Month: July 2009

This is a peek into some of the houses at the Heritage Square Museum I showed from the outside in the last post.

A cosy corner.

William Morris wallpaper, frieze and ceiling treatment; no proper Victorian house would have been complete without these imports from England.

A chandelier with colorful detail work.

This lamp might look a bit utilitarian in comparison, but it is interesting insofar as that it is a dual-power lamp – it is rigged for use with gas and electricity.

Not all of the houses have yet been finished inside. Most of the structures are still in the process of being restored. This invariably involves stripping the plaster, wallpaper and paint of decades to arrive at the original walls

and laths.

Yes, no drywall back then, just laths and plaster. Seeing this one can imagine why it takes so long until the interior of one of these house saved from the wrecking ball is restored to its former beauty.

For 31 years the Lotus Festival in Echo Park was one of the highlights of summer. Founded by an Asian community group, the festival took  place at Echo Park Lake with its abundance of lotus flowers in bloom, providing two days of fun in the park, with dragon boat races, music, food stalls and entertainment to visitors of all ages, genders and nationalities.

The lotus beds died first. By 2004 they started to look severely damaged, by 2007 only a few plants were left, which did not bloom in time for the festival. Speculations were rife – bad water quality, overall pollution, chemicals,  theft,  an unknown pest, but  no real reason for the death of the  lotus beds  was named. In 2008 all that was left were a few dead plants, a sad sight for those attending the festival which still took place.

This year marks the death of the Lotus Festival. It was canceled. No lotus, no festival, right? Part of the reason was also that the original organizers could not get the funds together for a festival at the former scale.  R.I.P. Lotus Festival.

The neighborhood Chamber of Commerce tried to put together a similar event, no longer called the “Lotus,” but the “Midsummer Festival,” which took place on June 11th.  Few visitors came; no wonder – without the lotus flowers and the dragon boat races the main attractions were gone.

Echo Park Lake is still a small oasis in the middle of a bustling and sometimes rather rough neighborhood. The City of Los Angeles is planning to refurbish the park next year. A replanting of a lotus bed is being discussed. All these plans are laudable, but I personally doubt that they will be put into effect; money is tight and other projects might have to come first.

I am afraid that the lotus blooms and the Lotus Festival will fall into the category of things to be remembered fondly and with quite a lot of sadness as something which was beautiful and is now gone.

For years I tried to find a motif embodying the City of Los Angeles for me.

Finally I found it.

“Dance Door” by Robert Graham

The bronze sculpture, created by Graham in 1978, was donated to the Music Center in 1982 by Frederick and Marcia Weisman. For me this vista is Los Angeles at its best. The old (City Hall) framed within the new (modern art) creates a view of a sprawling municipality which combines, by use of frame, space and distance, a perfect relationship.

I found “my” view of the city. On the 4th of July weekend. Coincidence?

Sometimes it is hard to give away the location of a place. One might reveal a secret to others who then come and take away what is so unique about this little hideaway. But with St Vincent Court I’ll make an exception.

The history behind this tiny little court is just so utterly fascinating. This is the site of the very first institution of higher learning in Southern California. In 1865 the Vincentian Fathers founded Saint Vincent’s College, which operated here from 1868 till 1887. Later it became Loyola University, still here in Los Angeles.

Then came another first – in 1907 the first Bullocks department store opened here. Yes, the first of John G. Bullocks’ department stores, of  that Mr. Bullocks who later constructed his temple to art and commerce on Wilshire which today houses another institute of learning.

With the deterioration of Downtown Bullocks also suffered and closed in the middle of the ’80s. Today the building houses mostly jewelry businesses inside, like most structures in the area. Just as an aside to the nifty shopper, apparently the quality of the gems offered here is quite up to par to those in other parts of the city, but at much more favorable prices.

When one is a bit tired from walking around Downtown, when the hustle and bustle and the noisy of people, cars and music gets a bit too much, then St Vincent Court is the place to retreat to. With every step down the quite uniquely decorated alley there is less noise; one only hears the murmur of people sitting at the sidewalk tables, the cooing of the odd pigeon, and the chink of cups of coffee or tea being set down on their saucers. The next sensual impact is the scent of food, not overwhelming, but oh so appetizing. Most of the cafes and bistros serve Middle Eastern cuisine of a fine quality. So one can have it all in St Vincent Court, which was declared a historical landmark in 1957: History, food, relaxation.

I hope that I will never have to regret giving away one of the most quaint little corners in Downtown. But then I really didn’t reveal the exact address – the interested wanderer will have to find it for him/herself.