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

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

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



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



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

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

More Before and After Shots of the Ambassador Site

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

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




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





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




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

Thanks to Tess Inman for the pics!

Ambassador Cam, #45 in a series

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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