The legendary Wurdeman & Becket Streamline Moderne Pan Pacific auditorium on Beverly Blvd. opened to great fanfare on May 18, 1935 to present a 16-day model home exhibit. With its four flagpole bearing pylons welcoming crowds, the Pan Pacific was the premiere Los Angeles exposition venue for 35 years. From ice skating exhibitions to Elvis concerts and speeches by future U.S. presidents, there was always something exciting going on at the Pan Pacific - until the Los Angeles Convention Center entered the picture in 1972. The Pan Pacific’s decline and ultimate demise took place over the next 17 years. With those who remember its early history gone, it is perhaps most referenced today (outside of Disney Parks) as a location in the film XANADU.
Our speaker, architect, preservation architect, and co- founder of Hollywood Heritage, Fran Offenhauser is well versed in the building’s architecture and history. At one time she and Linda Mehr tried to save the building from demolition. She headed a team at Gruen that won a contest to take over the building from the county and had just finished some restoration drawings of the facade when disaster struck. Fran will share the story of the Pan Pacific, a building she has a personal connection to and covets as an almost extinct form of Streamline exhibition style architecture.
The origins of our own Art Deco Society of Los Angeles’ logo is taken from the architecture of this sprawling cultural mecca of bygone Los Angeles.
Streaming Replay:
$6 ADSLA Members
$10 General Admission
Recording available until May 31, 2022 at 11:59 pm.