From the Los Angeles Herald, July 10, 1910 [A product of Optical Character Recognition] http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cdnc/cgi-bin/cdn...--1-----all---:

This question may have been asked and answered before (possibly 22 times), but I'm curious:

Was Clifton's Brookdale originally a three-story building, with two floors added later? It looks like it from the picture:

http://laist.com/attachments/lindsay...od-twitpic.jpg

Photo by @KCETFood via Twitter

Clifton's Cafeteria
 

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../AAA-NG-1203-I


Just found out: The building was constructed in 1904 as a furniture store.


http://i707.photobucket.com/albums/w...-NG-1203-I.jpg

Pictured here in 1927.

There was discussion last year about how W.I.Simonson Mercedes-Benz in Santa Monica preserved the building, as shown below:

http://pictures.dealer.com//s/sonicw...d0d052e762.jpg
(photo from wisimonson.net)

That is only part of the story:

Simonson not only maintained the building for decades, but rebuilt and restored the building to its former glory after the 1986 fire.

A glimpse inside a meat market in Monterey Park. 10 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

Note the very impressive marble counter.

http://imageshack.us/a/img705/5246/s...ntereypark.jpg
ebay





below: The name and location of the butcher's shop is at lower right.

http://imageshack.us/a/img837/290/ss...tereypark1.jpg
ebay





below: Detail of the meat counter. Makes me hungry for BBQ ribs or a ham steak.

http://imageshack.us/a/img62/8743/ss...parkmarble.jpg
ebay






below: What is this on the counter top? It appears to be a huge smiling pig's head!

http://imageshack.us/a/img15/4982/ss...parkdetail.jpg






http://imageshack.us/a/img254/8360/s...ereypark1a.jpg

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Its such a shame what happened to that building...

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...lio-/dirty.jpg

Image courtesy of google earth.

Speaking of shameful stuff, have any of you wandered down Olvera Street lately? I was walking down there about a month ago coming back from Hop Louie in Chinatown after an incredible amount of unhealthy delicious food, when I suddenly stopped, not really knowing why, and then looked up, and became violently ill when I saw that some complete and total idiot had stuck this monstrosity on top of one of the buildings. I mean, I know that LA likes to mess with its architecture and all (reading this forum is proof enough), but somehow I would have though that Olvera Street would be at least SOMEWHAT holy, and would be left alone.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1..._0870-Copy.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1..._0871-Copy.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1..._0872-Copy.jpg

Apparently not... These pictures were taken this morning.

Photos courtesy of Horthos, yours truly.

http://imageshack.us/a/img337/4215/a...cohen1949r.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img17/2600/aa...fcohen1949.jpg
press photo

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I saw that during my visit to Los Angeles last month. I believe that may be a temporary structure set up to protect restoration work on an old mural that was painted on the side of that taller building there. The mural was talked about here briefly a while back, but I don't recall exactly when or any of the details. Anyway, hopefully, when the restoration is completed, that horribly out-of-context structure will be removed.

-Scott

This is the mural on the rooftop at Olvera Street.

http://imageshack.us/a/img26/7961/aamuralsiqueiros.jpg
http://blog.theautry.org/2010/06/29/...le-connection/

A 80 foot long mural by David Alfara Siqueiros, covered up since the 1930s.

Anglo promoters expected a work called 'America Tropical' to show a romantic Mexican village. What they got was a crucified peasant
in a protest against American imperialism.

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.

Interesting. Seems kind of self-defeating, though, to erect a structure to ostensibly protect the mural that also has the effect of obscuring it from view. And the modernist design looks horribly out-of-place (and time). Gahhh. :yuck: Wouldn't a simple awning have sufficed?

Well it was never really viewable from the ground anyway. There will be a viewing platform from which to see the mural at eye level. To further protect it, the mural will also not be exposed all the time - it has a cover which contains a digitally-printed image of the mural. The mural itself is being left as a ghost image so the reproduction on the cover will actually be a truer representation of what it originally looked like. They've done what conservation/restoration they could, but the whitewash faded it badly.

http://www.getty.edu/conservation/ou...ros/index.html

I think it bears remembering that Olvera Street itself was a contrivance, an alley that got turned into a tourist trap. It has some wonderful old buildings but they have been repurposed and changed throughout their existence. They don't line up with each other because you're looking at their backsides, and they are largely obscured by 85 hojillion vendor stalls. The whole thing was out of place and time even when it was 'new' in the early 1930s. A big cover and some shades over what was once an industrial shop and storage space doesn't really seem like a violation to me.

Chili dogs and rapid transit
 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8299/7...0cbd91cf_b.jpg
Los Angeles Railway, 5 Line, Car 1423, northbound at Harbor Subdivision right-of-way & Crenshaw Bl, 1955/05/07

USCdigital archive

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8445/7...3951c6b7_b.jpg
Los Angeles Railway, 5 Line, Car 1265, southbound on Market St, 1955/05/07

USCdigital archive

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8430/7...61d73895_b.jpg
Los Angeles Railway, 5 Line, Car 1265, Hawthorne Terminal, 1955/05/07

USCdigital archive

Water, water everywhere
 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8430/7...65a9e732_b.jpg
the california at san pedro, ca. 1920

She's pretty much brand new in this shot.
LAPL

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8296/7...86ce20a5_b.jpg
single sculls, olympics, los angeles, 1932

LAPL

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8423/7...e1dbe769_b.jpg
wilshire boulevard causeway, 1934

Grand opening of the Wilshire Boulevard causeway through Westlake (now MacArthur) Park, 1934
USCdigital archive

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8294/7...b1d6f0b1_b.jpg
girl's dare club, venice beach, 1934

The Girls’ Dare Club at Venice Beach, on March 18, 1934. Girls who take dares? Seems like an important thing.
Los Angeles Times.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7133/7...17c91eab_o.jpg
wahine1938

Bathing beauty contestants, National Surfing and Paddleboard Championships, Long Beach (Calif), Nov-Dec, 1938. Los Angeles Times


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8426/7...6b60e13b_o.jpg
LATimes1938

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8432/7...d70721b8_o.jpg
joe kenley, 1930

Joseph A. Kenley, water salesman on January 7, 1930. The Arrowhead WaterCompany is a well established business in the Los Angeles community that began before the turn of the century.
LAPL

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7250/7...9426db3e_o.jpg
ivy station, los angeles, 1905

At the current location of the Culver City station of Los Angeles Metro's Exposition light rail line, this is a westbound view of "Ivy Station" in Culver City, California circa 1905. Located near the corner of Venice and Robertson Boulevards, the station was later renamed Culver Junction with the addition of a line down Venice Blvd in the late (19)00's and eventually closed in 1953.

image via Metro Transportation Library and Archive

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8290/7...9006ee9e_b.jpg
JuliusShulman, 1936

Looking over Griffith Observatory and Los Angeles from Mount Hollywood, 1936. Craig Krull Gallery/Getty Images.



http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7254/7...1561a55c_b.jpg
julius shulman, 1955

Mobil Gas Station by Smith and Williams, Anaheim, CA. Photograph by Julius Shulman, 1955. © J. Paul Getty Trust.


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8424/7...0d7a03b2_b.jpg
Anaheim-Mobil-1956-julius-shulman

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7134/7...572cd28b_b.jpg
julius shulman, 1952

Tiny Naylors drive-in restaurant by Douglas Honnold, Hollywood, CA. Photograph by Julius Shulman, 1952. J. Paul Getty Trust.



http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8429/7...eb190083_b.jpg
Julius-Shulman-and-Los-Angeles

Cover art for Julius Shulman, Los Angeles: The Birth of a Modern Metropolis by Sam Lubell and Douglas Woods (Rizzoli New York, 2011) from a print by Julius Shulman


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8308/7...a8427dd2_b.jpg
JuliusShulman, 1965

Interior view, Department of Water and Power headquarters, A.C. Martin & Associates, Los Angeles, 1965. J Paul Getty Trust.


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7280/7...5e1de351_b.jpg
starlite roof, julius shulman, los angeles times

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8427/7...12570d6a_b.jpg
Julius Shulman - Bradbury Building, Los Angeles, CA 1969. Architect: George H. Wyman.


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8294/7...1ca3320c_b.jpg
academy theater, inglewood, julius shulman
1939


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7117/7...c30f0bd5_b.jpg
Coffee Dan's, Wilshire Boulevard, Julius Shulman, 1948

PE would subsequently build a traction power substation on or near that spot, which still stands today

http://goo.gl/maps/hwNfr

I won't debate the merit of the mural. At this point it's now part of Pueblo History.
...but that structure is a travesty and an eyesore. Totally out of step and character for Olvera St.
What were they thinking? Doesn't this come under the purview of the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District? Aren't they the custodians?
There must have been a debate over this. A little Google research might yield some results.

ETA
http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/04/01/...queiros-mural/

Just Googling around everybody seems to think this a cool thing. It's all about the mural and it's preservation but nothing about preserving the character of the historic district.
I would imagine Christine Sterling is turning in her grave.

http://a.scpr.org/i/a850104f3fd990ad...f/5517-six.jpg
"Los Angeles civic leaders break ground on an interpretive center for a David Alfaro Siqueiros mural on Olvera Street in downtown L.A., Sep. 8, 2010."

http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/09/08/19068/mural-x-wrap/

I think this may be the 'now' view. (Note the paved-over path of the old tracks in foreground.)

http://goo.gl/maps/WK2JX

Turn around 180 degrees, and there's the Metro Exposition line viaduct.

-Scott

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_California_%28BB-44%29

Here she is rebuilt and sporting a razzle-dazzle camouflage paint job.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...rnia_BB-44.jpg