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PUBLIC
COMMENT SOUGHT AS LAUSD
The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has released its Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on the potential demolition of Wilshire Boulevard’s Ambassador Hotel, and has requested public comments on the proposal. These comments will play a crucial role in swaying Board of Education members as they near a final decision on the Ambassador’s ultimate fate, to be determined by April. The Conservancy therefore needs all members to take a few moments to write to your elected officials, urging preservation and reuse of the hotel. The Conservancy, aided by the generous pro bono legal assistance of the law firm Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher, has prepared a detailed response to LAUSD's Draft EIR. Click here to read the Conservancy's response. Background With the School District owning the entire 23.7-acre Ambassador property and the acute need for new public schools in this highly dense neighborhood, it is clear that the Ambassador site will be used for a K-12 educational complex. The question remains: will LAUSD level the historic hotel to build an all-new school campus, or will it utilize the site’s remarkable historic features as a centerpiece of its new school complex? LAUSD is analyzing five separate alternatives for the Ambassador property: 1) “Maximum reuse” (preservation of the main hotel building); 2) Preserving only the north tower of the hotel, demolishing the rest of the building; 3) Preserving only the Cocoanut Grove nightclub and reconstructing the Embassy Ballroom; 4) Full demolition and all new construction; 5) Preserving the main hotel building while reserving approximately three acres of the Wilshire Boulevard frontage for a park. The Conservancy’s preferred options are Alternatives #1 and #5, both of which preserve the main hotel structure. The “compromise” alternatives (#2 and #3) are really no compromise at all: only mere fragments of a once-grand hotel would remain. The Conservancy believes that Alternative #1 itself is already a significant compromise: the imperative to fit athletic fields on the property would result in the demolition of the historic bungalows and other ancillary buildings. Why is it so important to save the Ambassador Hotel? Los Angeles’ students can have the unique opportunity to get their education in one of Los Angeles’ architectural and historic treasures. Simply put, it won’t just be a school, but a better school.
A state-of-the-art school: LAUSD’s project team, led by the experienced private-sector development firm Urban Partners, has confirmed that the Ambassador feasibly converts to a school facility. LAUSD’s standard high school and middle school program fits well into the hotel, with a sensitively designed five-story addition for science, laboratories and other special classrooms. The upper floors of the hotel are converted into standard LAUSD classroom spaces, creating a wide corridor for student passage. The campus would also have a new gymnasium, new athletic fields, and an entirely new elementary school on the south portion of the site along Eighth Street. The school would meet all State requirements, including the heightened seismic requirements for schools (Field Act). Preserving and transforming the Ambassador’s unique public spaces: The defining public spaces of the Ambassador become integral parts of the new school. The lovely hotel lobby could serve as the high school’s entrance, student “commons”, and a social gathering place for students. The famed Cocoanut Grove nightclub becomes the school’s large auditorium and performance space. The hotel retail concourse’s coffee shop, designed by Paul R. Williams, serves as the faculty dining room. And the grand Embassy Ballroom is transformed into a magnificent school library.
An inspiration for students: Preserving the Ambassador will allow its rich history to infuse the curriculum. Students will read The Great Gatsby in a space where F. Scott Fitzgerald regularly stayed. Music and theater students will actually perform in the Cocoanut Grove, where virtually every famous performer of the 20th century -- including Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, and Lena Horne -- once graced the stage. They can learn about architecture and preservation, using the structure itself as their textbook. And they will study history and politics in a building that significantly shaped our local and national political history. Joint-use opportunities for the community: The Ambassador project will be much more than a school: it will be a true community center. The library in the historic Embassy Ballroom will be open to the community. The Cocoanut Grove auditorium will become the site for community gatherings and meetings. The campus will have athletic facilities serving this dense residential community, including a competition swimming pool. And the Ambassador’s conversion will make this once-exclusive hotel and its grounds open to all, as permanent public recreation and open space. Worth the premium: Based on cost estimates that have been validated by the Conservancy’s talented team of pro-bono consultants, it appears that the “reuse” alternative for the Ambassador will cost more than all-new construction. The major reason for the additional cost is that the reuse alternative simply provides 25% more space than Alternative 4, which is all-new construction. LAUSD can utilize much of this space for future expansion or for complimentary uses that will make this campus a true community center. Yet, LAUSD has not provided a single penny of credit for the economic value of this space. It is important to note that the cost per square foot of rehabilitation is actually less than the cost of new construction. For more information on why LAUSD's analysis of cost and time is flawed, click here. To help fill the estimated cost gap, the Conservancy is working hard to secure Proposition 40 funding, State Park Bond monies that were earmarked for the preservation of historic resources. The Conservancy believes that there are tremendous opportunities for additional philanthropic support for the Ambassador project that will be available once the District commits to reuse, opportunities that simply would not be available for new construction. A defining Los Angeles historic site: What is at stake is the fate of one of Los Angeles’ most important historic sites. The Ambassador, opened in 1921, was the catalyst for development of the entire Wilshire Boulevard corridor, which had been a dirt road before the Ambassador opened, surrounded by bean and barley fields. It was one of the most notable works of famed architect Myron Hunt (designer of the Rose Bowl, Huntington Library, much of Occidental College and many other local landmarks), with significant later contributions by the pioneering African-American architect Paul R. Williams. The Ambassador was home of the Cocoanut Grove nightclub, Los Angeles’ premier night spot for decades; and host to six Oscar ceremonies and to every U.S. President from Herbert Hoover to Richard Nixon (who wrote his 1952 “Checkers” speech at the Ambassador). A site of national significance: The nation’s press is watching to see if Los Angeles’ leaders will step forward to preserve the Ambassador, site of the tragic 1968 Robert F. Kennedy assassination. The only two comparable sites nationally are the Texas School Book Depository building in Dallas and the Lorraine Motel in Memphis (site of the Martin Luther King assassination). Both buildings, neither of which was as intrinsically significant as the Ambassador Hotel, have been preserved as museums. The Ambassador, as a vital educational campus, can be a living testament to the RFK legacy. L.A.’s kids deserve nothing less: The Ambassador project will offer students, teachers and residents remarkable beauty, amenities, and an unmistakable sense of place that simply cannot be provided by new construction. Preservation of the Ambassador will allow students to feel that their urban school is beautiful and inspirational – a site where history isn’t only a musty textbook, but is tangible, all around them. Three ways to help save the Ambassador: There are three things you can do to help preserve the Ambassador: 1) Please take a moment to write the Board of Education urging the Board to reuse the Ambassador Hotel as part of an exciting new educational facility for the Wilshire Center community. By clicking here, you can email all of the board members at once, as well as other key elected officials who represent the area around the Ambassador Hotel site, and be added to our alert list to receive updates on the Ambassador situation. (Clicking this link will open your email program with a blank email addressed to the board members and representatives.) If you'd like to be added to the alert list without emailing the Board members, send an email to us at info@laconservancy.org. In your letters, you should emphasize the rich history and tremendous significance of the Ambassador Hotel, and discuss why historic preservation offers tangible and intangible benefits for tomorrow's students. 2) Contribute to the Conservancy's "Ambassador Memories Book." Take just a few moments to recall your fond remembrances of the role the Ambassador played in your life--special occasions at the Hotel, music or dancing at the Cocoanut Grove, location filming, political events or celebrity encounters--and send your written accounts or photos to: Ambassador Memories, Los Angeles Conservancy, 523 West Sixth Street, Suite 826, Los Angeles, CA 90014, or info@laconservancy.org. 3) If you are part of any other community organizations or institutions, ask your group to become part of the Conservancy's new community-wide coalition to save the Ambassador Hotel. Please bring this issue to your organization and let us know if we can add your group to our growing list of supporters. |
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