A NEWS &E LOS ANGELES
DOWNTOWN October 6, 2008
Volume 37, Number 40
INSIDE
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
FALL PREVIEW Pull-Out Section
9 – 28
W W W. D O W N T O W N N E W S . C O M
Doing It for the Kids Skid Row’s Inner-City Arts Completes A $10 Million Expansion by Ryan VaillancouRt
Rocking out at the Cornfield.
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Villaraigosa presents his housing plan.
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Urban Scrawl on the changing times.
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Wrong spot for Rite Aid.
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Grand Avenue’s grand time.
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Catch the sports scene.
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16 CALENDAR LISTINGS 26 MAP 33 CLASSIFIEDS
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uild an art space for kids.” That was the simple directive that Bob Bates, the cofounder of nonprofit education organization Inner-City Arts, said he received from a spiritual voice while meditating some 20 years ago. He took the direction literally and, with the help of developer Irwin Jaeger, leased a 4,800-square-foot storefront on Olympic Boulevard in Skid Row in 1989. Fast forward to 2008 and Bates is still teaching at-risk children in Skid Row how to paint, how to sculpt and
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how to think creatively. But that “art space”? Today it’s a one-acre campus (not far from the original storefront) designed by architect Michael Maltzan and replete with state-of-theart equipment and facilities. Last week Inner-City Arts celebrated the completion of a $10 million expansion. Through a partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District, Inner-City Arts hosts children mostly from the elementary, middle and high schools within a 2.5-mile radius of the campus, which is at Seventh photo by Gary Leonard and Kohler streets. The students are Inner-City Arts last Thursday held an opening party following a $10 million bused in by the LAUSD during the expansion. It will allow the Skid Row facility to give instruction to up to 16,000 see Inner-City Arts, page 8 students a year.
Eighth Street Eyesore The Big Dipper’s Up for Sale Big Birthday Bristol Hotel Poses a Challenge To Potential Buyers
Philippe The Original Celebrates 100 Years With 1908 Prices
by anna scott
by RichaRd Guzmán
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city editoR
he owner of Downtown’s Bristol Hotel, who several years ago was discussing a multi-million dollar upscale renovation of the former hub for low-income tenants, has put the property up for sale. The move follows a settlement with the Community Redevelopment Agency that would require the Eighth Street structure to serve as affordable housing if reopened in the next seven years. “The CRA decided that the Bristol was going to become forever a low-income venue, and when I knew it was going to be like that, I put it on the market,” said Adolfo Suaya, who acquired the structure five years ago. Although the building’s fuphoto by Gary Leonard ture is in doubt, a controversial The Bristol Hotel, at 423 W. Eighth St., is on loophole in a recent legal settlethe market after the current owner was unable ment could allow the rundown to convert the former low-income housing structure to stay empty until complex into an upscale hotel. A loophole in a 2015, if not longer. recent legal agreement could allow the decrepit While the building has gar- structure to sit empty until 2015. nered significant interest since hitting the market about four through because of financing difmonths ago, there have been no ficulties. takers. Late last month National “I attempted to buy the property, Housing Ventures, a small for- but the market has changed in the profit firm with ties to affordable last few months, and in the last few housing developer the Amerland weeks it’s been a really tough marGroup, was in escrow to purchase ket,” National Housing Ventures the property for $4.5 million. But President and CEO Alejandro see Bristol, page 29 that deal appears to have fallen
o survive for 100 years, a restaurant needs to have loyal followers — make that several generations of loyal followers. Naturally, it is not easy to endure amid a culture’s changing tastes and diets. One of the few that has managed to keep it going is Philippe The Original. The restaurant was founded in 1908 and, according to legend, stumbled across its raison d’être, the French dip, when Philippe Mathieu was preparing a sandwich for a policeman and inadvertently dropped
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a French roll in a roasting pan filled with juices from the cooked meat. The cop liked it so much he came back the next day. On Monday, Oct. 6, Philippe’s, as it is commonly known, will party like it’s 1908. From 4-8 p.m., the establishment at 1001 N. Alameda St. (where it has been since 1951) will roll back prices, charging 10 cents for sandwiches and a nickel for coffee. Expect the line to stretch around the block. The customers are not the only ones loyal to Philippe’s. Some of the staff has been around for decades, see Philippe’s, page 7
photo by Gary Leonard
Philippe’s General Manager Richard Binder and two of his veteran employees, carver Juanita Gonzales and morning manager Elias Barajas. They’ll celebrate the restaurant’s 100th birthday on Monday, Oct. 6.
Since 1972, an independent, locally owned and edited newspaper, go figure.