Wilshire May Company
1939, A.C. Martin and Samuel MarksThis Streamline Moderne department store with its prominent cylindrical gold tower signals the western entrance of Wilshire Boulevard's Miracle Mile district. The Conservancy swung into action when the May Co. building was threatened with demolition for office towers and a hotel during the early 1990s. After successfully nominating the building for City Historic-Cultural Monument status, the Conservancy worked with County officials to ensure the building's reuse by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Now LACMA West, the May Co. had a splashy reopening in 1999 when it played host to a blockbuster Van Gogh exhibit.

Photo courtesy of Julius Shulman