Former Ambassador Hotel Site Houses Schools, Art and a Park

The former site of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles now accommodates six pilot schools, K-12. The guest list of the historic hotel reads like a Who's Who reference, including a number of U.S. presidents and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Sen. Robert Kennedy, of course, was assassinated in the pantry of the hotel in 1968 during his presidential bid. On a lighter note, the Ambassador lobby was the setting in the Graduate where Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) first rendezvoused with Mrs. Robinson (Ann Bancroft).

The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles opened in 1921. Back in the day the Ambassador hosted six Academy Awards ceremonies (in the Cocoanut Grove), and was Howard Hughes' personal headquarters. When the iconic hotel closed its doors in 1989, the Los Angeles Unified School District gained ownership of the property, with plans to build schools. The Los Angeles Conservancy and seven other plaintiffs fought to save the hotel from demolition, but surrendered the fight in 2005.

 


''Keeley's Garden, Labyrinth 1'' by Lynn Goodpasture is a new art installation at the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools on the former site of the Ambassador Hotel. The designs for the custom French encaustic tiles derived from the classic decorative tiles that used to be found throughout the hotel.

The labyrinth has 11 large basalt slabs to allow students to express themselves in chalk.

The first school completed on the old Ambassador site in the Pico-Union/Korea Town neighborhood of Los Angeles, was a K-5 charter school for more than 800 students, which opened Sept. 9, 2009. By September 13, 2010, six pilot schools were built and instructing students in grades kindergarten through 12. The schools, in toto, are referred to as the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools.

The schools feature two pieces of public art. A 2004 environmental impact report mandated all public artwork at the site relate to the hotel or its history. The 3-D mural photo collage by artist Gale McCall has images of the old hotel.

A close up of the flower motif of the labyrinth.

In front of the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools at street level is the ''Robert F. Kennedy Inspiration Park,'' which opened to the public in Sept. 2010. The walls of this 6-by-24-foot stainless steel entryway, by Gonzalez Goodale Architects, are engraved with passages from Robert Kennedy's speeches.

''My goal for this artwork is to connect with people in a personal way and offer inspiration for creative thought and action,'' explains Lynn Goodpasture, the artist/designer. ''It provides a place for young students to express their own creativity in a public space. The contemplative aspect of the labyrinth also makes it a fitting art form here, given the historical significance of the Ambassador site.''