Originally Posted by 3940dxer (Post 5549615)

Success!!

I had business downtown today, and planned a side trip to the Rosslyn. I printed a big batch of old Rosslyn photos and L.A. Times articles as a gift, tried to dress well, and crossed my fingers -- having no idea what might happen.

I had read something about a multi-million dollar renovation, but that hasn't happened yet. The north building appears to be closed and unoccupied, the south wing is open but dark and dusty. In the old lobby, thick bulletproof glass wraps around the front desk, like in a bank. I waited until the gentleman behind the desk was free, made my pitch, and passed all the prints through a slot in the glass. The man was quite interested, appreciated the prints, and after listening to my story told me that indeed there was a tunnel beneath 5th Street connecting the two wings, and agreed to take me down there.

We walked over to a pitch black stairway on the left, descended to the bowels of the building, and had a look around. The first thing I noticed was "The Monterey Room", a long-closed bar with a Mexican theme. I immediately wondered whether this was the spot where the Rosslyn bar room murder took place in 1951. (I think this has been discussed on the thread before, but not sure.) The wall looks the same, but it seems the "Monterey" decor was part of a later remodel. Here's the USC photo, followed by the first of my (very poor :yuck:) shots.

The USC description is "Rosslyn Hotel bar death, 27 October 1951. Allen Burnell (Patron); Mary McCall (Patron); Joe Moore (Patron); George D. Miller -- 34 years (victim killed in bar room fight over juke box tune...The tune playing was "The Song Is Ended").

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...373-003~1?v=hr
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...373-003~1?v=hr

http://dkse.net/david/Rosslyn/Monterey_bar.JPG

http://dkse.net/david/Rosslyn/100_5786.JPG

I think this is where the murder took place, but it's hard to be sure. Here's the inside of the bar. I think it's more or less beneath the sidewalk beneath the south side of 5th Street. Sorry about the poor focus...it was very dark down there, and I didn't have much time...oh well.

http://dkse.net/david/Rosslyn/Inside_bar.JPG

OK, now here's the tunnel. This shot was taken from beneath 5th Street. I had to duck as I passed under that giant pipe. Hard to imagine well heeled guests actually using this to go back and forth but maybe the big pipe was added by the city in later years, and maybe the passageway was much more elegant when first built.

As we walked around the tunnel my guide confided to me that the hotel is haunted and that down in the tunnel one day he saw a female ghost. The form passed by him, then turned and ran down another hallway He seemed quite shaken, remembering this. I told him that looking through the L.A. Times articles that morning, I learned that there has been several murders and suicides in the hotel over the years. (More on this later.)

http://dkse.net/david/Rosslyn/Tunnel.JPG

Finally, here is the door on the other end, now sealed tight, that used to lead to the north wing.

http://dkse.net/david/Rosslyn/north_door.JPG

Very interesting visit; it was a great Friday the 13th for me. I celebrated by having lunch at the Colima Cafe, which I'd always been curious about. While preparing for today's adventure I found some other interesting Rosslyn photos and articles, will probably post some of those later.

http://dkse.net/david/Rosslyn/100_5790.JPG

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson (Post 5158607)

I favor greenspace, landscaping and scale as organic considerations over building to the absolute limits of property. Further, I think the elected officials were (philosophically) onto something when they instituted the 150' height limit in the early twentieth century.

Originally Posted by FredH (Post 5550673)

The Morrison Hotel is on the corner of Hope Street and Pico. In as much as the photo advertised rooms
for $2.50 a night back then, it had seemingly regressed into "fleabag" status forty years ago.
How has the Morrison fared since?

Originally Posted by Steve Hoffman (Post 5536528)

Heh, my pleasure. Hard to forget. I remember telling that story to a guy on my own website and he did some digging and told me that the theater next to the Sports Arena was the Fox. It was nice to put a name to that anonymous exposed structure after all this time. Then I saw the pics here and felt I had to comment.

I'm totally dreaming about LA Film Noir after reading this thread constantly every day for hours at a time. Can't believe I got through all 289 pages here. My head is still spinning.

My grandfather worked in the Arcade building on Spring Street (he was a barber) and I loved seeing the few shots of the building. I have memories of the one and only time my parents took me downtown to see him (must have been in the very early 1960s). I remember that it was very crowded on the streets around there, people crossing the streets in like a triangle, not just across one street but sort of at an angle. All the men were in suits and wore hats which I thought was really odd since I knew no one who wore one. It looked old and dingy to me even then but I never forgot it. Seeing some of these pics here makes LA of the past just seem like a bewildering place, with ruined buildings torn down due to neglect and classic mint beautiful buildings torn down just because they were 20 years or so old.

Tragic but I also remember at the time (as a kid) not caring too much about it, thinking (like all good LA people) that new was better. Silly, but true.

At any rate this thread is probably the best I've ever read on the Internet and I've learned more about my home town than I ever thought possible.

So, thank you all!