Jason Reitman and a group of directors have bought Westwood’s iconic Village Theater
The Village Theater in Westwood (AaronP / Bauer-Griffin / GC Images via Getty Images)
From the L.A. Times: One of the most beloved movie theaters in Los Angeles, the historic Village Theater in Westwood, is now under new management — and the owners include some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
On Wednesday, a coalition of directors led by Jason Reitman announced they had closed a deal to take over the 93-year-old movie palace that has been a favorite site for movie premieres since its opening in 1931, with a 170-foot white Spanish Revival/Art Deco tower that has long served as a beacon for film lovers in search of old-school Hollywood glamour.
MAIN BUILDING AT ICONIC MOTEL BURNS IN TUCSON
A 13 News photographer on the scene said Spanish Trail Motel, located near South Fourth Avenue and Interstate 10, was fully engulfed in flames.
Iconic Mobile motel sign glows in memories, dives into another state
The Beverly Motel sign in Mobile (Photo courtesy of David Wilson / Via Flickr)
From lagniappemobile: The neon-lit figure of a woman forever diving into the pool and parking lot of the Beverly Motel disappeared a few years ago, leaving the small hotel along U.S. Highway 90 without its crown jewel, and many wondering where she went.
Purportedly drawn by the son of George and Jewel Crenshaw, the couple who opened the motel sometime in the 1940s and ran it with help from their family until the 1980s, the sign resembles a beloved sibling for whom the hotel was also named. The feminine figure drew travelers heading in or out of Mobile for decades before it vanished from its perch near the front of the motel in 2022. Photographers and painters from around Mobile Bay and beyond made the sign the subject of their art, and its likeness has been replicated on T-shirts and other merchandise.
How Two “Little Old Ladies” Saved the Most Endangered Building in Texas
The Hotel Palacios, circa 1910. Courtesy of Palacios Preservation Association
From TexasMonthly: The 121-year-old Luther Hotel, in Palacios, looked spooky enough to star in a horror flick. When I visited in mid-January, the bottom-floor windows were boarded shut, and the white paint on its cypress facade was peeling in stripes that stretched the length of the structure’s east and west wings. Weeds grew tall around its broad lawn, which hadn’t been mown since the hotel closed its doors in July 2022. The interior, I would soon discover, was worse.
I was there with local retirees Margaret Doughty and Edith Gower, who cofounded the all-volunteer Palacios Preservation Association to save the Luther and find an investor who will restore it. “You cannot tear down something that has such a remarkable history,” Gower told me. The Luther holds the story of Palacios, a small seaside town halfway between Galveston and Corpus Christi. The hotel played an important role in the town’s creation during the early 1900s and in its prosperity during the forties and fifties, and it remained the heart of local social life for decades after that as the site of countless banquets and family gatherings. Still, the odds of saving the Luther were slim, given the state’s wimpy preservation muscles and how close the structure had come to disappearing. About sixteen months ago, the Luther was named the most endangered place in Texas. Now its rescue could turn out to be one of the most unlikely historic-preservation success stories Texas has seen in years.
Austin brings equity, diversity in new historic preservation plan with community feedback
Antone’s Nightclub in downtown Austin on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. New guidelines preserve the historical building. Makenzie Long
From The Daily Texan: Austin’s Planning Department launched a new Equity-Based Preservation Plan on Feb. 6 which aims to capture Austin’s full culture by preserving historical buildings that have previously been overlooked. The new plan is open for public input until May 31. If approved, it will replace the current plan made in 1981.
Cara Bertron said the current plan prioritizes buildings associated with community leaders that are mostly of white men. It emphasizes historical, archeological and architectural value as criteria to classify a building as a historical landmark.
Iconic tiki bar and restaurant Don the Beachcomber now open in Madeira Beach
Don the Beachcomber, recognized as the first tiki bar and the genesis of tiki culture in America, has debuted on the ground floor of the Cambria Hotel at 15015 Madeira way in Madeira Beach. Don the Beachcomber
From St. Pete Rising: The tiki bar that started it all relaunches today in Madeira Beach with authentic tiki cocktails and Polynesian-themed dishes for everyone from hardcore tikiphiles to adventurous locals.
Don the Beachcomber, recognized as the first tiki bar and the genesis of tiki culture in America, has debuted on the ground floor of the Cambria Hotel at 15015 Madeira Way in Madeira Beach.
Donn Beach, an adventurer, businessman, and World War II veteran, opened the original Don the Beachcomber in Hollywood, California nearly 90 years ago. The restaurant and bar was inspired by his travels to the Caribbean and the South Pacific, where he was enchanted by the allure of the islands, their mystique, and their tropical flavors.