Franklin Avenue

"You Know, It's That Big Building They Blew Up In 'Independence Day'!"
While parking in the Central Library (sorry, ahem, the "Richard J. Riordan Central Library"... puleeze...) this morning, I noticed the signage had changed on the building next door.

Yes, it was official. As we talked about several months ago, downtown's Library Tower has undergone another name change: It's now known as the US Bank Tower.

That, my friends, in a nutshell is what's so damn frustrating about Los Angeles. For as much as I trash East Coasters who come to town and can't wait to write a cliche-ridden essay about how L.A. has no identity, it stings because -- and I hate to admit this -- there's a kernel of truth to it.

This is L.A.'s tallest building -- hell, the tallest building west of the Mississippi. It's a symbol of our city. It dominates and defines the skyline. It's a part of Jay Leno's set backdrop. It regularly makes appearances in Hollywood features and TV shows. And no one knows what the hell the building is named.

C'mon, people. You go to Chicago, of course you know the Sears Tower and the John Hancock Center. New York, of course you know the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and even the Flatiron and Woolworth buildings. Could you imagine the uproar if they renamed the Sears Tower, even though Sears moved its headquarters to suburban Chicago in 1993...

But here in L.A., where nothing ever stays the same, so goes our towers. The building in question was developed in 1989 when the Central Library (sorry, ahem... nope. Wasn't Dickie Riordan's back then) sold off its air rights in order to rebuild after a series of mid-80s arson fires. The I.M. Pei-designed structure opened as the 73-story Library Tower.

But not for long. It soon was rechristened the First Interstate World Center. To further complicate matters, L.A. already had a First Interstate Tower (which had previously been the city's tallest building, and where First Interstate had headquarted before moving into the Library Tower).

But when Wells Fargo acquired First Interstate Bank, the building's owners, Maguire Partners, reverted the name back to "Library Tower."

At least, for a few years. And I really thought the name was beginning to stick too. But money talks. And when US Bank, the Library Tower's biggest tenant, coughed up the dough and signed a 12-year lease earlier this year... presto! We had a new winner!

Do an informal poll outside of downtown. Betcha not a single person knows the tower's name. They probably never even knew it as the Library Tower. It was just known as that tall building with the jagged crown on top -- you know. The one the aliens blew up at the start of "Independence Day." Sigh.