The pages on the United Artists: history | vintage exterior views | recent exterior views | outer lobby | inner lobby | lounges | upper lobby areas | earlier auditorium views | recent auditorium views | projection | stage and stage basement | other basement areas | attic | office building/hotel interior | roof |
A north view, with the base of the tower at right. This level at the base of the tower is two floors above the larger roof area where Ace's new bar and pool area are located. A staircase leads from the pool level up to the elevator equipment level.
At that level one up from the bar there's also storage and support gear for the bar operation. A ladder from that level gets you up to the base of the tower as seen here. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
The support structure for the tower. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
A skyward late afternoon view up the restored tower. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
Up inside the tower. It's lit both inside and out. The black beasts at the bottom of the photo are floods that give a nice backlight to the tower's filigree work. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
A splendid 2013 look up inside the tower that once appeared on the Ace Hotel Facebook page.
Looking down in the canyon of Broadway toward the Orpheum from the UA tower level. Photo: Hunter Kerhart - October 2012. Keep up with Hunter's explorations: Hunter on Facebook | hunterkerhart.com | on Flickr
The view looking to the northwest. Photo: Hunter Kerhart - October 2012
You get to the tower level up this ladder from the elevator equipment room level below. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
Looking east on the elevator equipment level. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
A pre-renovation look at the elevator equipment level. Photo: Pat Lile - Coldwell Banker Pasadena - 2009. Thanks to Pat Lile for her great photo set. She brokered the sale of the building from the church to Greenfield Partners and Ace Hotels.
The door to one of the elevator equipment areas. Space not needed for the main lobby elevator bank equipment has been partitioned off for use as storage and support areas for the bar level below. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
Stairs down to the bar level. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
The elevator lobby at the bar/pool level. We're directly under the tower looking west. That open door on the right gets you up to the elevator equipment level above. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
Looking east into the bar area. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
Another view looking east. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
Old spotlights as a chandelier. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
The view north toward the Eastern Columbia Building. The photo was taken from the south side of the roof, near Ace's new pool. Note the Jesus Saves sign in the lower left. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
The pool on the roof south of the tower. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
New HVAC gear on the stagehouse roof. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
The Jesus sign on the stagehouse roof lights up again. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
The pages on the United Artists: history | vintage exterior views | recent exterior views | outer lobby | inner lobby | lounges | upper lobby areas | earlier auditorium views | recent auditorium views | projection | stage and stage basement | other basement areas | attic | office building/hotel interior | back to top - roof | 
New HVAC gear on the stagehouse roof. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
The Jesus sign on the stagehouse roof lights up again. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
The fan room area above the theatre's projection booth. The gas furnaces and ductwork are a retrofit done some decades past to replace the original boiler and steam coil installation. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
The north patio. We're looking south toward the bar and elevator lobby under the tower. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
Looking north on the north patio. Broadway is to the right. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
The view up Broadway out the corner window. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
A west view from the north patio. Off to the right is a new elevator as well as exit stairs. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
The north roof during construction. Note the construction elevator peeking above the top of the roof. Photo: Hunter Kerhart - October 2012
The north roof pre-construction. This area north of the tower is now Ace's wonderful lounge area. Photo: 2009 - courtesy of Pat Lile - Coldwell Banker Pasadena
An east parapet wall view. Much of the ornament atop the wall was removed decades earlier. Photo: Hunter Kerhart - October 2012
A vintage view looking east over the parapet wall. The caption in the undated photo from the Los Angeles Public Library says: "Busts of medieval men look out over the rooftop of the United Artists Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles that faces the Rives-Strong Building at 9th and Main."
The tower from the north roof. Putting a non-occupied tower atop a building and calling it a sign support was a device commonly used to add height to a building in the 20s and 30s yet skirt L.A.'s building code height limits. The limits were inspired by the desire to avoid dark canyons downtown. A secondary reason was perhaps concern about earthquakes. Photo: 2009 - courtesy of Pat Lile - Coldwell Banker Pasadena
For years the United Artists was the tallest privately owned building downtown. Only City Hall was taller. The top level, which once had Texaco signs on all four sides, is made of sheet metal.
A look up at the top. Photo: 2009 - courtesy of Pat Lile - Coldwell Banker Pasadena
The tower from the south roof. Note that you can look through the tower to the north part of the roof. The radio tower on the far right is on top of the Arcade Building. Photo: Hunter Kerhart - October 2012
Ace's pool area is now in this space south of the tower. In through the door is the elevator lobby and new bar. One level above that are the elevator equipment rooms and bar support spaces. Above those two floors you're at the tower itself.
Ace's pool area is now in this space south of the tower. In through the door is the elevator lobby and new bar. One level above that are the elevator equipment rooms and bar support spaces. Above those two floors you're at the tower itself.
A detail of the cast stone up on the tower. Photo: Hunter Kerhart - October 2012
A last pre-renovation view of the tower. Photo: Hunter Kerhart - October 2012
A drone's eye view of the renovated rooftop. Ian Wood spent several months in 2014 shooting downtown theatres and other historic buildings from a drone that resembled "a mutant chicken" for his "Downtown Los Angeles." It's four minutes and forty five seconds of wonder that's not to be missed. It's on Vimeo.
Down a few floors: the theatre's roof and Jesus. Photo: Bill Counter - January 2014
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