ImaginAsian Center Will Add Modern Life to Main

Urban Bruin on July 25, 2007, at 09:36AM – #1

Cannot wait for it to open. Great to see all the diverse businesses opening in downtown.

Maybe Tarantino will host his "Grindhouse" film festival here in the coming years.

okoku on July 25, 2007, at 09:47AM – #2

Wow, Thanks.

Militant Angeleno on July 25, 2007, at 10:10AM – #3

Yes, to the mainstream, the idea of Asian people is totally laughable...I mean they're just supposed to be hidden in the background or just stereotyped, right?

jim on July 25, 2007, at 11:22AM – #5

i love that the street rendering includes the current jalisco inn signage.

how long until jalisco gets gentrified?

Rico A on July 25, 2007, at 11:30AM – #6

Jim, I was just thinking the same thing. I went to the Inn with a friend of mine, and we had a blast.

I'm starting to notice that wherever there's a gay bar, there's a hamburger/taco stand across the street. Coincidence?

Now, will the "Asian" aspect of it have a specific focus, such as Chinese films or Japanese films, or will it include the whole Pacific Rim?

fridayinla on July 25, 2007, at 01:59PM – #8

I'm interested in the sculpted bike rack mentioned. What a great idea! Not only b/c it will offer travel alternatives due to lack of parking, but that stretch of Main Street needs streetscape enhancements in the worst way.

LAofAnaheim on July 25, 2007, at 02:11PM – #9

I think of bike racks as an alternative to DRIVING not lack of parking. We don't need more cars!

Scott Mercer on July 25, 2007, at 03:01PM – #10

I hope they won't be merely concentrating on "artistic" releases and will be throwing some genre films into the mix. Japanese horror movies, kaiju, Bollywood action movies, etc. That is, get some "Grindhouse" style product in there once in a while too. That's generally what I veer towards in my American movies as well, though I have been known to rent some Criterion Collection DVDs on occasion.

the daniel on July 25, 2007, at 03:59PM – #11

I'm thrilled about this, even though I don't live Downtown anymore. Small theaters are a great addition to any neighborhood, and I love attending films at the New Beverly and the Nuart. I hope this will provide a similar source of off-the-beaten-path entertainment.

Scott Mercer on July 25, 2007, at 05:32PM – #12

Here's some more info on the old Linda Lea.

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/3493/

Great website, keeps me busy for hours. You can find out about all the other old L.A. cinemas, long since gone and still around.

Common Sense on July 25, 2007, at 09:23PM – #13

Hey Eric, We could all pay higher taxes so the City could afford prime real estate like the corner lots on Spring/Second for LAPD HQ's motor transport operation!

Does anyone really think the ImaginAsian Center would be going into the old Linda Lea site if it WERE NOT for the LAPD planning to build and occupy the space directly across the street? Do you think Tom Gilmore would be banking on Vibiana if it weren't for LAPD building next door?

Think about it, that's about to be one of the safest blocks in the world...

John Crandell on July 25, 2007, at 09:45PM – #14

Across from the Linda Lea and immediately north of the remains of the Wonderland Theater once stood the two story Ponet Block, completed in the winter of 1902 from plans prepared by architects Morgan and Walls. There were three stores on the ground floor; the second floor eventually was leased as a pool hall. In April of that year, the center commercial space was opened for business as the Electric Theater, operated by showman and former cowboy Thomas Lincoln Tally. Historians of cinema aver that the Electric was the country's (western world's, actually) very first cinema, dedicated solely to projected film. To make way for the Ponet Block, the remains of a brick residence had been demolished the previous summer. The residence had been constructed in 1853 by Captain Jesse Hunter, a member of the Mormon Battalion. This structure was the city's very first building constructed with walls of brick, rather than adobe. Future mayor Cameron Thom arrived from northern California in 1855 and bought the residence, soon became the state senator representing southern California, returned to his native state of Virginia in 1863 to join in the Confederate war effort. The brick building at the N.E. corner of the Third Street intersection (the Wonderland) originally was built in the spring of 1910 from plans prepared by Albert Martin. This development was ventured by the trio of Sturm, Kaiser and Tally. One can see images of it at the height of its glory on Brent Dickerson's website; the front of the building was demolished and the present angled frontage dates to the early 1930s. The remainders of this building may be those of the first structure in the western U.S. designed and constructed specifically for cinema. Interesting that the two buildings stood next to one another, but not surprising in that T.L. Tally was involved with both.

Now, we're getting a parking garage. Strange that they aren't tearing down the Wonderland as well, given the city's history of deconstruction and replacement.

The concrete triangle with the three Coral Trees further south is ground zero of a largely unknown legend in Lotus-Land. It is the locus of Hollywood's pre-Hollywood Hollywood epic - if ever there was one. Cameron Thom was the very nexus of this legend. Stay tuned.

Benjamin Pezzillo on July 25, 2007, at 10:01PM – #16

Fascinating history John.

Dan in LA on July 25, 2007, at 11:23PM – #17

OK, John. Your hired. When does the tour start?

(thanks for all that info!!)

Nic Cha Kim on July 26, 2007, at 12:09PM – #18

"Does anyone really think the ImaginAsian Center would be going into the old Linda Lea site if it WERE NOT for the LAPD planning to build and occupy the space directly across the street? Do you think Tom Gilmore would be banking on Vibiana if it weren't for LAPD building next door?"

This has nothing to do with the actual reality of how and why the Linda Lea is being erected. I know the real story being that I wrote the proposal that won the RFP from the seller, Joanne Grace, as well as found the investors that paid for the building... there's a much longer story here, but I'm too bitter to rehash it.

Nevertheless, the people behind the Linda Lea opposed the LAPD motorpool from the beginning, but kept their distance b/c they didn't want to ruffle feathers. Why would anybody want a motorpool for the lapd when there's a perfectly good art gallery and parking lot across the street? It doesn't compute...

Nic Cha Kim on July 26, 2007, at 12:12PM – #19

"Yes, to the mainstream, the idea of Asian people having their own cable TV network is totally laughable...I mean they're just supposed to be hidden in the background or just stereotyped, right?"

This is an incredibly insulting comment and it says a lot about the writer.

Urban Bruin on July 26, 2007, at 12:57PM – #20

Nic Cha Kim: Thanks for addressing Militant's comments. I was going to ignore the ignorant comment but now that it is out it's sad that there are people living in downtown who have not figured out that closer you live to people the more accepting you have to be of other cultures and lifestyles. Hopefully Militant will just crawl back under the rock from which he/she resides.

Nic Cha Kim on July 26, 2007, at 04:03PM – #21

Considering I'm Korean and I work in the entertainment industry, I find comments like these to be completely irresponsible, especially in our day and age. I won't go so far as to call Militant a racist b/c I don't believe he is... sometimes, people who don't know better make insensitive jokes without realizing it. It'd be unproductive of me to get mad the first time... Either way, it doesn't matter. I'll simply never read his blog... If his comment is any indication of his writing style, I have a feeling it's fairly useless for my purposes anyway.

Here are more links to some Linda Lea stories:

http://www.downtownlascene.com/index.php/scene/news_item/1476/

http://www.downtownnews.com/articles/2004/06/07/news/news03.txt

http://www.downtownnews.com/articles/2005/02/07/news/news04.txt

http://www.iatv.tv/Press/LADowntownNews022006.pdf

hmmmmm on July 26, 2007, at 10:09PM – #22

^ i really thought militant was being ironic.

no?

celia on July 27, 2007, at 12:07AM – #23

"Yes, to the mainstream, the idea of Asian people having their own cable TV network is totally laughable...I mean they're just supposed to be hidden in the background or just stereotyped, right?"

i thought militant was being ironic as well, but as a writer, i was offended that he executed that sentiment so poorly.

from inbred mountain on July 27, 2007, at 10:45AM – #24

Sure Militant is a hardcore redneck.

Nic Cha Kim on July 27, 2007, at 11:25AM – #25

"i thought militant was being ironic as well, but as a writer, i was offended that he executed that sentiment so poorly."

It's his comment that he finds it "laughable" that Asian Americans should have a cable channel that I find so offensive. What is so "laughable" about that? There's BET for African-Americans. There's Oxygen for Women. There's also the History Channel for White Supremacists (I'm being ironic here - big difference). So why is it so laughable that Asian Americans, the fastest growing ethnic community, should have a cable channel? It's the fact he "laughs" I find most telling of his character, but whatever. Like I said, I won't read his blog.

BTW - It's time to change the stereotype, so for the record, Militant will find it extremely difficult to keep this particular Asian hidden in the background.

Nic Cha Kim on July 27, 2007, at 12:59PM – #27

Will you also apologize for him too? No thanks... With a moniker like Militant, he can explain himself.

Ahn Nguyen on July 27, 2007, at 06:05PM – #28

I was happy to read the news that a movie theater is opening downtown just around the corner with Asian themed content...can we be so lucky to have a movie theater and a market open in the same year?

A few months ago I attended a Sundance Film Festival award winning film released by ImaginAsian called 'Journey From The Fall'. It brought back colorful and bittersweet memories for my family and me. After the showing of this Viet Nam war era film, we had a chance to meet the writer/producer and some of the leading actors.

Cheers to ImaginAsian for planning to open a theater in Los Angeles, I'll be first in line. At last someone out there has noticed the changing demographics of the downtown dwellers.

Nic Cha Kim on July 30, 2007, at 01:33AM – #29

I'd like to invite Militant to see a play I'm currently producing... it's called The Trojan Women by Euripides for Lodestone Theatre Ensemble. It opens this coming Saturday, Aug 4th, 8pm at the GTC Burbank. www.lodestonetheatre.org.

Lodestone is an Asian American theatre company and we chose to produce The Trojan Women, which is considered the greatest anti-war story, as a response to our involvement in Iraq.

We open this coming Saturday and it plays for a month so why don't you come over and LAUGH at us to our face, Militant. You have 4 weeks to check out some Asian-American talent on a real stage so you have that long to laugh at us in an arena where we can actually hear you and confront you afterwards, which is something the internet lacks. If Militant has any stones, I expect to meet him at my play within a month, especially after a comment like that.

Nic

Militant Angeleno on August 04, 2007, at 11:27PM – #30

Ummmmm, if you actually read The Militant's blog, not to mention his manifesto, the original reply was meant to be extremely sarcastic.

The fact that most Los Angeles blogs reflect a disproportionately white, transplanted, gentro-hipster point of view is the reason why The Militant Angeleno's blog exists.

If you wanna be knee-jerk and make assumptions about the Militant, then that's your prerogative.

The Militant apologizes...that you have absolutely no idea what the Militant is about!

jk2001 on August 05, 2007, at 11:28AM – #31

Just to raise the police station thing again. In the most generalized terms, middle class white people feel differently about police stations. When they wanted to site a station/jail next to the temple in Little Tokyo, people protested, and it was moved. When they sited one in Boyle Heights, there was opposition, but it eventually got pushed in there (probably due to politics). The gentrification crowd, in contrast, likes stations. This is related to the relatively mixed relations that people of color have with the police -- let's just say that the relationship hasn't been historically positive. People defined as "white" feel like they have a kind of power over the police, and the laws they enforce, that minorities don't have. So, "white" people tend to really like the stations, while others are "whatever" or skeptical about being located right next to them. If they really want a station, they might prefer to have them a block away.

These are generalizations, but it's what I've noticed.

Police stations are like forts in the old west - the military forces that allowed the European invaders/pioneers to live in indigenous territory.

Whitman Lam on August 05, 2007, at 12:46PM – #32

Not always true, some of us just wanted the land to be better put to use as a public park that the whole community can enjoy, play, picnic, walk around in, etc. What's bothered me the most is that the Little Tokyo area has almost ZERO green space. Even in Tokyo Japan, they have more parkland per block.

Tym43 on August 05, 2007, at 03:16PM – #33

This is related to the relatively mixed relations that people of color have with the police -- let's just say that the relationship hasn't been historically positive.

Some of the highest crime rates in the city involve areas where "people of color" are predominant, and where most of the perpertrators, and their victims, are people of color too.

Cops hold back, crime flourishes, and then there are complaints. Cops respond and try to restore some order, and a whole set of other complaints crop up.

No wonder so many people, regardless of race or ethnicity, when confronting such communities and their no-win bullshit, often say "to hell with them", and seek their happiness and fortunes elsewhere.