Eastern Columbia Building
Los Angeles, CA Photo courtesy Chris & Ginger
With turquoise terra cotta, gold accents, and a clock tower above Broadway, the Eastern Columbia Building doesn’t need much help standing out. Designed by Claud Beelman, the 13-story landmark opened on September 12, 1930, for the Eastern Outfitting and Columbia Outfitting companies. 07-07
The stores below once gave shoppers a reason to step inside, while the exterior gave passing motorists something to admire. Even among downtown’s collection of old buildings, this one makes a strong case for looking up.
UPDATE: A 2006 conversion created the Eastern Columbia Lofts, giving the former commercial building a residential future. Its colorful exterior and familiar clock tower remain among downtown Los Angeles’ most recognizable sights. 10-26
Cool A Coo (Gone)
Whittier, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Ever enjoy a Cool-A-Coo at a Dodger game and wonder where that chocolate-covered ice cream sandwich came from? This old plant on Hadley Street in Whittier offers a look behind the stadium treat. Its rooftop sign greeted passing motorists and trains for decades.
Vanilla ice cream, oatmeal cookies, and a chocolate coating made a combination that could compete with the action on the field. The sandwiches became a familiar part of Southern California outings, including games at Dodger Stadium and events at the Rose Bowl and Coliseum.
UPDATE: Ice cream production ended at the old Hadley Street plant, and the Cool-A-Coo rooftop sign was removed. The building found other commercial and industrial uses, leaving this view as a reminder of a particularly sweet piece of Whittier history. 10-26
Los Angeles Convention Center (Rem.)
Los Angeles, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Before the newer glass-and-steel additions arrived, the Los Angeles Convention Center greeted visitors with broad concrete walls and bold block lettering. The older frontage had a different look from the expanded complex, with the building’s name doing its advertising on a suitably large scale.
Designed by Charles Luckman, the convention center opened in 1971. Trade shows, automobile displays, and other gatherings brought crowds through its doors, while the 1984 Olympics added another chapter to its history.
Expansion changed the surrounding blocks considerably. The South Hall arrived in 1993, and the North Hall was demolished in 1998 to make room for Staples Center. What had been a convention-center address became part of a much larger entertainment district.
UPDATE: The convention center’s history identifies the North Hall as the section removed for the arena, rather than the entire original complex. This old view catches the earlier concrete frontage and lettering before the surrounding skyline became quite so crowded. 10-26
Samson Tire Company - The Citadel (Closed)
City of Commerce, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Those fortress walls beside Interstate 5 weren’t built to guard a shopping bargain. The Samson Tire & Rubber Company gave its factory an entrance inspired by ancient Assyrian architecture, creating one of the more unexpected sights along the drive through Commerce.
Opened in 1930 and designed by Morgan, Walls & Clements, the plant featured an enormous decorated frontage with winged figures, royal imagery, and elaborate relief work. Apparently an ordinary factory gate wouldn’t do when there were tires to manufacture.
The factory eventually closed in 1978. Rather than losing the entire landmark, redevelopment retained the long ornamental wall and portions of the historic complex while replacing much of the industrial space behind it.
Shopping bags took the place of factory output when the Citadel outlet center opened in 1990. The change brought a new reason to pull off the freeway, though the old walls remained the main attraction from the road.
UPDATE: The former Samson plant became Citadel Outlets, preserving its remarkable Assyrian-style frontage through the conversion. Much of the factory behind it disappeared, but the familiar fortress still gives this stretch of freeway a greeting unlike any ordinary shopping center. 10-26
Sears Roebuck (Closed)
Los Angeles, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The towering Sears, Roebuck & Company building at Olympic Boulevard and Soto Street needed little help getting noticed. Whether approaching through Boyle Heights or passing on the freeway, generations of shoppers recognized the enormous building long before reaching its doors 07-06
Opened in 1927 and designed by George C. Nimmons, the complex combined a retail store with a vast mail-order operation serving the western United States. Construction reportedly took just 146 days, quite a pace for a building that would remain part of the neighborhood for nearly a century.
Sears
Los Angeles, CA Photo courtesy Steve Snyder
The tower gave this working distribution center a place on the Los Angeles skyline. Down below, merchandise moved through the sprawling complex as catalog orders connected customers far beyond the city with everything from clothing to household goods.
Inside the store, the memories were often smaller and sweeter. Popcorn, candy counters, and family shopping trips gave the enormous place a familiar neighborhood side. Buying an appliance might have been the reason for visiting, but it wasn’t necessarily the part everyone remembered.
Sears Neon Lettering
Los Angeles, CA Photo courtesy Steve Snyder
The mail-order operation ended before the ground-floor store, which continued welcoming customers for decades afterward. That final retail chapter came to an end in April 2021, nearly 94 years after the building opened. Another familiar department-store stop had joined the closed-for-good list.
The building itself earned city landmark designation in 1983 and a place on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. Fortunately, the end of shopping here didn’t mean the end of the old Sears tower.
UPDATE: The Boyle Heights Sears store closed in April 2021, leaving the massive complex awaiting another chapter. Redevelopment proposals have come and gone, but the familiar tower remains above Olympic and Soto, recalling the days of catalog orders, candy counters, and a shopping trip that could take up a good part of the afternoon. 10-26
Eastern Columbia Building
Cool A Coo (Gone)
Los Angeles Convention Center (Rem.)
Samson Tire Company - The Citadel (Closed)
Sears Roebuck (Closed)
Sears
Sears Neon Lettering
