Work is in progress on a mural restoration/recreation at the historic Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro. This beautiful art deco movie palace originally opened in 1931, and is on the National register is also LA historic Cultural Monument #251. We’ve completed a couple of restoration projects here over the last 5 years.
photo by Scott Miner
Built by Sid Grauman and Charles Toberman, and designed by Meyer & Holler in the “Egyptian Revival style”, the Egyptian Theatre opened to much acclaim in 1922 as the venue of the first ever Hollywood Premiere (Robin Hood). The theater declined in the 1980s and was eventually sold by the City of LA to American Cinemateque in 1996.
When the American Cinemateque restored the historic Egyptian Theater in 1998 its famous exterior courtyard was also part of the plan. Our participation included the restoration of three original lamps (with any missing pieces recreated) and the complete fabrication of three additional fixtures. Rewiring was completed and new lenses were installed.
Can you tell which is old and which is new?
Our work is almost complete at the Meeker Baker Building in Long Beach. Finishers were busy staining the new old staircase in the “historic” lobby.
Surveyed some steel windows on a building in Glendale this morning, hopefully a new job coming soon!
Angel’s Flight circa 1903
Angel’s Flight in 2008
Back in 1996 KC Restoration was contracted to document and catalog every piece of Angel’s Flight (down to the individual screws) so it could be properly reconstructed. This tiny funicular was first operated in 1901 and originally linked Hill St and Olive Ave. It was removed in 1969 as the site was “redeveloped” during along with much of the rest of old Bunker Hill. It was reconstructed nearby in 1996, connecting Hill St and the California Plaza, and has been in operation off and on since then. Unfortunately it is currently closed for repairs and inspections.
Angel’s Flight is on the National register of Historic Places and is LA Historic Cultural Monument #4. You can follow the Angel’s Flight cars – Olivet and Sinai – as they “chat” with each other on twitter, and occasionally offer updates and news around DTLA.
All images from wikimedia commons
Waikiki Natatorium War Memorial
Definitely want to go on this jobwalk, very excited to see this project restored and honoring our veterans!
Masonry restoration work will start Tuesday, thank you CSI!
Throw Waaaaaaay Back. Illustration from 1895 and photo from around 1900 of downtown LA looking southwest from the old County Courthouse tower at Broadway & Temple. A lot has changed in the city since then, but you can still spot the Bradbury Building, Homer Laughlin (home to Grand Central Market), Irvine-Byrne (Pan American Lofts), and Douglas Building.
Check out this post by Los Angeles Past to learn more about the photo
Five years ago we were putting the finishing touches on the decorative surfaces during the restoration of the Blossom Ballroom at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (home of the very first Academy Awards and an LA Historic Cultural Monument).
Masons working on a repair mockup early in the morning at the historic Bovard Auditorium at University of Southern California. The cast stone window sills are suffering from some pretty severe iron jacking. The interior auditorium underwent an extensive renovation about 10 years ago, and we’ll be starting the exterior masonry restoration in less than 2 weeks!
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