Lou Ehlers Cadillac and Bob’s Big Boy

The Los Angeles Conservancy has published an epitaph on the latest “tragedy” to befall the city: the demolition of Lou Ehlers Cadillac at 5151 Wilshire and the adjoining Bob’s Big Boy Restaurant.

According to the LAC:

Opened in 1955, the Lou Ehlers showroom was designed by the noted firm of Stiles Clements Associate Architects. Floor-to-ceiling plate glass windows gave passing motorists and pedestrians unobstructed views of the showroom floor, while the use of Cadillac’s logo for immense script signage on the building’s exterior attracted customers from afar.

This past spring, I met two friends at the Wilshire Blvd. Bob’s Big Boy which is now being torn down. What impressed me the most was how bad the food, décor and service was. This was a place that might be appropriate for Elgin, IL in 1965: greasy, bland and ugly. Why do Angelenos go crazy over crap?

The Lou Ehlers showroom heralded the car culture and urban dysfunction of LA that has made much of the city so rootless and alienating. The structure was a rectangular box with a cursive Cadillac logo. That’s all it was.

These two buildings represented the decline of Wilshire from an earlier elegant road that had both pedestrian amenities up front and automobile conveniences behind. Up until WWII, Wilshire had fine hotels, nice stores and apartment and hotels that contributed to a vibrant and sophisticated boulevard.

Now we are seeing a revival of the old Wilshire. There are new apartments and pedestrian oriented development. The restoration and preservation of deserving landmarks such as the old Bullocks store is worthwhile. The erasure of the Ambassador Hotel was indeed tragic.

Korean entrepreneurs and LACMA are bringing new life to Wilshire after 50 years of neglect. Transit oriented apartments make it possible to walk and take the train back to the Valley.

But the smog contributing car dealer with the acres of asphalt and the greasy god-awful restaurant with the huge parking lot and suburban blandness do not merit accolades being poured upon their demise.