Posted by Axel (12.80.9.105) on July 21, 2001 at 16:55:47:
The Ambassador not only needs a visionary, but kind of a benefactor, who is not in it just for the money, similar to the restoration of the Beverly Hills Hotel on Sunset. I think the current ownership is only interested in turning a profit and how good their number column looks.
I wonder how many of the people deciding the fate of the Ambassador actually have firsthand knowledge of it. Have they ever been there- when it was open? Stayed there? Or eaten in the restaurants, had a haircut in the barbershop, swam in the gigantic pool, ran around the track, walked a lobby filled with people, or seen a show at the Grove. Probably not. To them, it's just a run-down closed hotel, taking up space on Wilshire Boulevard.
Instead of thinking about just the money, consider the hotel, its history, and what it has meant (or could mean) to Los Angeles.
What's next- subdividing Central Park, turning one corner into a giant high school, developing another corner into retail space and apartments, and demolishing anything in the way, like Tavern on the Green and the Central Park Zoo, because they're old and not space efficient? New York wouldn't stand for it and Los Angeles shouldn't allow the Ambassador's destruction.
Posted by Axel (12.80.6.97) on July 02, 2001 at 04:18:55