The Masonic Temple of Hollywood , now known as El Capitan Entertainment Center and also formerly known as Masonic Meeting Hall , is a building on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The building, built in 1921, was designed by architect John C. Austin, also noted as the principal architect of the Griffith Observatory. Mason operated the temple until 1982, when they sold the building after several years of declining membership. The 34,000-square-foot building was later converted into a theater and nightclub, and ownership changed several times, until purchased by Buena Vista Walt Disney Company Image Distribution in 1998 for Buena Vista Theaters, Inc.
Buena Vista Theaters use it as a promotional tool by creating themed environments to go along with movie premiere. The center is also leased to industry parties, prime ministers, record releases and product launches. Since 2003, the theater has become the home of Jimmy Kimmel Live! .
The building is rumored to have a secret tunnel to Grauman's Chinese Theater which will allow movie stars to escape the mass in the premiere of the film. If there is a possibility of subway construction the Red Line destroyed the tunnel.
Video Hollywood Masonic Temple
Histori
Kuil Masonik
In 1922, the Hollywood Lodge of the Mason was moved from their existing cottage on the Dolby Theater site today. The construction of the new three-story building is led by host Charles E. Toberman, who is in charge of the Hollywood Bowl, Grauman's Chinese Theater, Roosevelt Hotel and Max Factor Building. The original building cost $ 176,678, with an amount of $ 56,421 earmarked for furniture and utensils and $ 36,295 for the purchase of a parking space. Toberman and fellow members of Charles Boag formed the Masonic Hollywood Club to finance a portion of the building offering a $ 100 membership subscription.
When the new temple is opened, it is one of the most substantial structures in Hollywood. It has billiards room, pipe organ, women's living room, ballroom, and inn rooms. One writer describes the building as "incomparable to the beauty, attractiveness and richness of the equipment." The architect, John C. Austin, also works at the Shrine Auditorium, Griffith Observatory, and Los Angeles City Hall.
The Los Angeles Times describes this building in 2002:
"This is an expressionless presence that seems to surpass the ebb and flow of Tinseltown glamor - a grim Neoclassical shrine that stands in stark contrast to the parade of movers, shakers, scouts and evolved paparazzi that have passed before."
The grand ballroom opened in February 1923; the opening balls featured a program about "dance evolution" featuring dancer Lucille Means. Many of Hollywood's elite over the years have been Masons, including Oliver Hardy, Harold Lloyd, Douglas Fairbanks, W.C. Fields, Cecil B. DeMille, D.W. Griffith, John Wayne, Roy Rogers, and Gene Autry.
During the Great Depression, many Masons lost their savings, and Masons were forced to rent the ground floor to a social club that installed illegal slot machines. After World War II, Mason returned to full use of the structure, and in 1948, more than 300 people crammed into the Masonic Temple to attend a memorial service for D. W. Griffith. In 1969, the old Haron Lloyd was honored in a ceremony when his name was placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, right in front of the Masonic Temple.
Opera theater and nightclub
By the late 1970s, Masonic membership had declined, and Masons rented ground floor space to a restaurant. In 1980, the cottage moved from building to Van Nuys and renamed the Hollywood-West Valley Lodge. In 1982, Mason was unable to upgrade to meet the fire revision and seismic code. The Masons sold the building to singer Rosita LaBello who transformed the structure into Opera Hollywood & amp; Theater Company. The life of the building with opera and the LaBello theater company was short-lived with only a few opera productions. With the failure of the opera and theater company, the building was sold back to the hut.
In February 1986 , Detroit developer James Hoseyni signed a 20-year contract with a 3-year $ 2.7 million option to buy with a building owner of 6840 Hollywood Associates, an affiliate of Westmark Development. Westmark's development at the time had Nicholas Olaerts and Thomas Harnsberger as general partners and who was the owner of El Capitan Theater in 1992. Donald Bruce Randall, an architect of the Randall/Baylon Partnership of Los Angeles, and Kamal Kamooneh who was born in Tehran, a creative architect , with Hoseyni leading the renovation at a cost of $ 1.5 million to accommodate a 250-seat cabaret, 500-seat jazz theater and an 800-person dance club. The Blue and Red Halls are recovered later modified for disc jockey podiums, appliances and electronic bars and special lighting. The bathroom was moved to the basement to create more floor space. In September 1987, the building was renovated and reopened as Hollywood Live Entertainment Pavilion at an additional cost to all places. Hollywood Live only takes place in a short time.
For the 1995 Toy Story premiere in the building next to El Capitan Theater, Disney rented a building for Totally Toy Story, a multimedia funhouse promotional event for the film. In mid-July 1998, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution bought buildings from bankrupt individuals for $ 3.6 million to continue to use them as promotional venues.
El Capitan Entertainment Center
In 2002, after a massive renovation, Disney reopened the building as the El Capitan Entertainment Center. Disney restored original equipment, including a light-emulated illuminated stone filigree, wrought-iron matches, Batchelder tiles, and old post office boxes used by Masonic officers.
On January 26, 2003 , Jimmy Kimmel Live! aired in the entertainment center, its regular location.
Maps Hollywood Masonic Temple
See also
Media related to Hollywood Masonic Temple on Wikimedia Commons
- Los Angeles Culture-Historic Monument in Hollywood
- List of Registered Historic Places in Los Angeles
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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