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