THE PAN-PACIFIC FIRE : Post-Moderne : Plans to Renovate the Auditorium Go Up in Smoke

To the satisfaction of some of its neighbors, the historic Pan Pacific Auditorium’s destruction almost certainly marked a fiery end to controversial plans for commercial renovation of the cavernous and long-vacant indoor arena.

With the still-smoking building and a fire engine as backdrop, officials who had backed the county-sponsored plans for a $14.6-million renovation of the site said Thursday that they would be lucky to salvage the 54-year-old building’s striking Streamline Moderne facade.

“We want to make sure that we can save . . . the remnants of what was a very historic building,� Los Angeles County Supervisor Ed Edelman said.

Meanwhile, fire investigators said they had not determined the cause of the Wednesday night fire--officially labeled suspicious--but were pursuing reports that two unauthorized men had been seen inside the boarded-up building just before the blaze broke out shortly after 7 p.m.

Edelman and Los Angeles City Councilmen John Ferraro and Zev Yaroslavsky advised developers to abandon plans to restore Pan Pacific, which has been vacant since 1971.

Opponents of the renovation had feared that the reopening--which would have included an ice-skating rink, theaters and shops--would bring crime, traffic, late-night noises, graffiti and parking problems to the neighborhood.

Edelman said further that any attempt to build a structure on the same scale as the Pan Pacific on the site at 7600 Beverly Boulevard “would be met with very strong opposition.�

Robin Gostin, a vocal opponent of county restoration plans, concurred.

“I’m sad to see the monument gone, but I’m not sad to see the building gone,� said Gostin, vice president of the Rancho La Brea Neighborhood Assn.

Apart from trying to save the architecturally distinctive facade, Ferraro said planning for the site should center on more modest uses, such as senior housing or parking for the Pan Pacific county park, which is just south of the arena.

Yaroslavsky, who lives four blocks from the auditorium, added that the fire had created “a broader set of options� because restoration plans for the structure, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, had been proceeding under strict guidelines. As an example, he said, among the options that had been barred by the restoration requirements was relocation of the facade to Beverly Boulevard, where space is available.

While officials contemplated what could be done with the site, others mourned the loss of what was once the premier indoor sports and entertainment facility in Los Angeles.

“It’s a shame, really,� said Amarjit S. Marwah, president of the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission. “We have so few historic structures.�

Christy McAvoy, the Los Angeles Conservancy’s preservation expert, said the Pan Pacific was “Los Angeles’ primary example of Streamline Moderne, the architectural style (of the 1930s) which articulated the country’s love of transportation, speed and progress.�

Its style stemmed from the personal taste of Clifford W. Henderson, developer of the Pan Pacific, who loved aviation.

“He liked things with uplift,� his widow, Marian Henderson, said. Henderson held a design contest, and the then-2-year-old firm of Welton Becket won with its facade featuring rounded wing-like pylons. Officials of the firm, which became internationally known because of the Pan Pacific, came to the site Thursday with an offer to assist in any restoration effort.

“We’ve been supportive of efforts to preserve the building and especially the western facade,� said Louis M. Naidorf, senior vice president of Ellerbe Becket, the successor firm. “It is the city’s history and our firm’s history as well.�

Jay Rounds, executive director of the preservationist Los Angeles Conservancy, called for a grass-roots effort to assist in restoration similar to the extraordinary volunteer outpouring after the 1986 fires at the Los Angeles Central Library.

“The library has come back,� said Rounds. “Now we are challenged by the fire at Pan Pacific.�

The county had reached a preliminary agreement in November with the architectural and development team of Kornwasser & Friedman/Goldrich & Kest. It called for the county to receive an estimated $3.8 million in rent in the first 10 years of the project. Officials hoped the money would defray the cost of maintaining the state-owned Pan Pacific Park, which adjoins the auditorium site and is administered by the county.

With a total area of 116,700 square feet, the renovation project would have cost an estimated $14.6 million, according to documents submitted to the supervisors in November. It would have included an ice-skating rink, gymnastics facility, movie theaters, food court, restaurants, a sporting goods shop, park offices and meeting rooms for community groups.

Although the project had not received final approval, it had been making progress in overcoming bureaucratic hurdles. The deadline for commenting on a draft environmental impact report was next month.

None of which escaped neighborhood opponents of the plans who came out in force to watch the fire.

“When we were standing outside watching this incredible blaze, everybody had some memories of the Pan Pacific. It’s something we shared together and that was beautiful. But we certainly don’t need the commercial use there now,� Gostin said.

Now a Fairfax High School teacher, Gostin was raised nearby and has fond memories of going to the auditorium to see the Harlem Globetrotters and the Ice Capades.

But her attitude changed as fears of crime and congestion grew. Graffiti and late-night noise were bad enough when the building stood empty, Gostin said. If anything commercial were to go in, the situation would only get worse, she said.

Meanwhile, Fire Marshal Craig Drummond said preliminary interviews with a man reported near the scene during the early moments of the fire indicated that he was a passer-by who stopped to help. Drummond added that the man, whose identity has not been released, is not an arson suspect.

However, he said investigators were trying to confirm two reports that two men who did not have permission to be inside the Pan Pacific were spotted there just before the fire.