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CentralDowntownTour

PershingSquare

This is LosAngeles’ oldest park, dedicated in 1866.At that time itwas on theedgeoftown,butasL.A.expandeditwasswallowedupandisnowconsideredthe center of downtown. It went though various names before settling onPershingSquarein1918(inhonorofGeneralJohnPershing,commanderofU.S.ForcesinEuropeinWorldWarOne).Theparkhasgonethroughseveraldesignstoo.Ithadbeautifulformalgardensuptothe1950’s,whenitwasdugupanda5-story car park was built under it. This was very unfortunate as the parkingrampscutthesquareoffanditwasimpossibletogrowshadetrees,duetoalackofsoil.Moreorlesseversincethecityhasbeentryingtofindabetterdesign,butthe last one, by Ricardo Legorreta, is almost universally hated. Now there’s aplantoremovetheconcreteandrampsandtakethesquarebacktogroundlevel.Oh yeah, and havemore grass and trees! Fun fact: that purple tower loomingoverthesquareissupposedtorepresentamissionbelltower.

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LastBookstore/AlexandriaHotel

TheLastBookstoremaynotliterallybethelastbookstoreindowntown–butitcouldwellbe. It’ssituatedinahistoricbuildingthatusedtohousetheCrockerBank.Nowtheykeepbooks intheoldvaults. It’sagreatplace just tohangoutand if you’re looking foramementoofL.A.whynotbuyabookabout the cityhere? Opposite the Last Bookstore, on 5th St, is the Alexandria Hotel (you canspot it by the sign that says “Alexandria Hotel”). Once the finest hotel in LosAngeles, fromwhenitopenedin1906until1923,whentheBiltmoreHotel(onPershingSquare)opened,it’snowlookingalittlerun-downunfortunately.Backinthedaythiswastheplacetobeandtobeseen.CharlieChaplinandRudolphValentino(ifyoudon’tknowwhoheisyoushouldlookhimup)usedtolivehereandintheeveningstheywouldtaketothedancefloorofthefamedPalmCourt,thebeautifulballroomintheheartof thehotel.Funfact:ThiswasthehomeoftheserialkillerJohnDoeinSe7enandBradPittchasedhimthroughthehotel.

LosAngelesTheater

Widely considered the most beautiful theater in downtown’s Theater District(which actually contains the most historic theatres of any city in the U.S.).ThoughtthatwouldbeNewYork,right?Unfortunatelynoneofthetheatresareinregularuseastheatersnow.TheLosAngelesTheateropenedin1931withtheCharlieChaplinclassic,CityLights.TheopeningofaChaplinmoviebackthenwasa seriously big deal then and all the stars came out for the premiere – evenEinsteincameasaguestofCharlie(hewasteachingatCaltechatthetime).TheLATremainedamovietheateruntilthe1990’s,whenitclosed,andnowit’sused

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forspecialeventsandfilming.Funfact:underneaththeauditorium(whichheldnearly2,500patrons)therewasaballroom,arestaurantandacrèche.

Clifton’sCafeteria

CliffordClintonwasfromafamilyofrestaurateurswhenhefoundedClifton’sin1931(hecombinedhis firstand lastnamesto form“Clifton’s”). Therearetwothings that are really cool about old Clifford. Firstly he instituted a policy atClifton’s that if you couldn’t afford to pay for yourmeal it was on the house.During theGreatDepression they fed tensof thousandsofhungrypeople.ThesecondthingisthathewasputonacommitteethatwaslookingintocorruptioninLosAngeles.HeuncoveredsomuchthatcorruptofficersontheL.A.P.D.triedtokillhim!Hesurvived,butbroughtthemayorandpolicechiefdownandifnotendingcorruptioninL.A.atleastreducingit.FunFact:RayBradbury,thefamousauthor,usedtoeathereregularly.Nowgoinsideandbeamazed!

StVincent’sCourt

ThisalleyintheheartofdowntownisthesiteoftheveryfirstposthighschooleducationalinstitutioninLosAngeles,StVincent’sCollege.Afterseveralmergersit’snowknownasLoyolaMarymountUniversity.AftertheCollegeleftBullock’sbuilt their flagship luxury department store here and over the years theyexpanded all the way down to S Hill St (building the bridges between thebuildings you’ll see above you). In the1950’s, as part of an effort to create anattraction in this part of downtownBullock’s oversaw the creation of the fakefrontages and trompe l’oeil on the alley, designed to create something of theflavorofaEuropeancityintheheartofdowntown.Originallymostofthecafes

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wereItalianowned(itwasoneoftheonlyplacestogetgoodcoffee),butnow,asyou can see,most of the cafesnowofferMiddleEastern food. Fun fact:You’renowintheheartoftheJewelryDistrict,thebiggestoneinthewholeU.S.

JamesOviattBuilding(Cicada)

JamesOviattmovedtoL.A.fromUtahin1906andgotworkinaclothesshoponBroadway.Hesavedsomemoneyand in1911openedhisownstore.Businesswasgoodandin1925heboughttheblockinfrontofyou.Theplanswereforaneo-classicalbuilding,butthatyearhewenttotheExpositionofArtsDecoratifsin Paris. ThiswaswhereArtDeco first appeared as an architectural style andsinceoldOviattwasinthefashionbusiness,hisstorehadtobedesignedinthelatestarchitecturalstyle.InfactitisconsideredthefirstArtDecobuildinginL.A.Oviatthadhispenthouseonthetop floorandontheroofhehadagardenandswimmingpool–heevenimportedsandfromtheSouthofFranceforthepool!Iguess the sandatSantaMonicabeachwasn’t classyenough forhim!Thestoreactuallyclosedin1969,draggeddownbythegeneraldeclineofdowntown.Funfact:PrettyWomanwasfilmedhere(specificallytherestaurantscenewhereJuliaRobertsflicksthesnail,whichiscaughtbythewaiter).

CentralLibrary

Whatabeautifulspottoendyourtour!SurprisinglyuntiltheLosAngelesPublicLibrarywasbuiltin1926,thelibrarydidn’thaveit’sownbuilding.LookingatityoucanseesomeArtDecoelements–thepyramidandsunburstatthetopareprimeexamples–aswellas themoreclassicalBeauxArtsstyle(thestatuesofJustinian, Da Vinci, Socrates etc on the south side). The architect, BertramGoodhue,diedin1924(beforetheExpoinParis),but,nodoubtinspiredbythe

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discoveryofTutankhamun’s tomb,he incorporated theEgyptian flourishes.Bythe1980’sthelibrarywasprettyrundown,nothelpedbytwofiresin1986,sothecitysoldtheairrightsinordertofundanewwing(completedin1993).ThesaleoftheairrightsallowedfortheconstructionoftheU.S.BankTowerthatsitsnexttothelibrary(andwhichuntilrecentlywasthetallestbuildingwestoftheMississippi).Funfact:theornamentalartworkonthelibrary’sexteriorisbyLeeLawrie,whocreatedthestatueofAtlasholdinguptheworldattheRockefellerCenterinNewYork.Nowyouhavetoexplorethelibraryifit’sopen☺.

Food

Therearemanyplacestoeatinthearea,hereareafewsuggestions:

UliGelateria,541SSpringSt,#104(intheSpring/BroadwayArcadeBuilding)

SpringtimeinNewYork,557SSpringSt

LittleSister,523W7thSt

MasMalo,515W7thSt

AlsocheckoutourwebsiteformoresuggestionsonplacestoeatinLosAngeles.