Ebell of Los Angeles research and restoration keep historians, volunteers busy

| March 28, 2013 | 0 Comments
HISTORY, RESTORATION projects underway at Ebell.

HISTORY, RESTORATION projects underway at Ebell.

EBELL doors

ENTRY GATES facing Wilshire Blvd. were designed by William Chard and incorporate masks of comedy and tragedy.

Every nook and cranny of the 84-year-old Ebell of Los Angeles building at 4400 Wilshire Blvd. is being documented. “We have found original photographs and drawings, and closets that could be considered rooms,” said Caroline Moser, the club’s third vice president who is overseeing the report. “There are even original bills for the lighting fixtures.”

Also working on the study are Portia Lee, an architectural historian, and John Heller, an historical architect. The information will be included in an Historic Structures Report. “The report will be the ‘bible’ of the building,” she added.

The 70,000 square foot building recently underwent an exterior restoration. The work involved repairing fallen pieces of concrete where cracks allowed water to seep in.

The work was done by Spectra Company, a women-owned firm that also has conducted preservation and conservation work on the El Capitan and Pantages theaters. The roof also underwent repairs.

The club is named for Adrian Ebell, a professor and a promoter of women’s education, who formed study groups throughout California.The earliest club location was in the parlor of Emmie and Alice Parsons in 1894. The goals of the club were “to interest women in the study of all branches of literature, art and science and the advancement of women in every branch of culture.”

The present building was designed by architect Sumner Hunt and opened in 1927. It received the city’s Cultural Monument status in 1980 and was recognized in the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

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