A little more Union Oil
 

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics46/00057641.jpgLAPL

Olympic at Wilton Place, 1958. There is still a 76 station on that corner:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-F...2520PM.bmp.jpgGoogle


Is the apartment building appearing in the vintage shot but not in the current view still there?
I'm happy to say that it is, at 974 S. Gramercy:


https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-T...2520PM.bmp.jpgGoogle

Wow..this building is so impressive to me. I've looked at it five or six times since you posted it GaylordWilshire.
Instead of simply placing the enormous 76 sign on top of the building, the designer incorporated it into the building design.
Also the font used for the word RESEARCH is beautiful.

This is top-notch any way you look at it! I lament its demise. :(

____


Welcome to the thread Mayor Shaw! Your many views (several times a day) have helped keep noirish Los Angeles alive.
I appreciate the link to the L.A. Free Press. I look forward to going through their archives.

Also, if you have any difficulties posting we'll be happy to help.

_____

That Union76 Research Center was impressive! I made a presentation there when I worked for Unocal in 1991. Got to tour the facility. First class all the way. I believe the center was later named after Fred Hartley, former CEO of Unocal.

Indeed, although Kubrick's camera shows more of the surrounding neighborhood than it does the depot. (Not that I'm complaining!)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w...75/Kill-01.jpg
[source: The Criterion Collection]

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-r...75/kill-03.jpg
[source: The Criterion Collection]

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Z...75/kill-05.jpg
[source: The Criterion Collection]

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Q...75/kill-06.jpg
[source: The Criterion Collection]

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1...75/kill-07.jpg
[source: The Criterion Collection]

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D...75/kill-08.jpg
[source: The Criterion Collection]

:previous:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-p...2520AM.bmp.jpg1956
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-U...dixonredux.jpg1958
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-J...dixonfedex.jpg2011


Great to see Clarence Dixon Cadillac in your screenshots, HS. Above, a little consolidation of images from your post and a previous one of mine, q.v.




Noirish Los Angeles/Noirish Los Angeles/Google

:previous:
Wow, is that FedEx Office really what was once a Cadillac dealership? That is awesome.

My sentiments exactly. And I totally agree with your critique of the building design.

I liked this picture so much that I shared it on my facebook, hehe.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-X...2520PM.bmp.jpgAlden Jewell

A 1939 DeSoto

Gaylord!
 

You make life worth living......:)

OK......maybe I am overdoing it a bit........lol.....

but your last two posts were upper-deck homers in my book.

First Unocal. My uncle (my Dad's younger brother) was a Research Chemist and later a manager there for 20 or 30 years. I never visited the place, but I knew he worked there. That's a stunning piece of Mid-Century architecture.

And then you follow with The Killing......what a great and overlooked movie. Ted Turner may indeed be a top-notch d-bag, but he singlehandedly created Turner Classic, without which I would have never seen The Killing or a host of other noirs.

As we mourn the loss of the Union 76 Research facility (below)

http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/8...earchsspgw.jpg





...we should praise hallelujah that the Union 76 structure (below) at 'little' Santa Monica Blvd. and Crescent Drive
still stands and is open for business.



http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/8...verlyhills.jpg
http://you-are-here.com/modern/76.html





below: The sight-lines are extremely graceful and beautiful (this view reminds me of a scene from Jean Luc Goddard's ALPHAVILLE).

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/9ysecL.png
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lawren...ream/lightbox/

____




below: The Union 76 service station in bright daylight.

The space-age canopy was designed in 1965 by Gin Wong of Pereira & Luckman Architectural Firm
for the 1965 redesign of LAX (Los Angeles International Airport).

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/3...hugeflickr.jpg
unknown



LAX declined to incorporate the canopy into it's new design...so Union 76 went ahead and built it
at Jack Colker's service station at 427 N. Crescent Drive in Beverly Hills.

_____

Ho hum.......yet another "mixed use" project.

Translated: homes, apartments, senior living, retail, perhaps a school. Every former industrial, manufacturing, or commercial site is "redeveloped" with a similar mix....

Does anyone wonder why you rarely hear about projects where people will actually DO something? (e.g., a research facility)

For a while we thought we could create an economy where we just sell mortgages back and forth to one another.

Now it seems our economy is based on walking each other's dogs and do each other's nails.

.....climbs down off soapbox.

A couple more photos of Jack Colker's Union 76 Station.

http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/4...dotfilesdo.jpg
http://www.i2iart.com/




These photos come closest to how I remember it.
It actually felt 'other-worldly' under that glowing canopy.....it was almost like an.....ethereal.......reality. ;)




http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/4...dotfilesdo.jpg
i2iart


I wouldn't want to be under this thing during an earthquake.
___

Mid-20th Century architecture--I've really come to appreciate it. I actually didn't like it 25-30 years ago, but I do now; well, a lot of it I like. There are still some examples that I don't like.

Anyway, going on that theme, and on the eve of this year's Oscars, here's the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, built in 1958 and designed by Welton Becket. I recently learned that a whole African-American neighborhood, called Belmar Triangle, was destroyed to build the Auditorium and its adjacent parking lot. The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium was the venue for the Academy Awards from 1961 to 1968.

I think I posted a few of these pictures before in this thread:

1958, shortly after its completion.
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/6...n123610095.jpg
USC Archive

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/1...n123610093.jpg
USC Archive

The Academy Awards held in 1968.
http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/5743/picture4isq.png
oscars.org

Sonny and Cher on the red carpet, 1968.
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/9955/picture3yr.png
corbisimages.com

Angela Lansbury performing Best Original Song nominee "Thoroughly Modern Millie" at the Academy Awards, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 1968. She really hoofs it up!
• Video Link

:previous:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-J...2520AM.bmp.jpgAlden Jewell
Once at 1225 S. Brand, Glendale.

sopas... seeing the grillwork of the SM Civic Auditorium reminded me of this Cadillac dealership--at least, there appears to be some sort of screen on the second floor.

A boring Lexus dealer now occupies the site. I wonder if its architecture will ever inspire good feelings the way midcentury design does now? If the design of cars themselves these days--pretty much the same "jellybean" styling for nearly two decades--is any indication... I doubt it.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-u...2520PM.bmp.jpgGoogle

KMPC studios
 

I've been reading this thread, literally, for years trying to catch up, so I haven't posted anything. That said, I'm a former radio guy (not in L.A.) so I was browsing a KMPC history website and ran across a few pictures that I wanted to share.
http://www.710kmpc.com/Large%20Photo...erly_Hills.jpg
KMPC Studios & Transmitter 1930's
9631 Wilshire Boulevard
Beverly Hills, CA
(Front View)
From www.710kmpc.com

http://www.710kmpc.com/Large%20Photo...C-BH-Tower.jpg
KMPC Studios & Transmitter 1930's
9631 Wilshire Boulevard
Beverly Hills, CA
(View from Corner)
From www.710kmpc.com

Not really noirish, but pretty cool anyway. There are many others, into the 70s and 80s, but I figured these were closer to the thread than the others.

David

:previous: Welcome to the thread Notinkeys!

Those two photos are great. You should go ahead and post the other ones well. :)
The thread started out as 'noirish'...but as you've probably noticed the thread now pretty much encompasses 'anything' L.A.

Since you were in radio you would also like this site: http://www.radiocityhollywood.com/

___

http://www.oldradio.com/archives/sta...la-ElMonte.jpg
The original site of KRLA/1110 at Lexington and Gallatin Roads, in El Monte, CA. This is unrelated to the modern KRLA/870, which is the former KIEV.

This photo is from the days 1110 was known as KPAS/Pasadena, and predates 1940.

Photo from www.oldradio.com

Thanks, Ethereal. You and many regulars here are old friends, even though you don't know me. I'm still WAY back in the page 115 range. Although I have only had a short time living in L.A., I love the historical aspects of the city, and have spent many hours looking into it.

I do have more broadcast related pictures I'll share, including a few more KMPC ones, along with KFI, KHJ, KRLA and others.

KEJK Remote truck, 1920s
 

http://www.710kmpc.com/Large%20Photo...te%20Truck.jpg

from www.oldradio.com

Before becoming KMPC, the station was KEJK. This is their remote broadcast truck, from the 1920s. No exact date is given. but since it became KMPC in March of 1930, this was clearly from the 20s!

Baseball!!!
 

http://www.710kmpc.com/Large%20Photo...BaseballBW.bmp

from www.710kmpc.com

Baseball at the old L.A. Coliseum! Sorry for the small size...

Station of the Stars
 

http://www.710kmpc.com/KMPC%20Board.jpg
From www.710kmpc.com

(L to R) Bing Crosby, Freeman Gosden, Harold Lloyd, and Charles Correll
Photo Courtesy Annette Lloyd
Richards brought into his corporation, as stockholders, Bing Crosby, Paul Whiteman, “Amos & Andy” (Freeman Gosden & Charles Corell) and producer and silent film comedian Harold Lloyd, who had not only a strong interest in radio, but his own radio show, "The Old Gold Comedy Theater" on rival station KFI (640 AM). They renamed the station “KMPC the Station of the Stars.”