LOS ANGELES, August 24, 2004 - Downtown L.A.'s most historic commercial and entertainment district is getting a facelift. Through the assistance of Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the Los Angeles Conservancy is pleased to announce the first award recipients in its Historic Broadway Façade Rehabilitation Grant Program. Seven buildings in the Broadway National Register Historic District will receive funds for façade rehabilitation, helping building owners and tenants improve the economic health of the district by enhancing its historic and visual character.

"Broadway is the heart of downtown and I am delighted that the property owners and Conservancy will be working together to fix up this important street," says Congresswoman Roybal-Allard, whose district encompasses the downtown area. "Historic buildings are tangible records of the city's history and evolution - these façade grants will ensure that this history is preserved and celebrated well into the future."

Each project will receive from $23,400 to $100,000 to assist in construction work for improvements such as cleaning, repair, decorative lighting, and restoration or reconstruction of historic features. Cumulatively, the proposed project awards total almost $584,000. As a result of the dollar-for-dollar matching requirement, the grand total to be invested in façade rehabilitation will be over $1.1 million.

"For the first time in many years, the Conservancy will be able to help these historic building owners with more than just good advice," says Trudi Sandmeier, Broadway Initiative Coordinator for the Conservancy and administrator of the grant program. "The ability to provide financial assistance for the physical revitalization of these amazing historic buildings is a dream come true."

The award recipients are (from north to south on Broadway):

Chester Williams Building , 452 S. Broadway (1926, Curlett & Beelman)
Located on the northeast corner of Broadway and Fifth Street , the Chester Williams Building has a distinctive twelve-story façade. Named for one of downtown's original real estate moguls who owned the land on which the building is built, the building cost over $1.5 million to construct and took only 7 ½ months to build.

Jewelry Trades Building , 500 S. Broadway (1912, Morgan, Walls & Morgan)
Not surprisingly, this commercial building has long been the home of jewelry manufacturing and sales offices. Originally named the Title Guarantee Block, this building serves as a strong corner anchor of Broadway and Fifth Street .

Roxie Theatre , 516 S. Broadway (1932, J.M. Cooper)
The last of the movie palaces built on Broadway, this charming art deco theater, now used for retail, once held 1600 seats.

Mercantile Arcade Building , 540 S. Broadway (1924, Kenneth MacDonald)
One of downtown's most unique buildings, the Mercantile Arcade is actually two twelve -story towers connected by a three-story retail shopping arcade. The tower buildings are undergoing adaptive reuse as housing, and the shopping arcade will be restored. Located midway between Fifth Street and Sixth Street on Broadway, this building serves as an important pedestrian connection between Broadway and Spring Street.

Orpheum Theatre and Lofts , 842 S. Broadway (1925, Schultze & Weaver)
Topped by 37 new loft apartments, this recently restored grand movie palace was once the host of vaudeville greats. With its restored neon signage and opulent interiors, the Orpheum is again host to movie premieres and concerts.

Ninth and Broadway Building , 850 S. Broadway (1929, Claude Beelman)
This art deco commercial building was designed by the same architect as the adjacent Eastern Columbia building and serves as a wonderful visual anchor to the northeast corner of Broadway and Ninth Street.

Blackstone Department Store , 901 S. Broadway (1918, John Parkinson)
Located diagonally across the intersection from the Ninth and Broadway Building , this structure currently being converted to housing, was once the flagship location for the Blackstone Department Store.

An independent jury of preservation architects and redevelopment professionals selected the award recipients based on criteria including the building's current condition, its historic significance, the improvements' potential visual impact on the overall historic district, and project readiness. Projects also must comply with the Historic Downtown Los Angeles Design Guidelines, which the Conservancy developed in 2002 in cooperation with the downtown business improvement districts and other downtown stakeholders. (The guidelines are available in the Broadway Initiative section of the Conservancy website at www.laconservancy.org .) The Conservancy will work with the property owners over the next five years to ensure proper maintenance of the façade improvements.

The Los Angeles Conservancy is a nonprofit membership organization that works through education and advocacy to recognize, preserve, and revitalize the historic architectural and cultural resources of Los Angeles County . What began as a volunteer group in 1978 has grown to more than 8,500 members, making the Conservancy the largest organization of its kind in the U.S. The Conservancy's Broadway Initiative is a unique proactive effort to restore Broadway and the surrounding historic downtown by taking a leadership role in their revitalization. The Initiative works to help realize a vision of historic downtown as a vibrant, 24-hour urban center with diverse uses, diverse users, and activity throughout the day and night, all of which results from - and fosters - the preservation and reinvigoration of the historic downtown core.