Rowan Gets a Fall Cleaning

By Eric Richardson
Published: Tuesday, September 18, 2007, at 08:35AM

Eric Richardson

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Coming back from a bike ride just now I was shocked to see bright red brick on the north side of the Rowan Building. The lower part of the building was formerly a dingy tan (as pictured below the cleaning platform), but suddenly it's quite vibrant. Above the photo the old Rowan Building lettering has been repainted and looks great.

This is the same transformation we saw back in June as 810 S. Spring got a wash and went from a dark brown to a young looking tan. Similarly, the Palace, Los Angeles and Tower theaters recently got a cleaning and came out looking amazing. It really is remarkable how impressive of a difference a cleaning like this can make.

Now if we could only get the same treatment for some of the more gross sidewalks of Downtown. Let's get a little sheen back into some of Downtown's old treasures.

Comments

Rico A writes:

It's really amazing when some of those older buildings get cleaned up. The Chapman, Palace Theater, Tower Theater, the Rowan... All of them look great, even though it's a bit depressing to think that they were allowed to deteriorate so much in the first place.

I'd like to see the Hall of Justice cleaned. In most old photos, it looks shiny and white, while now it looks dull gray.

# on Sep.18.2007 AT 01:25 PM

fridayinla writes:

I love news like this! Seeing these transformations happening more and more keeps me in love with downtown. The Rowan is going to be incredible when open.

# on Sep.18.2007 AT 01:25 PM

Terry writes:

Two of the most famous landmarks in London, the Parliament and Big Ben, both situated next to the Thames River, after having been allowed to grow dark from grime built up for decades, were finally steam cleaned (or pressure washed) just within the past few years. Although, admittedly, the sooty exterior of many signficant old buildings in downtown Los Angeles is a more major example of neglect since in many cases the properties they're a part of also have been allowed to become outright dilapidated, if not abandoned or semi-abandoned.

# on Sep.19.2007 AT 12:24 AM

RobertA writes:

Last night I walked by the Union Lofts at 8th and Hill and they were cleaning the exterior as well as working on the interior at 8:30 PM. The place has some amazing colums inside. I wonder if that is going to be the restaurant. Sure wish someone would clean up the Garfield Building across the street.

# on Sep.21.2007 AT 11:31 AM

Mango writes:

The Rowan looks great! I'm really interested in getting a space there but am curious to know if anyone has any negative news about The Rowan or Tom Gilmore, especially after reading of the recent LA union lawsuit against Gilmore & Associates.

# on Sep.28.2007 AT 12:09 AM

elletect writes:

I'm actually buying in the Rowan. I have full faith that it will be a great building considering that it would be the product of two visionary developers, Tom Gilmore (Old Bank District) and Goodwin Gaw (Douglas building and Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel). Also, I've heard Dodd Mitchell is designing some of the common spaces. In short, if you're considering buying in downtown you should look into the Rowan.

# on Oct.18.2007 AT 02:35 PM

Ed Fuentes writes:

I sniff "suspicious package" on that last comment, in short, a pr plant.

# on Oct.18.2007 AT 03:12 PM

jim writes:

yeah, they should at least have the decency to give you a couple of tickets or something to give away. they could even get front-page placement that way.

# on Oct.18.2007 AT 04:33 PM

Eric Richardson writes:

If they gave us a condo to give away they could be on the front page for a long time.

# on Oct.18.2007 AT 04:41 PM

elletect writes:

Sorry to be an optimist. Not a plant. Get over yourselves.

# on Oct.18.2007 AT 04:45 PM

MetroRapid writes:

Twenty days after the last comment was posted!?

Sounds like someone is Google-ing "Rowan" to me.

For what reason? Hmm. Counter-spin perhaps?

BTW, has the Rowan project overcome its labor issues? I know potential buyers must LOVE the idea of owning a piece of a building that had unhappy organized labor involved.

Talk about potential HOA nightmares! That is, assuming it ever gets finished. What's the projected opening date now, 2010?

How about doing something real for that corner like getting the scaffolding gone. It's been up for over a year now.

Don't even get me started about the appropriately named El Dorado project...

# on Oct.19.2007 AT 08:48 AM