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THE DEMOLITION OF THE AMBASSADOR HOTEL

Opened in 1921 and designed by Myron Hunt, with later renovations by Paul Williams, the Ambassador Hotel was one of Los Angeles’ defining historic sites. It was the catalyst for development of the entire Wilshire Boulevard corridor, which had been a dirt road before the Ambassador opened. It was also home to the Cocoanut Grove nightclub, Los Angeles’ premier night spot for decades; host to six Oscar ceremonies and to every U.S. President from Herbert Hoover to Richard Nixon; and the site of the tragic assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.

The hotel closed in 1989 and went through a succession of owners and potential owners. In 2001, LAUSD purchased the property and announced its intent to build three schools on the site for the Wilshire Center-Koreatown community, one of the densest and underserved areas in the District.

What might have been: the Ambassador as a world-class school for the community. Artist's rendering courtesy of Standard.

The Los Angeles Conservancy spent the next three years demonstrating how LAUSD could feasibly reuse the hotel building as part of the new campus, or build the campus elsewhere on the site and adapt the main building as affordable housing and services for the surrounding community. LAUSD rejected all of these proposals.

In November 2004, the Conservancy and seven other organizations filed litigation challenging LAUSD’s plans to demolish the hotel. The lawsuit challenged the adequacy of the final environmental impact report in exploring alternatives to demolition or providing enforceable mitigation measures. LAUSD convinced the court otherwise, leading to a settlement that created a Historic Schools Investment Fund with $4.9 million in funding from LAUSD. The Ambassador Hotel was demolished between October 2005 and January 2006.

As mitigation for the hotel’s demolition, LAUSD agreed to retain and reuse the former Cocoanut Grove; the hotel’s former coffee shop, designed by renowned architect Paul R. Williams; and the pantry behind the hotel’s Embassy Ballroom, the site of Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1968.

The District changed course regarding all of these promises, leading to new litigation by the Conservancy in October 2007. This litigation ended in January 2008 with a settlement in which LAUSD would contribute an additional $4 million to the Historic Schools Investment Fund.

The Cocoanut Grove building (including the coffee shop) is slated for demolition in January 2008, and LAUSD will determine the fate of the RFK assassination site.