My regular readers may be wondering where I’ve been lately. The answer is all over town.
Two magazine writing gigs, plus continued work on my book have kept me plenty busy. Add to that a documentary film class that I started at the Echo Park Film Center a couple of weeks ago, and you’ve got the makings of one very scarce blogger.
Of all my present adventures, though, the filmmaking class is proving the most fun. My subject is Old Calvary Cemetery, which disappeared from the Angeleno landscape almost a century ago. For background, I plan to reference other historic L.A. graveyards that suffered equally unfortunate run-ins with bulldozers. Consequently, I’ve been scurrying to and fro, researching, scouting and shooting various locations.
Which brings us to the photo above. Expressively modern, the recently completed Central High School No. 9 towers atop Ft. Moore Hill, once the site of L.A.’s first Protestant burial ground. With a reported price tag of $232 million, it’s L.A.’s second most costly school to date, and replaces the Board of Education headquarters that occupied the hill for decades. Although locals regularly refer to it as the Grand Avenue Arts School, the facility still lacks an official name.
Many have criticized the project, but I find the architecture inspiring. Still, walking the site, the preservationist in me couldn’t help but feel a little wistful about all the forgotten history beneath my sneakers.
As I focused my lens, the storm clouds surrounding the structure darkened dramatically, lending the scene a symbolic aura. Suddenly, the impressive stack of concrete, glass and metal seemed less to me a school than a giant cairn erected by a city that sadly buries its past as quick and deep as its dead.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
This building is amazing! Congratulations on going to film school! Can’t wait to see what you create… will you post some of your assignments and projects?
There will be another chapter written on the Protestant Burial Ground (City Cemetery).
Hmmn… Sounds ominous… But I’m looking forward to whatever it is. –MI