Remembering Bullocks Wilshire

It's been closed now for nearly 15 years, yet Bullocks Wilshire is still fondly remembered by Angelenos as Los Angeles' showcase department store. The building, now in use by Southwestern Law School, is one of the best examples of adaptive reuse in all of L.A.

Bullocks Wilshire -- the first department store in L.A. built for the automotive revolution -- catered to Hollywood's Golden Age of stars. When it was built in 1929, Bullocks Wilshire was surrounded by residential homes, in what was then considered the suburbs (can you imagine that now!). The location was actually originally known as Bullock's, until the apostrophe was dropped in the 1970s to distinguish it from the regular Bullock's department stores.

The Times' Cecilia Rassmussen includes that and other tidbits in her L.A. Then and Now column this week:

On Sept. 26, 1929, the doors opened at the five-story building with a distinctive terra cotta and copper facade and a 241-foot tower that drew the eye from far down the boulevard. At night, the tower was alight until World War II, when it was darkened to shield it from possible enemy bombers.

"Like a jewel of jade upon the breast of a titan goddess, Bullocks Wilshire gleams against the California sky," The Times announced.

Dubbed "the Cathedral of Commerce," the grand edifice was built as a paean to automobile culture. Showcase display windows along the sidewalk were designed to catch motorists' eyes.

Its imposing entrance was in the rear, where a dramatic circular driveway swept up to uniformed valets who parked cars and greeted shoppers under a richly colored Herman Sachs ceiling fresco that depicted the world of transportation: a zeppelin, an airplane and a luxury ocean liner.

When it opened, the store was one of only three commercial buildings in the mid-Wilshire area, along with the Brown Derby and the Ambassador Hotel.

Macy's, which purchased Bullock's in the late 1980s, shut down Bullocks Wilshire in 1993 and eliminated the Bullock's name entirely.

A few years ago, I got to take a tour of the Bullock's Wilshire building, and see how Southwestern had adapted it, during an L.A. Conservancy tour. The famous tea room, for example, now serves as a cafeteria.

The building will next be open on July 28 for two rare tours. The Times says reservations are required for what's been dubbed "Tea and Tour": (213) 738-6814 or events@swlaw.edu. Proceeds go to Friends of the Bullocks Wilshire.