the Ambassador's past for the historical record also added to "the perception that it's taking a long time" to raze the hotel.

There was plenty to include in the record. Every U.S. president from Herbert Hoover to Richard Nixon stayed at the Ambassador at one time or another. After delivering a victory speech in the hotel's Embassy Ballroom in June of 1968, Kennedy was gunned down while exiting through the adjacent pantry.

"We have removed and preserved the portion of the building referred to as the pantry," Cowell said. "That's being stored off-site. What will be done with it is uncertain. There are a number of options, and a committee of experts has been commissioned by the superintendent to look at them."

Also, contrary to original plans, the school won't replicate the look of the hotel after all. But the district promises to keep the "iconic view from Wilshire," which means building the school in the same footprint as the hotel, and maintaining the grassy field between the Cocoanut Grove (the one part of the hotel that will remain) and Wilshire.

Ambassador Cam, #22

Ambassador Hotel, 1/4/06, 10 a.m.

This is it -- this is the view from Wilshire of the Ambassador's puny remains as of Wednesday morning. The southeast wing is now gone -- all that's left is the Cocoanut Grove, the center strip of the building (which connected the north and south wings) and part of the southwest wing (which will be gone by next week, I presume).

A few shots of the east side of the building, taken from Catalina St. Notice you can see right through what was once the lobby:

It Was 17 Years Ago Today...

... that the Ambassador Hotel closed its doors to guests forever. The L.A. Times marks the occasion in its new A2 feature (a part of its 125th anniversary milestone), "Times Past":

Declining business along once-thriving Wilshire Boulevard forced the 68-year-old Ambassador Hotel to shut its doors. The majestic hotel had played host to six Academy Awards ceremonies as well as countless movie stars and other dignitaries, including Charlie Chaplin and Winston Churchill. But it is perhaps best known as the site of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy's assassination in 1968.

By this time next year, of course, the Ambassador will be gone. Hell, it could be gone within a month, as I noticed today that half of the building's south wing has now been demolished (pics to come).

Meanwhile, some more shots taken a year ago (in Jan. 2005 and Nov. 2004) by Franklin Avenue reader Theresa:

Ambassador Cam, #21

I've been out of the office this week, which means I haven't been able to drive by the Ambassador and check on the progress of the hotel demolition.

Luckily, some of you are picking up my slack. Thanks to LAist's Carolyn Kellogg, who took these shots on Thursday:


More destruction on the east side of the building.


The west side of the Ambassador. The south wing still stands -- but presumably not for long.


Great shot of the west side of the building -- check out the size of the workers. This was a big hotel.

Another View From the Pantry

Our recent series of shots from the Ambassador Hotel's pantry -- where Robert F. Kennedy was shot in 1968 -- has elicited several more submissions from readers. Here's one from reader Joe Barrett:

After seeing Grant's photo of the pantry where Kennedy was shot, I thought I would send you my photo of the same site.

If you look at my photo and the photo of the original police investigation just below Grant's Photo, I think you can confirm that this is indeed the spot. Note the open doors on the right side of the frame in both the police shot and my shot.

As for the spot where the "X" was painted, I was told by the people that were managing the Ambassador as a film location that the "X" was painted by Ambassador employees after the shooting because so many people wanted to see the place where the crime occurred. The "X" is in a spot that is easily accessible, and would have made for a quick tour (for a tip, I suspect), while the actual location is much deeper in the Ambassador, and made for a much more involved trip.

Also as a curious aside, many people have described seeing a sinister face in the lower center of my picture (it takes a minute to see it), and they have also noted that the white shape you see to the right of the face is positioned similar to Kennedy as he lay on the floor in (the famous) photo.

Spooky, huh?

Ambassador Cam #20

We've got a backlog of new Ambassador destruction shots, taken Friday morning. First up, the latest view from Wilshire:


Ambassador Hotel, 12/23/05, 10:10 a.m.


Closer look of the Cocoanut Grove, now under wraps

But I've expanded the scope, since the view from Wilshire hasn't been changing too much. A few views from Catalina and 7th (on the building's east side), where the latest destruction is more pronounced:









Coming up later this week: More reader submitted photos of the Ambassador pantry, as well as pics from earlier this year of the hotel in its final pre-destruction mode.

Original Pantry

As most of you know, the Ambassador Hotel pantry is where Robert F. Kennedy, having just won the California primary, was shot (above, with busboy Juan Romero).

Reader Grant e-mails in a pic he took in late 2001 or early 2002 of the Ambassador Hotel's pantry. He writes:

A couple years ago I managed to get a tour inside the Ambassador Hotel from one of the security guards that were on the grounds 24/7. He took me inside to see the kitchen where Kennedy was shot. He showed me an 'x' on the ground where he said his head was when he fell. I found his story to be a bit fishy for some reason. So I went and did some research and found pictures of the actual pantry where he was shot. I then went back in the hotel with my camera and found the actual pantry. Strangely enough it was barricaded by a plywood wall and was locked up. He let me in and I took this picture. The peach colored doors in the middle of the picture are the doors he came out of from the hallway leading to the ballroom. He was shot right next the the sink, basically where that broom is leaning.

I thought it would be a good one to put up because it shows where Kennedy actually got shot. I think my picture was taken in late 2001 or early 2002.

The other picture I found is a police picture taken after he was shot in 1968. I just did that to compare them.

Keep up the good work with the site!

Grant

The Ambassador Hotel pantry, as photographed four years ago...


...and as it looked in the aftermath of RFK's assassination in 1968.

Ambassador Cam, #19

Franklin Avenue reader Theresa sends us another batch of fantastic (and sad) demolition photos, this time shots of the destruction from the west side of the Ambassador Hotel (with the photographer, Theresa, facing east).

Watching the destruction unfold earlier this month, Theresa believes she has spotted the hotel's kitchen. Theresa also toured the building in 2004 and in January 2005, and shares images from inside.









One more shot, this time from the east side (with Theresa facing west, on Catalina):



We've got more great shots coming from Theresa (thanks!) in the next few days.

Ambassador Cam, #18

Ambassador Hotel, 12/15/05, 10:30 a.m.

They've covered up the windows of the Cocoanut Grove. Perhaps it's best not to witness what's going on inside. (Much of the Grove -- which was already bastardized in the 1970s -- will be rehabbed and reused as part of the new high school being built. I'll be curious to see how they rework it.)

Meanwhile, most of the south wing still stands; I'm assuming we'll see much of it torn down in the coming weeks. Not sure if all of the hotel will be down by the end of the year, as originally planned, but we'll keep you posted.

"Last Looks: The Ambassador Hotel"

With half of the Ambassador Hotel already reduced to rubble -- and the other half scheduled to disappear by the end of the year -- all we have left now are photos and memories.

Thankfully, the hotel's ghosts were well documented before its demise. Some of those images are now on display, outside City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo's office:

One weekend last March, a team of Hollywood location managers and teenagers from the Jefferson High School Academy of Film and Theatre Arts slipped in and mounted one of the last photo shoots at the 84-year-old landmark building that was once the belle of Wilshire Boulevard.

Using donated cameras, the 60 students and their mentors from the Location Managers Guild of America prowled the bedraggled property, which hadn't seen a paying overnight guest in 16 years. (The Los Angeles Unified School District, owner of the property, prevailed this year in a battle against preservationists and announced plans to demolish the hotel and put up schools on the site.)

The eerie results of that shoot will hang in a 38-image exhibition outside the City Hall office of City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo through mid-January. It's called "Last Looks: The Ambassador Hotel," and the imagery includes an empty swimming pool, a room full of dust-caked porcelain sinks and a patch of carpet sprouting mushrooms.

Meanwhile, Tim McGarry blogs his memories of the hotel here, and ends on this note:

As I watch the Ambassador come down, I’m reminded of a scene in an old Astaire-Rogers movie -- Top Hat, I think, from 1935. Astaire is in white tie and tails, Rogers in a feathered dress. They are in a night club, sleek and brilliantly lit, with white walls and a polished black floor.

They dance. In the beginning, they are suspicious and reluctant. The next phase is a suave seduction, followed by rapid, joyful movements and brilliant leaps. In the last phase, the mood is downbeat again – the lady separates from her partner and vanishes off-stage. The lights dim, leaving the partner disconsolate in the shadows.

Ambassador Cam, #17

Ambassador Hotel, Dec. 12, 10:07 a.m.

Kids take part in physical education class in the Ambassador yards, as the north wing -- except the Cocoanut Grove -- has completely disappeared.

Ambassador Cam, #16

Gone by New Year's Day... that's what I've been told by a source familiar with the Ambassador Hotel demolition. And taking a look at the latest progress, I'd say that's a real possibility. The north wing of the hotel -- the one visible from Wilshire Blvd. -- is more or less gone.



But hey, at least they're still keeping the lawn in top shape! (/sarcasm)

Meanwhile, reader Adam was inspired to write us after this post about Sammy Davis, Jr.'s Ambassador apartment:

The mention on LAObserved steered me to your site to gander at the pics of Sammy Davis' suite at the Ambassador.

What her pics fail to convey (thankfully) is the hideous purple the place was once painted, and the heavy black wood shutters which encased the windows. It also had dark, fuzzy velour type wall-paper of the era on some walls. It truly was a decorating fiasco (which Sammy oversaw). The room was dark and dank even in the daytime - perhaps to ensure a sound sleep even after the sun came up for a night-owl such as an entertainer.

When Sammy no longer was involved in the Grove, he removed anything personal from the suite, and the room was rented as an "A" suite (akin to the Presidential Suite down the hall), or given to VIPs who performed downstairs. The paint was lightened up a bit by the hotel to make it less morose.

But the saving grace of the suite was a black baby grand piano which sat under the windows on the Wilshire side of the room. One could only imagine who else sat at the bench during the hotel's heyday and played the piano (besides me lol). (In the pic of the gutted suite with the brick arches, you'll see the wall/window where the piano sat.) Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane.

The Rat Pack's Last Stand

Franklin Avenue/The Ambassador's Last Stand reader Tess was recently shooting photos at the Ambassador, and realized that she could see the back wall of what used to be the master bathroom of what was once Sammy Davis Jr's apartment.

Sammy had a sixth floor place above the Cocoanut Grove back in the day, notes Tess, who had shot the inside of the building on a previous visit earlier this year.

Ambassador Cam, #15

Brand new shots from Susan Campbell, who works in the building across from the Ambassador. Here's the view from her vantage point:

Ambassador Cam, #14

Ambassador Hotel, 12/1/2005, 10:15 a.m.

Meanwhile, does anyone have info on the eventual fate of the Ambassador sign?


It's obviously not an original part of the hotel, and you could argue that the gaudy 70s-era sign isn't worth saving. On the flip side, by allowing the sign to remain, LAUSD would at least allow some sort of acknowledgement that the Ambassador Hotel once stood here.

That's a Wrap

Estevez on the "Bobby" set. (Photo via New York Times)

Today's New York Times has more details on the final film shot at the Ambassador Hotel, Emilio Estevez's "Bobby."

A snapshot of Bobby Kennedy's final moments before being assassinated at the Ambassador, Estevez managed to shoot several scenes just days before the building's destruction began. Making it all the more odd, Estevez's papa, Martin Sheen, had thrown his support to the Kennedy family's campaign to stop preservation efforts:

Officials were planning to replace the long-shuttered grande dame of Wilshire Boulevard with a school big enough for 4,000 students, many of them immigrants and minorities, who would otherwise have to keep riding buses across town. One of the project's backers was Ethel Kennedy, the senator's widow, who saw it as a fitting tribute to her husband. So she asked her friend Mr. Sheen - who has played Robert Kennedy in a mini-series, narrated a collection of his speeches, and done voice-overs for a number of Kennedy-family productions - to make some calls on her behalf.

Mr. Sheen had been only too happy to oblige, he told his family over dinner.

To which they all but choked on their food. As Mr. Estevez reeled, he recalled in an interview, his mother snapped at his father: "Are you insane?"

Mr. Estevez, as Mr. Sheen knew, had been plotting for several years to make an independent film he had written about the day Robert Kennedy was shot. It was to take place over 16 hours on June 4 and 5, 1968, entirely within the Ambassador. And he was desperate to film his movie there before the hotel was razed.

Ambassador Cam, #13

Ambassador Hotel, 11/29/05, 10:15 a.m.

The plastic sheeting is back off the Cocoanut Grove entrance, while the building continues to get shorter as a demolition team chips away at the floors.

Meanwhile, LAist tips us off to some great up-close shots of the destruction here.

Ambassador Cam #12

UPDATED -- see addition to post below


Ambassador Hotel, 11/23/05, 10:30 a.m.

From the mailbag:

Michael:
Many thanks for your website, I find it quite interesting. I never stayed in the hotel but in the early seventies my parents took me to see Sammy Davis Jr. and on a subsequent trip Diana Ross. I have grown increasing interested in the outcome of the hotel, being I’m in So Ca every other week on business. After viewing Chris Kraus’ tour on March 1st, I was able to convince one of the security guards to take me on a tour at about 7:00 PM on April 13th. I purchased a disposable camera and flashlight, unfortunately the photo quality is substandard.

But I was able to tour the Palm Bar, Embassy Ballroom, Pantry Kitchen, Lobby, the guards keys we unable to unlock the doors to the Grove. I drove my wife and 12 year old son by to see it in August, while we were vacationing in So CA; they think I have lost my mind being “obsessed with on old hotel.” Thanks for the site.

Regards,
Randy/Danville, CA

+++++

Regarding architectural plans for the Ambassador Hotel, Kurt Helfrich, Curator of the Architecture and Design Collection, University Art Museum, UC Santa Barbara wrote that their Hunt and Chambers Collection contains over 40 working drawings (elevations, plans, sections, details) for the Ambassador Hotel, as well as an articles and clippings file and a file of historic photographs. The plans can be viewed by appointment. Thanks to the Conservancy, your photographic website, Dr. David Gebhart and the curators of the UCSB collection of architectural drawings, and all others who are advocates for saving the historic structures of California."

Barbara/San Diego

Meanwhile, several people have also asked about the plastic tarp covering part of the Cocoanut Grove entrance. I believe that's because the nightclub is one of the few parts of the hotel that will be saved. The district will spend $15 million to turn the nightclub into an auditorium.

Also to be saved: The Paul Williams-designed coffee shop beneath, which will be turned into a faculty lounge. And portions of the Embassy Ballroom -- where RFK gave his final speech, seconds before being assassinated -- will be used as the school library.

Ambassador Cam, #11

Ambassador Hotel, 11/22/05, 10:15 a.m.

As you can see, destruction continues at a quicker pace. Which means we'll be chronicling the Ambassador's demise more frequently in the coming days...

Ambassador Cam, #10

As you can see, the Ambassador demolition team has been busy. Not only are the upper floors of the northeast wing gone, but the front has been almost entirely stripped away. With so much frenzy, expect more frequent "Ambassador Cam" posts in the coming weeks.

A close-up look:



Franklin Avenue reader Barbara from San Diego e-mails:

I have been aware of your website for several weeks now, but am amazed at the photos you are now showing on the site. I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to do this service for others who love the Ambassador Hotel, not only for myself (I live in San Diego) but for others who cannot easily get to the site to witness the sad, sad destruction that is going on there at this very time.

Two times in the last year, I came to photograph the Ambassador Hotel, and was able to take photos of it from the Wilshire Boulevard side and from what I believe to be the north side of the building. The hotel sat a half block up a street on the north side with a parking lot on the left, and the bungalows were still there on this side. Sadly, I apparently discarded the roll of film which had these photos on it, and am thus very appreciative of your work...

Do the Ambassador Hotel architectural drawings still exist, and if so, who has them? If not, has someone gone into the hotel and measured the most important rooms (the Grove, lobby, check in area, the largest suites, a sample of the smaller suites, the dimensions of the hallways, etc.) This measurement process could so easily have been done (and it indeed may have been done) but if not, it is too late to do it now.

Barbara also wonders if it's safe to get close to the Ambassador, as the demolition stirs up old asbestos in the building. Anyone have the answer to her questions, feel free to comment below.

Ambassador Cam, #9

Ambassador Hotel, 11/17/05, 10:10 a.m.

The Cocoanut Grove gets wrapped in plastic, while bulldozers continue to tear out portions of the Ambassador's upper floors, in this shot captured Thursday.

MEANWHILE, Axel from the excellent tribute site TheAmbassadorHotel.com, writes in to note that they've added a new discussion board. Go there to discuss memories of the Ambassador and lament its fate.

Ambassador Cam, #8

Some great shots taken Monday by Will Campbell's wife Susan, who captures the Ambassador Hotel's destruction from above. Thanks Susan, and anyone else who wants to submit Ambassador shots past and present, feel free to email 'em in to mikemaria (at) sbcglobal.net.

Ambassador Cam, #7

Ambassador Hotel, 11/11/05

It's really happening: The demolition of the historic Ambassador Hotel is accelerating, as a portion of the east wing is now dust.

I've been out of the office, which means I haven't had a chance to take a pic of the building this week. Thanks to Martin of you-are-here.com for sharing this shot. And to Tim McGarry for also dropping a line on Thursday night. LAObserved has a depressing photo as well.

Meanwhile, up until the very end the Ambassador is a popular spot for a movie shoot. And just squeaking in before the demolishing: Emilio Estevez's feature "Bobby," about fictional events at the hotel taking place the night of RFK's assassination. Elijah Wood, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Anthony Hopkins, and yes, Lindsay Lohan, star. Production started last week at the hotel.

Rock Huckster

Speaking of the soon-to-disappear Ambassador Hotel, here's the winner for most unlikely momento: Someone is selling chunks of concrete from the building on eBay (find the page here).

Bidding starts at $2, or you can buy the rock outright at $4.99. Not so surprisingly, no one has placed a bid yet. From the eBay writeup:

Howdy!  I am in Los Angeles.  I live near the famous Ambassador, which is being torn down as we speak.  I take daily walks in front of it early in the morning.  They ae really going to town on the demolition now. 

Here's what you get in this incredible auction:

--Ambassador Hotel Los Angeles Stone from Building
--the Ambassador was made of concrete
--the hotel was build in 1921
-- this is a concrete shard from the NE Bungalow
-- hold this little shard and feel all the famous people that used to stay in the Bungalows, from Elvis to Howard Hughes
it is the hotel of a million memories
-- $3.85 ship in the US
-- Stored in a friendly, smoke free environment

Wat, you didn't mention it was being held in a friendly environment! I'm in!

Given the sheer amount of real Ambassador momentos out there (silverware, flyers, furniture, etc.) a chunk of concrete, I'm afraid. doesn't cut it.

But it does remind me of the time I saved a chunk of Santa Monica Boulevard. Back when West Hollywood was tearing up and reworking the street, I saved a piece of the old concrete that included a stamp proclaiming its construction in the 1920s. I eventually tossed it out, but hell, I probably could have put it on eBay as a "piece of historic Route 66" and made a nice profit.

Ambassador Cam, #6

Ambassador Hotel, 10/27/05, 10:12 a.m.

As you can see, the inside of the hotel is now almost completely gutted. You can see straight through the windows on the upper floors, and although it may be impossible to catch in this shot, workers are easily spotted inside the structure from our Wilshire Blvd. vantage point.

Ambassador Cam, #5

As we continue to chronicle the end of the Ambassador Hotel, we're welcoming photo submissions as well. This shot comes from Will Campbell's wife Susan, who works on the 12th floor of the building right across the street from the Ambassador site.

This fantastic view offers up a dramatic take on the teardown. As you can see on the left-hand side, the famed Ambassador bungalows -- where the rich and famous would live -- are almost completely gone. Meanwhile, most of the hotel's windows have now been removed, and the Cocoanut Grove entrance way continues to be dismantled.

Ambassador Cam, #4

Ambassador Hotel, 10/10/2005, 9:58 a.m.

Sign of things to come? Looks like the Ambassador grounds are already being used for physical education. What looks to be a P.E. class jogs in place in front of the hotel. Meanwhile, the most noticable change comes from the Cocoanut Grove entrance in front: The awning is gone, as is a good chunk of the entranceway. Blue tape and markings also mark up the front.

Ambassador Cam, #3

Ambassador Hotel, 9/28/2005, 10:05 a.m.

Still slow going at the Ambassador demolition site, which is why we're pacing out our coverage of the hotel's demise. (We've heard from several of you though, and promise to update you more frequently in the coming weeks.)

I'm assuming the lengthy tear down has to do with all of the toxic materials likely found in the asbestos-riffic building. (I heard at the auction earlier this month that several hotel fixtures couldn't be sold because of contamination fears.) As you can see above, the center steeple has been almost completely torn down at this point, and the roof tiles continue to disappear. More to come...

Ambassador Cam #2

Ambassador Hotel, 9/22/2005, 10:15 a.m.

Continuing our documentation of the Ambassador Hotel's final moments... It's slow going so far at the demolition site... here, about 20 workers (they may be too small to see here, but they're on the roof) rip up the building's roof tiles.

Ambassador Cam

Ambassador Hotel, 9/20/05, 9:45 a.m.

Now that the destruction of the Ambassador Hotel is a coming reality, I thought I'd start chronicling the legendary building's slow disappearance.

Hence this new feature, "Ambassador Cam." I pass by the hotel every day on the way to work; now I'll sometimes stop and take a picture of the view from Wilshire. From today's clip: So far, looks like they're working on dismantling the roof first. More to come.

Dark Ages

Power went off here at Variety H.Q a little after 1, although the traffic lights on the Miracle Mile remained active. Seems that weird spotty power experience was repeated all over town today, during L.A.'s Great Power Outage.

With the computers out here, I decided to hop into my car and head down Wilshire to the Ambassador Hotel, where I still needed to pick up a table from Saturday's auction. Traffic was bad, as some stop lights remained out and fire engines patrolled the area.

I tuned to both KNX and KFWB... it's amazing the difference in information and speculation between the two stations, even though they now reside in the same studio area. KNX was first to report that a line may have been cut to the power grid, although later both stations admitted the question hadn't been resolved. Neither station could get ahold of LA's Dept. of Water and Power (DWP) for comment.

Meanwhile, I switched to 8th street, which got me closer east... but eventually hopped back on Wilshire, where I witnessed one car plow into another. And no, the stoplights weren't even out in that intersection -- just a typical L.A. fenderbender, made worse of course by the slightly chaotic air.

Made it to the Ambassador, where people were loading up their wares -- including the handlebar-moustached guy featured in Sunday's L.A. Times article.

Also, noticed the bulldozers tearing down the last of the old Ambassador Hotel bungalows. Seriously, take as many pictures as you can of the hotel now, because we're going to blink and it's gonna be gone.

As of 2:44 power is back up here, and the day is now resuming...

Auctioning Off History

With the decaying Ambassador behind them, buyers hunt for bargains at Saturday's auction

I convinced Maria and Blogger Baby to join me Saturday morning at the old Ambassador Hotel, to witness the L.A. Unified School District auction off the last remaining items from the doomed building. It was Blogger Baby's first-ever auction -- and believe it or not, mine too.



The turnout was better than expected (according to the auctioneers and LAUSD, which pocketed around $80,000), as people checked out desks, chairs, tables and paintings. Some of the more popular items were large, 1970s-era Ambassador Hotel event planners (complete with groups penciled in, reserving the hotel's various ballrooms) -- as pictured above.

Still, most of the stuff was crap. The good momentos were auctioned off long ago, with only some furniture and other items -- some pretty unusual -- having survived previous housecleanings. (Some of the items auctioned on Saturday may actually be more famous for having appeared in countless film and TV projects, as the furniture populated the hotel over the last decade as it served as a popular shooting location.)

Nonetheless, this was the last chance to walk away with a piece of the historic hotel -- and people were willing to shell out wads of cash for several items, including an old Ambassador Hotel safe (which went for $6,000. Other less interesting items went for cheap. We picked up a marble-topped end table for $30, and another small table for $15. Neither were exciting buys, but the goal was to say we owned something from the Ambassador.

More images from the auction:


See, now this would be a cool thing to buy: A collection of the hotel's old room keys.


One of the more interesting items: A box of old breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, circa 1985. In other words, just four years before the hotel closed. A snapshot of why the hotel fell into hopeless disrepair: The glamour was long gone.


Banquet rooms, that way. Lobby, go up. If you're going to the coffee shop, just don't run into the banquet room-bound guests.


Old switchboard -- another semi-cool item. I overhead a woman saying she was planning to bid on it for her kids. The switchboard went for $300 -- not bad, but I hope it's not going to wind up as some kid's toy.

AND finally, a before-and-after shot. Maria and I visited the inside of the Ambassador in 2003 and took several pictures. I notice several of the lamps and side tables in the 2003 photo that wound up on the auctioning table last Saturday.

Then there's the big, huge fountain that once graced the lobby.

From 2003:


and 2005:

Grab a Piece of the Ambassador

Tomorrow's your chance to bid on leftover relics from the historic Ambassador Hotel, which will soon make its way into history and disappear from the Wilshire Blvd. spot where it has sat since the 1920s.

Sadly, there's nothing we can do now about the demise of the Ambassador, as its fate is sealed (and the L.A. Conservancy has ended its battle to save the building). In the end, the best we can do is bid on some of the hotel's remnants. The auction will be held Saturday at 10:30 at the hotel -- probably our last chance, by the way, to see the structure up close. (Yes, you bet I'm bringing the camera.)

Check out this site for more details. And hey, since I'm supplying ya with the info, no outbidding us, OK?

Some of the highlights of the sale:


One of the Ambassador's safes -- this thing is already going for at least $2,000 online. So bring a thick credit card.


Pretty cool classic mail box.


Disco ball from the 1970s, when the Cocoanut Grove -- in one of its last gasps -- tried to keep up with the times.


Not sure what you'd do with a telephone operator switchboard, but hey, how cool is this?

The Fat Lady Sings

Take a good, long look at the old Ambassador Hotel the next time you pass by it on Wilshire. Chances are that will be the last time you'll ever see it.

The L.A. Conservancy has officially given up the ghost, and halted efforts to save the old hotel, once a glorious Hollywood landmark and the site of Robert Kennedy's assassination. (The hotel has served as a location for TV and movie shoots after shutting down in 1989.)

Realizing that their efforts were only delaying the inevitable, the Conservancy struck a deal with the L.A. Unified School District -- which plans to build a new school at the site -- to drop their challenges, if the school board would donate $4.9 million to help preserve historic school buildings.

The board voted 6-1 Tuesday night to approve the bill. Demolition will now commence immediately -- with the building likely to disappear by October.

According to the L.A. Times, an auction of lighting fixtures, fountains and other items from the hotel is scheduled for Sept. 10.

Yet another blow for the L.A. Conservancy (which hasn't yet updated its site, which at the moment still urges members to help save the Ambassador) -- which hasn't had much luck lately in the preservation department (or so it seems, from the outside looking in).



(Pictures from this tribute site.)

The Final Nail in the Ambassador Coffin?

In a year where we've already seen the destruction of Perino's, it looks as if the Ambassador will be history by year's end. The L.A. Times reports that an L.A. County superior court judge has sided with the Los Angeles Unified School District, ruling that it can move forward in demolishing most of the historic hotel:

The Los Angeles Conservancy and a coalition of local organizations had filed suit after the school board voted in October to build a facility for 4,200 kindergarten through high school students on the 24-acre property where movie stars, politicians and royalty once mingled and where Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968.

The suit contended that the district had failed to comply with requirements of state environmental quality laws.

In the weeks before the judge's ruling, the conservancy linked up with local, state and national politicians to urge the district to consider an alternative proposal that it said would better preserve the landmark hotel. But district officials and school board members stood firm. "The idea of building the school around the hotel is something that we rejected years ago," said Glenn Gritzner, special assistant to Supt. Roy Romer. "The plan that the conservancy has recently been discussing is more meat on the same bones."

Some pics we snapped at the Ambassador in 2003:


Back of the hotel, view from the pool


Ambassador lobby


Maria stands in front of the Ambassador registration desk

Perino's No More

Maria and I passed by the old Perino's on Wilshire earlier today -- and I'm sad to report that the building that once housed the restaurant, once a staple of classic Hollywood, is gone.

As planned, the pink building -- in recent years the home of countless film shoots and events -- was demolished to make way for an apartment building.

Sigh. I'm now not looking forward to the day I pass by the Ambassador Hotel, also on Wilshire, and see that it too has finally succumbed to the wrecking ball. (That day is coming.)

Maria and I got a chance last year to see the restaurant up close one last time last April, thanks to a performance there by the Collage Dance Theater. (Of course, we took a camera and poked around after.)

Movies such as "Scarface,'' "Bugsy," "Chaplin" and "Mulholland Falls" all shot at Perinos. The Ray Romano/Kevin James action comedy "Grilled" was the last movie to film there.

Death Knell for the Ambassador

The clock is ticking on Wilshire Blvd., as the L.A. school board voted 4-3 to adopt Supt. Roy Romer's plan to demolish most of the legendary Ambassador Hotel.

The L.A. Times reports:

Under the plan, which was one of five being considered by the board, the Los Angeles Unified School District would preserve the hotel's arcade of stores, a coffee shop designed by architect Paul Williams and the historic Cocoanut Grove nightclub while razing most of the hotel, including its lobby, hotel rooms and adjacent bungalows.

The board's decision ends one chapter in the life of the hotel that has played a significant role in the history of Los Angeles and represents one of the last pieces of open space along the densely packed Wilshire Corridor.

The school district has fought to gain control of the hotel site for almost 15 years as a way to ease overcrowding in neighboring schools.

At the meeting Tuesday, board members clashed over how to best deal with the historic aspects of the hotel while creating more classroom space. The three board members who opposed the superintendent's proposal were Mike Lansing, Jon Lauritzen and David Tokofsky.

During a lengthy public hearing, more than 30 speakers — including civil rights leader Dolores Huerta; Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles); Kennedy's son, Maxwell Kennedy; and a host of community leaders, activists and concerned citizens — made poignant, sometimes tearful requests to alternately preserve the hotel, tear it down, or find a compromise.

Ken Bernstein, the director of preservation for the Los Angeles Conservancy, told board members that city residents "would surely never forget the demolition of the Ambassador." Nor, he added, would they forget "the elected officials who sent in the wrecking ball."

Conservancy officials said that the group's board will meet in the next few weeks to decide whether to take legal action against the district.

LA Observed has full coverage here.

Kennedy Cop-Out

The Kennedy family has no interest in helping save the historic Ambassador Hotel, according to stories in today's L.A. Times and Daily News.

The clan's position helps the cause of superintendant Roy Romer, who is pushing a compromise plan that saves some of the hotel -- including the hotel pantry where Robert Kennedy was assassinated -- but replaces most of the landmark structure with a new school building.

According to the papers, the LAUSD board members were already aware of the Kennedy family position: In an interview Thursday, Romer said the "feelings of the Kennedys are very important to me. I have thought about that before, and I will continue to think about it."

But Romer added that his job was to find a plan that would pass board muster, avoid lawsuits and get a school built while still acknowledging the historic value of the site.

"I know the community is divided, and I have tried to find a compromise," Romer said. "I have got to get this school built, because the children are going to be hurt if I don't."

Saving the Ambassador

Urgent message from the Los Angeles Conservancy:

As the Los Angeles Conservancy's Director of Preservation Issues, I wanted to express my heartfelt thanks to you for your past work and letter-writing on behalf of preserving the Ambassador Hotel from demolition, and to ask you to do everything you can to be present at tomorrow's crucial hearing on the fate of the Ambassador. Despite LAUSD staff's proposal to demolish all of the hotel structures except for the Cocoanut Grove, this plan is not a "done deal": as Los Angeles-area residents, we need to make clear that we simply won't stand for demolition of this important historic site.

This Tuesday (September 28th) at 4:30 p.m., Board of Education members will begin discussing the Ambassador issue: it's therefore critical that a large turnout from the public convincingly show them that Los Angeles does care about its history. In two weeks, on October 12, the L.A. Board of Education will take its final vote on whether to endorse LAUSD's plan or to reconsider reusing the hotel as part of a new educational campus. Since this Tuesday's meeting is the last scheduled discussion before the vote, NOW IS THE TIME to show your support for preserving the Ambassador!

The Los Angeles Conservancy and the citywide A+ Coalition therefore need you to attend these two key public hearings to support the meaningful preservation of the Ambassador Hotel as the centerpiece of a much-needed new school:

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
4:30 pm
Board of Education Headquarters
333 S. Beaudry Avenue, 1st Floor
Downtown Los Angeles

AND

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12
3:30 pm
Board of Education Headquarters
333 S. Beaudry Avenue, 1st Floor
Downtown Los Angeles

Located just west of the Harbor (110) Freeway downtown at 3rd Street. Limited street parking available; paid parking available in lots at 3rd Street and Boylston.

To speak at either hearing, you must sign up by calling the Board office at (213) 241-7002. Because the major public hearing on the Ambassador was held last week, it's very possible that the limited speaker slots for this week's hearing will already be taken. Also, if you spoke at the hearing on September 23, you cannot speak again. But YOU DON'T NEED TO SPEAK TO MAKE AN IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE. The Board needs to see as many people as possible standing in support of preserving the hotel in order to understand that the public cares about this issue: if supporters of the Ambassador don't show up, the hotel truly will be "history". If you work during the day, come after work. If you have child care issues, know that kids are welcome at Board of Education meetings. And, please bring your friends and colleagues who care about preserving Los Angeles' history, and pass this message along to others.

If you have questions about either hearing, please call the L.A. Conservancy at (213) 623-2489. For more details about the Ambassador Hotel issue, including a fuller action alert with more information about LAUSD's plans, please visit www.laconservancy.org.

Thanks for your support!

Ambassador Update

LAUSD supt. Roy Romer unveiled on Saturday his plans for the Ambassador hotel site... and, as the L.A. Times notes, although it saves some portions of the hotel, most will be demolished.

This was what the LA Conservancy and fans of the old, historically significant hotel were afraid of.

First, the good news: Portions of the Embassy Ballroom, where presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy gave his last speech in 1968 before he was mortally wounded in a hotel kitchen pantry nearby, would be saved and reinstalled in a library elsewhere on the property.

The Cocoanut Grove nightclub, where movie stars mingled and Hollywood's brightest stars performed, would be restored to its original Moorish design, abandoned years ago. It would become the school's main auditorium.

Most of the arcade of shops directly beneath it would be kept; the Paul Williams-designed coffee shop, among the more significant architectural elements of the property, would be preserved as a teachers lounge, and other shops would serve as the entrance to a middle and upper school cafeteria.

But, on the other hand, the view of the hotel will be fake: LAUSD wants to demolish the structure and create a new facade that duplicates the look of the six-story hotel.

Also, the bungalows will be demolished (although even the Conservancy compromised on that, admitting that they couldn't save everything) and the hotel's grand lobby will be gone.

The Board of Education will vote on the proposal in the next month or so. If its members approve and there are no legal impediments, officials said, the kindergarten-through-third-grade portion of the school could open as early as 2008, and the rest a year later...

But the plan, which will be formally unveiled this week, is already generating criticism.

Ken Bernstein, director of preservation issues for the Los Angeles Conservancy, which has pushed the district to save most of the hotel, called the plan "an amputation of the Ambassador."

He likened it to Disney's artificial re-creations of history at its theme parks. "We all love Disneyland," Bernstein said, "but we'd rather not learn how to read and write there."

Down to the Wire

The battle over the fate of the Ambassador Hotel heats up next week, as LAUSD superintendant Ray Romer is expected to announce the school district's plans for the site.

Hoping to sway the school board vote, the L.A. Conservancy announced Friday that the site could be eligible for as much as $39.4 million in federal tax credits, which would help bridge the gap between the price tag of a new structure (between $286 mill and $293 mill) and rehabbing the existing, historic structue (between $326 mill and $381 mill).

Writes the L.A. Times: The school district is expected to announce its plan next week for turning the Ambassador into a 4,200-student school and community park. That long-awaited decision comes after years of debate and behind-the-scenes negotiations over the fate of the historic hotel where Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was shot, movie stars mingled and presidents slept.

The Ambassador sits on a vast swath of land, almost 23 acres, in an area of town where open space is scarce and the population is dense. Los Angeles Unified School District officials estimate that 3,800 students are bused from the neighborhood each day because the schools nearby are too crowded.

But the Ambassador also is one of the last intact vestiges of old L.A., an empress dowager of a hotel that once drew celebrities, politicians and foreign leaders through its doors. It closed in 1989.

The hotel, said Linda Dishman, executive director of the Los Angeles Conservancy, "is one of Los Angeles' defining historical sites."

For that reason, as well as for its architectural significance, the Myron Hunt-designed hotel qualifies for federal tax credits, she said.
Friday's announcement, just a few days before Supt. Roy Romer will announce his choice among five proposals for the reuse of the site, was meant in part to pressure the Los Angeles Board of Education, which will vote on the proposals soon after.

Dishman said she believed Romer's choice will be to destroy "all but a handful of pieces of the original hotel." The tax credits, said Ken Bernstein, director of preservation issues at the conservancy, represented a challenge to the district to rehabilitate the site.

Free Bungalows!

While the LA Unified School District still ponders the fate of the Ambassador Hotel, the property's huge two-story bungalows -- once the home-away-from-home for actors, rock stars and dignitaries -- have already been marked for demolition.

The L.A. Conservancy, focused on saving the main hotel building, has regretfully decided to take a loss on the bungalows, which LAUSD wants to clear to make room for more school land.

Still, there's a chance the buildings can still be saved. According to the L.A. Times, The district has offered to give them away to anyone who will move them. But so far, no takers have come forward, although four of the buildings were designed by Myron Hunt and two by Paul Williams, both architects of note.

The catch?

The buildings, which range from 8,400 square feet to 61,000 square feet, are empty, asbestos-riddled and showing their age, some dating to the 1920s... Anyone who agrees to take the bungalows faces some hefty, though still unknown, moving bills. The bungalows would have to be removed from foundations, carved up for transportation and then reassembled.

Only one potential taker has expressed interest so far -- but he dropped out after learning what it would take to move the properties.

Save the Ambassador

It feels as if momentum may be turning against preservation of the Ambassador Hotel -- which makes it more important than ever to contact the Board of Education and urge L.A. Unified to save the historic building.

The Downtown News reports this week that a community group that calls itself RFK-12 is urging LAUSD to stop dragging its feet and start building a new high school on the site.

And as I mentioned yesterday, it's still questionable how committed LAUSD really is to finding a way to convert the historic site into a high school (rather than just tearing the whole thing down and building a new structure, much like they're doing at the old Metromedia Square/Fox TV site). "Barbie Loves L.A." author Greg LaVoi told us how the school district initially didn't want him shooting pictures of the Ambassador -- because he was planning to portray the building in its original form as a grand hotel. (They wanted him to shoot it as a school; they later gave him permission.)

On the plus side, a group of community and entertainment figures have finally come together and formed the "A+ Coalition" to fight the potential demolition of the site.

Why is it so important to save this building? And why are we so concerned here at Franklin Avenue? Read the L.A. Conservancy's tip sheet.

Also, here's a great tribute site filled with info, trivia and pictures about the Ambassador.

And, of course, here are the shots Maria and I took inside the Ambassador when we got a chance to lurk around the old hotel last year. (Link broken)

LAUSD is now expected to make its final decision on the fate of the building in a few weeks. Again, if you haven't yet, send in a letter to the Board of Education.

Book 'Em

Maria and I managed to make it to the annual Los Angeles Times Book Festival this Sunday right before it closed.

Making our way to UCLA, we parked in the Ralphs/Best Buy/Longs parking lot and hoofed it to campus, immediately heading for the Angel City Press booth.

As far as books on pop culture and local Los Angeles history goes, we're both huge fans of the Angel City Press catalog. (Angel City puts it this way on their website: Drenched in nostalgia yet undeniably cool, each Angel City Press book is luxuriously illustrated and showcases the modern design concepts of California's top graphic artists.)



Sitting at the booth was author Greg LaVoi, signing copies of his book "Barbie Loves L.A." We quickly picked up a copy and had Greg sign it.

If you haven't seen it, or any of its writeups in the L.A. Times and Los Angeles magazine, the book is a visual treat for people (like us) obsessed with L.A.'s classic landmarks.

LaVoi, an Emmy-nominated costume designer, took vintage Barbie dolls, dressed them to the period, and, via some amazing work in creating visual perception with photography, places her in front of, and interacting with, L.A. sites.

That includes shots of 1950s Barbie shopping at Bullock's Wilshire... filling up gas at the vintage 76 station in Beverly Hills... catching a flight in front of LAX's Theme Building... Grabbing a bite in front of Perino's... and plenty more.

LaVoi said he had no problem getting permission to use the landmarks... except the Ambassador Hotel. LaVoi eventually was able to shoot Barbie standing in front of a microphone outside the Cocoanut Grove... but only after twisting the L.A. Unified School District's arm. LAUSD didn't want the Ambassador portrayed as the historical hotel it is... nope, the school board wanted the Ambassador portrayed as a school. The LAUSD eventually relented when LaVoi threatened to tell his story to the L.A. Times.

Yup, L.A. Conservancy, that's the mindset we're up against in trying to save that building.

Meanwhile, LaVoi said he's now scouting locations in New York for a sequel. He hopes to shoot "Barbie Loves N.Y." later this year.

Last Dance At Perino's

Maria soaks in the Perino's vibe at one of the legendary Hollywood haunt's booths

Maria and I caught the closing performance Sunday night of the Collage Dance Theatre's "A Hunger Artist," which also doubled as the swan song for the soon-to-be demolished Perino's restaurant.

It was our second time at a Collage show; we'd attended the troupe's performance ("Sleeping with the Ambassador") at the endangered Ambassador Hotel last summer. Like then, our main goal is to check out classic Los Angeles locales before they're sadly demolished... and the Perino's visit had an even more urgent tone to it: The building will be torn down very soon in favor of apartments. Egad.

(Adding insult to injury, Carey + Kutay Development Group -- which is overseeing the Perino's demolition and construction of the future apartment complex -- continues to capitalize on the mystique and lore of Perino's. Carey + Kutay was a sponsor of the Collage event, and owns the website perinos.net -- which touts the site's history and its importance in Hollywood culture, while in the same breath announces its destruction and auction of remaining assets.)

Collage artistic director Heidi Duckler conceived and created the dance program along with Merridawn Duckler. The contemporary dance troupe utilized Perino's ballroom, bar, dining room and kitchen to interpret Franz Kafka's "A Hunger Artist."

Like the Ambassador show, Collage also incorporated some acting and singing in the mix, particularly in the dining room, where the performers rotated from table to table -- some twisting and turning on chairs, others performing magic tricks and still others, in character, interacting with the crowd. It was all meant to tell Kafka's story of an artist who decides to fast and ultimately doesn't stop -- because he never found anything he wanted to eat.

The show had its moments -- and the athletic abilities of several dancers were nothing short of awe-inspiring. Think dance with acrobatics thrown in.

But ultimately, it was a much smaller event than the Ambassador show. Collage stuck to just four rooms -- whereas, at the Ambassador, the audience saw at least seven different performances in varied locations.

Obviously, Perino's is no match for the expanse of the Ambassador. But "A Hunger Artist" could have climbed upstairs, where a sitting room and powder area would have added one more canvas to the "Hunger Artist" pallette.

Nonetheless, the show had its moments -- we were particularly impressed by the athletic moves of Marissa Labog, while John Pleshette was enjoyable as the Perino's maitre'd. Overall, the cast was top-notch and the dancers amazing.

Unfortunately, it's too late to save Perino's. But it's not too late to save the Ambassador. We sat in a booth next to a member of the Los Angeles Conservancy, who urged us to write letters to the LAUSD school board urging them to save the old hotel. This next month or two is critical; go to the L.A. Conservancy website for more info.

Check out pics from our night at Perino's starting here.

Ambassador Update

According to the Los Angeles Conservancy, the Los Angeles Unified School District's Board of Education may determine the fate of Wilshire Blvd.'s historic Ambassador Hotel by April.

The board was originally supposed to make its decision last fall on whether to raze the site and build a completely new high school, or convert the structure into a school. The Conservancy still has several suggested alternatives to demolishing the Ambassador -- once Los Angeles' most luxurious hotel, and the historical site of Robert Kennedy's assassination.

A handful of special interest groups -- including the Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF), the Cesar Chavez Foundation, and the Central American Resource Network (CARECEN) -- have come out in support of demolition, complicating the matter. But the Conservancy believes a compromise can still be struck with the LAUSD to keep the basic shell of the Ambassador.

(Shut down in the mid-1980s, it's virtually impossible to see the Ambassador upclose unless you happen to be on a movie or TV shoot there. But Maria and I got to sneak around and take several pics last year.)

Meanwhile, the Conservancy also alerts the public to a new Mexican-American cultural heritage area the County of Los Angeles plans to build near Olvera Street, within the El Pueblo de Los Angeles National Historic District. (Close to where Maria and I got married.)

The cultural area sounds like a good idea, except for one problem: According to the Conservancy, "The proposed project would involve the demolition of two of the 27 contributing structures to the El Pueblo district: the Vickrey-Brunswig Building, built in 1888, and the Brunswig Annex, built in 1897. The project would retain a third historic structure: the 1883 Plaza House. These structures are located on the west side of the 500 block of North Main Street, across from the El Pueblo structures that the City of Los Angeles has recently restored."

Los Angeles has few structures left that pre-date 1900. It would be a shame to lose two of them.

Perino While You Can

L.A. Observed reports that the Collage Dance Theatre is
considering staging a performance at the soon-to-be demolished Perino's restaurant.

Collage performs in unusual and historic sites around the city; Maria and I attended the group's last performance, "Sleeping with the Ambassador" -- mostly to get an inside look at the amazing, abandoned hotel.

But the performance itself was incredible as well. Here's hoping they pull it off before the restaurant -- once the haunt of 1940s and 1950s Hollywood royalty -- makes way for apartments. I've had the chance to explore Perino's, thanks to a Television Critics Assn. party Fox threw there a few years ago. It's a time warp: The booths are still in place and little has changed since its heyday.

This could be a pretty sad year for historic Wilshire Boulevard: Besides the end of Perino's, the fate of the Ambassador Hotel will likely be determined this year. And my gut tells me we're not going to like the School Board's decision.

Misguided Anger

Here's hypocrisy for ya: In the name of education, a local group wants to tear down the Ambassador Hotel-- one of L.A.'s top historical sites.

According to the L.A. Times, a group that calls itself RFK-12 wants the LAUSD to tear the old hotel down immediately to build a new school. They say it will take too long to retrofit the Ambassador into a high school, something the L.A. Conservancy has been fighting for.

That just doesn't make sense. Yes, perhaps it will take a little bit more -- and take a little more time -- to preserve the Ambassador. But we're talking maybe an extra year. Saving a year's time by simply destroying an important piece of L.A. history would be tragic. And something the city would look back years from now in regret, just as, if they had to do it all over again, maybe they could have found another way to preserve the Bunker Hill Victorians.

He Said, She Said

Latest on the fight to save the Ambassador Hotel, from the Downtown News: The Los Angeles Conservancy believes that L.A. Unified "skewed a recent report and misstated cost estimates in favor of a plan to demolish the landmark and build new schools."

The paper reports that LAUSD claims tearing down the hotel would cost $95 million less than preserving the hotel. A firm hired by the Conservancy, estimated the difference at $46 million.

LAUSD will make its final decision in the fall. Should it choose to tear down the historic hotel, expect a bitter fight.

Thank Goodness for Bureaucracies

Thank Goodness for Bureaucracies
Not to obsess over the Ambassdor Hotel, but it seems to be everywhere I turn these days. According to the Daily News, LAUSD superintendent Roy Romer held a press conference Monday to go over the five different scenarios at the site.

The cheapest, at $286 million, would be to raze the property and build new schools. "Maximum reuse," the L.A. Conservancy's favorite option, clocks in at about $382 million. LAUSD will make its decision in October, which hopefully will be enough time for Eli Broad or someone to step in and donate some money to save this classic building.

By the way, there's some irony in all of this. The LAUSD has been dying to build a school on the site for years, keeping the Ambassador property in legal limbo until about two years ago, when it finally took full control of the property. Had LAUSD not stepped in and tried to steal the land from previous owners (which included Donald Trump), the Ambassador probably would have been torn down a long time ago and replaced with a monstrous skyscraper or big-box shopping mall.

Sleeping with the Ambassador

Last night, we attended Collage Dance Theatre's performance at the Ambassador Hotel. When Mike first told me about this event, I thought he said there was a dance at the Ambassador Hotel. He said we should try to go to it since this may be the only chance we could see the interior of this historic hotel (which shut down in 1989).

We weren't expecting much from the evening save for the chance to check out the hotel and maybe take a few pictures. Turns out, the performance was entertaining. A combination of haunting music, athletic dancing and circus-like performances filled the whole night. Everything seemed nostalgic and I was constantly reminded of how grand the Ambassador was in its heyday.

Part of the performance (which took place throughout the hotel) was held at the famed Cocoanut Grove, but it looked nothing like the old glamorous place it once was. The interior is black, much like any stage you would see if you were seeing a small play. It was a little spooky thinking that RFK was shot just next door from that room, as someone from the show told us later.

The evening concluded in the great lobby where the elegance was still evident. This was where Mike turned loco.

I stood, amused, as he turned into a photo maniac trying to get all he can into our little digital camera. The same digital camera that was full of pictures, which we weren't quite sure if we downloaded them yet or not. We quickly deleted photos to make room for some cool Ambassador shots.

As we were leaving the hotel, we followed a group of people going towards the bungalows. Alas, we were quickly turned away by some guy who said that those areas are hazardous. Upon further probing, he said that whoever goes in will get something worse than SARS.

"Asbestos," I said to Mike. Sure enough, the hazard-nazi did admit that there was asbestos in those buildings -- to which we laughed over his dramatics.

The Ambassador's Last Stand

It's looking more and more like the L.A. Unified School District is planning to tear down the legendary Ambassador Hotel. That would be a shame. Not only is the Ambassador beautiful architechturally, but it's brimming with history. The Ambassador was L.A.'s elite hotel for decades, and virtually every major performer through the 1970s was on stage at its legendary Coconut Grove nightclub. The Ambassador was home of the Cocoanut Grove nightclub, Los Angeles’ premier night spot for decades; and host to six Oscar ceremonies and to every U.S. President from Herbert Hoover to Richard Nixon (who wrote his 1952 “Checkers” speech at the Ambassador). And most historically, the Ambassador was the site of Bobby Kennedy's assassination.

The Ambassador shut down in the 1980s, a victim of the changing neighborhood. It's been threatened with demolition a number of times-- Donald Trump wanted to build the world's tallest building there in the early 1990s, but then the economy went south. Eventually, the school district--badly in need of new schools--inherited the site.
The Los Angeles Conservancy believes there's a way to convert the building into a school in order to meet the school district's needs but still preserve most of the school. The Coconut Grove, for example, would be the auditorium. The hotel's massive lobby could turn into a student gathering place. And so on. Time's running out, though, but hopefully the LAUSD will do the right thing.

Speaking of RFK and the Ambassador, the L.A. Times' Steve Lopez meets up with Juan Romero. He now labors for a paving company in San Jose. But in 1968 he was a busboy at the Ambassador-- and is the young man you've seen cradling Bobby Kennedy's head in that famous photo taken inside the hotel's kitchen.