Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality
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Not sure about the Equator's neighbor but I do know that the Equator itself has been around a long time - think it opened in the 80's. Back then, Old Town was known as Pasadena's "Skid Row" but it was also an area full of old hippies, artists, and bohemians and there was a ton of cool stuff going on there artistically, from punk bands to avant-garde . I was a bit too young to remember many exact details but I just asked a friend whose dad was a big part of that scene what was going on at the Equator back then. A few blocks over there was also the E-Bar which operated out of the Vandervort Building at 34 S. Raymond which was another hub for the creative types in the neighborhood. That also reminds me of Hotel Carver/Doty Block, where many of those same folks lived during the 70's and 80's (I could swear we've covered on NLA but I couldn't find anything).
The Wikipedia article on the Hotel Carver is a pretty interesting read. It was also, incidentally, designed by Frederick L. Roerhig, whom we mentioned recently in regards to his Rindge House in LA.
Late 1800's:
http://socalarchhistory.blogspot.com...architect.html
1983:
http://www.mlopezcounselingservicesf...806964.jpg?330
Hometown-Pasadena.com
Present-day-ish:
http://www.mlopezcounselingservicesf...18926_orig.jpg
As a child, I remember the esoteric words painted on the north wall of the building quite well:
http://www.mlopezcounselingservicesf...833867.jpg?322
It reads,
"“’My people are the people of the dessert,’” said T.E. Lawrence picking up his fork.”
Part of the wall collapsed in the 1987 Whitter quake, and that spelled the end of that (pun intended), though the building was fortunately rehabbed. I've got a photo that I took myself (somewhere) of the words when I was a kid - I need to dig it up. Someone even took the time to track down the guy who painted the mural -
article here.