For These Old Bus Stations, It’s Not the End of the Line
A 1942 postcard depicts Arrasmith’s trendsetting design for the Greyhound bus depot in Louisville, which opened in 1937. It was demolished after closing in 1970. Print Collector/Hulton Archive
From Bloomberg: When it opened in 1948, Cleveland’s new bus station was a curvilinear wonder.
Greyhound Lines was then near the apex of its powers; the company claimed that the $1.25 million depot was the biggest in the world, with 88,000 square feet of floor space. It was designed for additional floors to be built on top of it, as the city’s population was still racing toward its 1950 peak of more than 900,000. An estimated 25,000 people showed up for the building’s opening on March 31, including Ohio Governor Thomas Herbert and Mayor Thomas Burke, who called the swoopy station — a prime example of the late Art Deco style known as Streamline Moderne — a “face-lifter for Cleveland.”
Norms Takes Center Stage in New Sci-Fi Film, ‘Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die’
Credit: Briarcliff Entertainment
From Los Angeles Magazine: In the new film Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (in theaters Feb. 13), a soaked and disheveled Sam Rockwell stumbles into L.A.’s iconic Norms restaurant after dark, with LAPD squad cars swarming outside. Shocked patrons ignore their club sandwiches as the bedraggled stranger, covered in electrodes, hoses, and sci-fi gadgetry, barks out, “I am from the future … and all of this goes horribly wrong.”
The juxtaposition of the comfortable family-restaurant setting (complete with Boy Scouts and seniors getting coffee refills) and a potentially dangerous situation unfolding raises tension and sets the scene for an offbeat adventure. Norms on La Cienega is a modernist landmark designed by architects Louis Armet and Eldon Davis in 1957. It has been immortalized in an iconic painting by pop artist Ed Ruscha, a song by Tom Waits, and countless movies and TV shows over the decades.
Where did all of LA’s 24-hour diners and coffee shops go?
From Spectrumnews1: The diner. There’s nothing quite like it: Hot, delicious food served at affordable prices.
And nobody did it better than SoCal, with mainstays such as Ships, Mel’s, and Norm’s. Often open all night, these mid-century masterpieces used to be all over LA.
But not anymore. Most of the all-night coffee shops are also history. Only one Mel’s location in West Hollywood still stays open all night, but that’s just on weekends.
After sale, a historic Houston movie theater will be demolished
The exterior of the Garden Oaks Theater in Houston on Feb. 13, 2026. The building was recently owned and operated by Grace Church. With its sale to a developer, the nearly 80-year-old theater’s future is in doubt. Dan Carson/Chron.com
From Chron.com: After purchasing the historic Garden Oaks Theater, the developer Heights Investment Fund has told Arthouse Houston it intends to demolish the 87-year-old building.
“We will be urgently looking for a way to convince the new owner not to demolish the historic Garden Oaks Theater,” McNamara said. “Serving Houston’s community for almost 60 years, the theater is in beautiful condition.”
Chicago moves start of Route 66 to Navy Pier
A sign depicting the start of US Route 66 in Chicago. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
From Axios: Chicago is rewriting history for the 100th celebration of Route 66, the iconic roadway connecting Chicago to Los Angeles.
The latest: The city will formally recognize Navy Pier as the starting point of the iconic American roadway, moving it from its original spot at Jackson Boulevard and Michigan Avenue downtown.
What they’re saying: “This move symbolizes how Route 66 continues to evolve while honoring its roots,” Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson said in a press release.
The big picture: Chicago’s City Council adopted a resolution to change the most eastern spot to Navy Pier to commemorate the big anniversary.
King Taco’s original location could be designated a historic-cultural monument
The iconic King Taco sign at the original Cypress Park location, which opened in 1974 and is now being considered for historic-cultural monument designation. (Suzanne Levy / LAist)
From LAist: Topline: The original King Taco location in Cypress Park is being considered for historic-cultural monument status by the Cultural Heritage Commission, which would recognize its role in transforming Los Angeles’ taco landscape and supporting Latino immigrant entrepreneurship.
Why it matters: King Taco helped establish the template for the modern L.A. taqueria — shifting the city’s understanding of tacos from the hard-shell, Americanized version to soft tortillas filled with carne asada, carnitas and tacos al pastor. As the late food critic Jonathan Gold noted, King Taco “solidified what we all think of as the modern Los Angeles taco sensibility.”
Why now: The nomination comes as part of the city’s ongoing effort to recognize Latino cultural landmarks.
Meet the couple bringing back one of Long Beach’s most famous buildings to its coffee pot self
Coffee Pot Cafe—also known as the Hot Cha Cafe or the Koffee Pot—is a historic landmark in Long Beach whose new owners want to create something special. Photo by Brian Addison
From Longbeachize: It is one of Long Beach’s finest examples of mimetic architecture—or what was then called “fantasy architecture”—echoing long-gone SoCal spaces like the Wilshire Coffee Pot Restaurant and the Hollywood Flower Pot.
Sitting on 4th Street, deemed a historic landmark in 1991, the Coffee Pot Cafe building is shaped like, well, a massive coffee pot. It has long intrigued bystanders, natives, and visitors alike, sitting on one of the city’s most culturally rich stretches of bars, shops, and restaurants. And couple Craig Broombaugh and Long Beach native Danielle Towns want to bring it back to caffeinated life.
“We are just scrounging up our pennies to start the build-out,” Danielle said. “We have to completely divert the plumbing. Open up the ceiling in the entranceway. And move the bathroom wall for ADA compliance about four to six inches—the details… But we want to assure this is one-thousand-percent homegrown.”