XANADU FALLS ON HARD TIMES

1981 Photos of The Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles, Ca.

Built in 1935, the auditorium closed in 1972.

A cinematically spruced-up version appeared in the sensational 1980 roller-disco musical, "Xanadu" and that's the way most people remember it.

Alas, Los Angeles, a city with a notorious reputation for ignoring its history, allowed the landmark site to fall into disrepair and neglect, and on May 24, 1989 The Pan Pacific Auditorium burned down.

What We Have Have Made Is Real: We Are In Xanadu

Back in 2002, at a Santa Monica, California exercise studio, dancer Ken Anderson held a "Xanadu-Weekend" of special classes and events in celebration of the iconically camp 1980 movie starring Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly. Here is the entrance to the studio, retrofitted and created exclusively by Bruce Zwinge to capture the look and feel of the roller disco in the movie. The huge "Xanadu" sign is plywood and the terrific Pan Pacific Auditorium "fins" that grace the doorway are ingeniously crafted out of cardboard.

Bruce Zwinge & Ken Anderson

Bruce Zwinge's construction of the famous Pan Pacific Streamline Moderne fins in various states of completion.
Hard to believe that one man was responsible for transforming the old Voight fitness studio into a real-life Xanadu for this special event. His work is nothing short of AMAZING!

Workshop Close up of Bruce Zwinge's construction of the enormous ELO logo that graced the wall of the studio for the Xanadu Weekend classes (pic of final result, below)

Bruce Zwinge made 6 "Xanadu Flags" to adorn the interior of the studio. Each flag has an airbrushed "X" on it in the familiar Xanadu font. Photo is of the flags in his workshop. Hard to get a sense of scale here, but the flagpoles were well over 6 feet tall and the flags themselves were the size of three king-sized sheets

For more info about that special weekend, check out this link: http://www.xanadu-fitness.com/news.html

Statues: aka "Pigeon Provacateurs"

 Statues at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Hollywood Hills

Lincoln statue  Forest Lawn

Oversized Head (the one on the right) Mesoamerican Plaza, Forest Lawn Cemetery,
Hollywood Hills

Los Feliz, California

King Carlos III of Spain
El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Park

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

Sign for  Ace Pipe & Steel in Merced, CA.
I know nothing about what a good pipe & steel company is capable of, but if they can make a pipe big enough for a bull to walk through, they're ace's in my book 

Big Chief Cigars sign atop a Los Angeles smoking shop

Indeed...
Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles

Bob's Big Boy in Burbank, CA
Built in 1949, the oldest remaining Bob's Big Boy location

Stars Fall on Observatory

Griffith Observatory, Griffith Park    Los Angeles, Ca.

That's a really big clock you've got there, mister!

Giant-sized cuckoo clock advertising installation at Hollywood and Highland Center in Hollywood, CA.

R.S.V.P., Peonies