If you've ever tapped a toe, or snapped your fingers, or hummed along to a song, or shaken a proverbial tail-feather in this town, chances are pretty darn strong you did so at the Hollywood Palladium at one time or another.
The Sunset Boulevard performance-and-more venue had been around since 1940, after all, serving as a talked-about spot in a buzz-filled city, the place where up-and-comers made their debut while marquee-big names revisited the ditties that first sent them up, up, up the charts.
But here's something that may be a surprise: The Deco-sweet, Streamline Moderne gem doesn't have Historic-Cultural Monument status with the City of Los Angeles, though that will soon change.
The Cultural Heritage Commission recently voted to give the Palladium the landmark mantel, something supporters of local preservation have hoped for in the face of Tinseltown's booming development.
The commission noted a few findings, including the fact that the Hollywood Palladium "reflects the broad cultural, economic, and social history of the nation, state, or community" (full findings may be perused here).
And you don't have to look far from the Palladium's storied stage to find it: A pair of 30-story towers from development company Crescent Heights are on the way to that particular stretch of Sunset.
But an Historic-Cultural Monument designation means that the Palladium will keep on keepin' on in the face of the neighboring cranes and big digs.
The Scene
Want to find new things to do in Los Angeles? The Scene's lifestyle stories have you covered. Here's your go-to source on where the fun is across SoCal and for the weekend.
The landmark-lovely status was still up in the air, awaiting a Los Angeles City Council vote, which came just days before the close of September 2016. The result? The beloved ballroom was granted its Historic-Cultural Monument designation.
Did you see Jimi Hendrix there? Or Stevie Wonder? Megadeth? Tommy Dorsey? A whole calvacade of luminaries have tuned their guitars and/or swung their conductor batons and/or encouraged the crowd to sing along within those truly hallowed walls.
Historic-Cultural Monument designation dreams do happen around our history-packed region, such as in 2015, when fans of NORMS La Cienega worked to save the rock-and-glass Googie diner for generations of BLT-lovin', pancake-craving fans to come.
Stay tuned to see what the next song is for the new Historic-Cultural Monument at 6215 W. Sunset Boulevard. Want to get involved in our region's preservation drives and play a part?
Start here, with the LA Conservancy.
