Throwback to three weeks ago! We just finished repairing cracks and spalls in the decorative cast stone columns and capitals at the top of the clock tower of the Mudd Hall of Philosphy, a beautiful Tuscan-style building opened in 1930, at the University of Southern California.
And how about that beautiful clear blue LA sky in the middle January!
Photo by Gary Friedman
Photo by Brian Addison
Large murals that used to grace the facades of the Meeker Baker and Press Telegram buildings as they sat vacant will be repurposed and reinstalled by David Van Patten and James Carey at the renovated Meeker Baker building.
Read more at the Long Beach Post
For some reason this one didn’t post last week, so we get 2 this week!
You might recognize our newest project from the intro to the original Charlie’s Angels tv series. We started documentation of the Los Angeles Police Academy this week in anticipation of the upcoming renovation.
Photo of a crowd gathered as Air Marshall W.A. “Billy” Bishop speaks, 1941, from the City of Glendale
During WWII the Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale was “camouflaged” for safety.
We’ll be starting restoration of the historic steel windows in the next couple weeks.
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
We were recently asked to provide preliminary budgets for exterior restoration at the Rialto Theatre in South Pasadena.
Opened in 1925 with the world premier of Universal Picture WHAT HAPPENED TO JONES?, the Rialto was one of the last designs by prolific theater architect L.A. Smith. It was designed for both movies and vaudeville acts and had one of the first famous Wurlitzer organs (which was removed, but is on display at the South Pasadena Preservation Foundation museum). The theater was outfitted with sound equipment in 1928 for “talking pictures.” The Rialto was slated for demolition in 1977, but likely was saved by the community, and a year later was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Though the Rialto Theatre survived the death of vaudeville, two fires and threats of demolition and conversion to a parking lot, it finally succumbed to low ticket sales and sadly closed in 2007.
Hopefully some good news for the revitalization of that theater is on the horizon!
Check out some great photos from
Check out this short film about the theater and future plans by Miranda Gantz
Friends of the Rialto’s facebook page here
kcrestorationinc 
