History

24 Years Ago: Church of the Open Door Held Its Last Service

By Eric Richardson — June 23, 2009 — 8 Comments

BIOLA, 1926 California Historical Society / USC Digital Archive

On June 23, 1985, the Church of the Open Door held its last service inside the 4,000 seat auditorium of its 1915 facility on Hope street.

While the date signaled the end of one era for building, it also kicked off a lengthy fight over the fate of a classic Downtown structure. — Continued Inside...


Saturday: Special Members-Only Tour for Cameo and Arcade Theatres

By Eric Richardson — June 19, 2009
1 Comment

Ashes and Snow

UPDATE (Friday, 6pm): Saturday's tour has been cancelled due to logistics issues. "All About" will return July 25. The Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation's "All About" series continues tomorrow with tours of Broadway's Cameo and Arcade theatres. Because both venues are currently functioning as electronic shops' warehouses, this tour is limited to those...


Big Time Wrestling is a Downtown Tradition

By Ed Fuentes — May 24, 2009 — 9 Comments

Dick Lane of KTLA

On a day when blogdowntown is giving away tickets to see WWE action at Staples Center, it's fitting to note that the showmanship of televised wrestling has a long history in Downtown Los Angeles.

In the early days of television, it was wrestling that was tops in the sports ratings, and much of what was broadcast originated from the Grand Olympic Auditorium and carried the voice of KTLA commentator Richard "Dick" Lane. — Continued Inside...


Fifty Years Ago Today: Arcade Building Jumper Disappoints Downtowners by Turning Back

By Eric Richardson — May 12, 2009
2 Comments

LA Times Photos from 5/13/1959

Was society really more civilized fifty years ago? On May 12, 1959, 22-year-old Robert David Thomas took a "precarious perch" on the parapet of the Broadway Arcade building, intending to jump. A crowd gathered below. What did the Times report as their cry? "Jump, jump, jump!"


Downtown's Thinnest Building? Today, 125 W. 7th is Just an Annex

By Eric Richardson — May 08, 2009
4 Comments

Metcalf Building, 115 W. 7th

|Photo Gallery| Passersby on 7th street likely don't give a second look to this funny-looking little annex on 7th street, a small piece of the Board of Trades building, now SB Main. Just twenty-five feet wide, the little structure was originally a building all its own.


Opening of Union Station Almost Delayed By Kittens

By Eric Richardson — May 05, 2009

Union Station Grand Opening Parade

The grand opening of Union Station, which turned 70 this week, was almost delayed by the furriest of foes: a gray alley cat named Boots and her three newborn kittens.


Union Station Celebrates 70 Years

By Eric Richardson — May 04, 2009 — 12 Comments

Union Station 70th Press Conference Eric Richardson

Los Angeles' Union Station opened seventy years ago, but speakers at a morning press conference honoring the occasion said that the station is today more vibrant than ever.

"What a fantastic job everyone has done to get Union Station to where it is today," said Councilman Jose Huizar. "We are not only walking down history when we walk in there, but we are planning for the future." — Continued Inside...


Pig'n Whistle Still Eyeing Downtown Return

By Eric Richardson — April 27, 2009 — 11 Comments

Pig'n Whistle in the Fine Arts Building Keystone Photo Service / USC Digital Archives

At last week's DLANC Planning committee meeting, a familiar name again came up in discussion of a restaurant space in the Fine Arts Building on 7th street. Among those looking at the space is Hollywood eatery Pig'n Whistle, who was previously linked to the same space in 2007.

At the time, neither the Pig'n Whistle nor the Fine Arts Building had any idea that the once-chain had occupied the space decades before. In fact, Pig'n Whistle was quite the prolific Downtown brand, making its debut on Broadway in 1908. — Continued Inside...


Sunday: An Afternoon with Frances Dinkelspiel in the Bank Her Great-Great-Grandfather Built

By Eric Richardson — April 22, 2009
1 Comment

Farmers and Merchants Bank

On Sunday afternoon, the Jewish Historical Society of Southern California will host Frances Dinkelspiel for a presentation from her book, "Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California." Dinkelspiel is Hellman's great-great-granddaughter, and her 2008 release chronicles the vast influence Hellman had on the development of...


Flying Buses Would Have Linked Downtown to LAX

By Eric Richardson — April 21, 2009 — 10 Comments

FLYING BUS-Model of helicopter with passenger carrying pod is inspected by Ann Orbeck. Los Angeles Times photographic archive, UCLA Library

This evening, Metro will hold the first of five meetings updating community members on the "Harbor Subdivision," a rail corridor linking Downtown and LAX. It's a link that has been missing ever since Los Angeles constructed its International Airport, and over the decades the question of how to connect the two has been the spark for numerous proposals.

While rails (and monorails) have been the most popular proposal, the most creative may just be the city's 1960's idea to use helicopter-carried "sky lounges" to ferry flyers from Union Station. — Continued Inside...