The Trinity Auditorium, later known as the Embassy Hotel, is a historic building in Los Angeles, California. It was built as a plant for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1914. The Los Angeles Philharmonic debuted in this auditorium in 1919. It was used for jazz and rock concerts as well as labor union meetings from the 1920s to the 1950s. It was an annex of the University of Southern California from 1987 to 1998, when it was sold to the New York-based Chetrit Group. As of 2015, it has been vacant for more than a decade, with plans to remodel it into a new hotel.
1917 Jan 5 Los Angeles Evening Express ad for premiere of The Play of Everyman by George Sterling
Beyond Methodist services, the auditorium was used to show silent films. For example, actress Norma Talmadge watched a film she starred in, The Battle Cry of Peace, in this auditorium in 1915.[3] Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Philharmonic debuted here in 1919.[3] From the 1920s to the 1950s, the auditorium was used as a venue for labor union meetings.[3] Additionally, from the 1930s to the 1950s, jazz artists like Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Charlie Parker performed here.[3] By the 1960s, the auditorium was used for rock concerts.[3]
By 2005, the Chetrit Group decided to remodel the building as the Gansevoort West hotel scheduled for 2006.[3] The new hotel was supposed to be an LA version of the Hotel Gansevoort in New York City.[3] However, by 2007, the project had been cancelled.[5] By 2012, the owners decided to turn it into another hotel called the Empire Hotel,[6] with "183 hotel rooms, a groundfloor restaurant, an outdoor garden, a bar, and an entertainment venue."[7] The remodel was still underway in 2014.[7][8]
References
^ ab"Embassy Hotel & Auditorium". Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. University of Southern California. Retrieved October 10, 2015.