Hotel memories

L.A. blogger Tim McGarry grew up with the Ambassador Hotel in his life. He accepts that the new schools will be a good thing and he likes where Koreatown is headed, but as the familiar presence vanishes he's surprised at the sense of loss he feels:

Watching the building’s slow demolition has proven more painful than I expected. It occurs to me that the world of my parents is rapidly disappearing.

As I watch the Ambassador come down, I’m reminded of a scene in an old Astaire-Rogers movie -- Top Hat, I think, from 1935. Astaire is in white tie and tails, Rogers in a feathered dress. They are in a night club, sleek and brilliantly lit, with white walls and a polished black floor.

They dance. In the beginning, they are suspicious and reluctant. The next phase is a suave seduction, followed by rapid, joyful movements and brilliant leaps. In the last phase, the mood is downbeat again – the lady separates from her partner and vanishes off-stage. The lights dim, leaving the partner disconsolate in the shadows.

My response has been similar. I didn't have a strong position on saving the relic or replacing it with much-needed schools, but I'm sure not enjoying watching it come down. Meanwhile, the L.A. Conservancy is now trying to get a hotel of much later vintage, the 1951 Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City, designated a city historic-cultural monument. It opened in 1938 as the Trout Lakes and Lodge when Ventura Boulevard was part of Highway 101 between Los Angeles and San Francisco.