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Image / KEHE/KFI Radio Broadcast Studio Building

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Title
KEHE/KFI Radio Broadcast Studio Building
Alternative Title
Los Angeles County Building Survey Photo Collection;
Creator
Zimmerman, Tom
Contributor
Photographs taken for Historic American Buildings Survey or the Historic Landscapes Survey: documentation is on file
Date Created and/or Issued
2002
Publication Information
Heritage Documentation Programs (U.S.).; Historic American Buildings Survey
Contributing Institution
Los Angeles Public Library
Collection
Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection
Rights Information
Images available for reproduction and use. Please see the Ordering & Use page at http://tessa.lapl.org/OrderingUse.html for additional information.
Description
Title supplied by cataloger.; Photographs taken as part of the Historic American Building Survey which includes a narrative report and documentation of the KEHE/KFI Radio Broadcast Studio Building.
Located at 141 North Vermont Avenue, the KEHE/KFI Radio Broadcast Studio Building was built in 1936, designed by Stiles O. Clements of the architectural firm of Morgan, Walls, and Clements. It was built in the Streamline Moderne architectural style with a central stepped pylon tower balanced between two wings decorated with horizontal moldings. The overall aesthetic generated is one of horizontal stability and vertical energy which symbolized the new mode of motorized living prevalent in the 1930's. The KEHE studio was originally constructed for the Hearst Radio, Inc. but was sold in 1939 to Earle C. Anthony who owned both KFI and KECA. KFI ran in the studio until it was sold in 1975. Subsquently the building has been used by the Koreatown community, housing first the Korean Theatre, then the Korea Times L.A. Inc. between the 1980's and 1990's, and most recently, the Korean Community Cultural Center. In 2003, the KEHE/KFI Radio Broadcast Studio Building was demolished to make room for the LAUSD Belmont Elementary School No. 6 despite its eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places and its significance as a historical example of Streamline Moderne architecture.
View of the east facade of the KEHE/KFI Radio Broadcast studio on North Vermont Avenue, looking southwest. Scrolled grilles, inconsistent with the building's original streamlined design, fence in the boarded up windows that line the front of the graffiti covered exterior. The strip of unpaved ground at the foot of the building was originally planted with small shrubs and flowers.
Type
image
Format
1 negative :safety ;10 x 13 cm.
Photographic safety negatives
Identifier
00111550
Los Angeles County Building Survey Collection;
GPC_b96_f3_i3
CARL0005237268
http://173.196.26.125/cdm/ref/collection/photos/id/126
Subject
KEHE (Radio station : Los Angeles, Calif.)
KFI (Radio station : Los Angeles, Calif.)
Radio stations--California--Los Angeles
Broadcasting studios--California--Los Angeles
Art deco (Architecture)--California--Los Angeles
Lost architecture--California--Los Angeles
Graffiti--California--Los Angeles
Grilles--California--Los Angeles
Sidewalks--California--Los Angeles
Vermont Avenue (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Historic American Buildings Survey Collection photographs
Heritage Documentation Programs Collection photographs
Clements, Stiles Oliver,1883-1966
Morgan, Walls & Clements
Los Angeles Unified School District

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