Here we have an early example of Hollywood already demolishing its history to make way for new history. In this shot, we’re looking at the demolition of one of Hollywood’s earliest studios. Christie’s had been around since the 1910s, located on the northwest corner of Sunset Blvd and Gower St in Hollywood. But the 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression that forced the studio into receivership in 1933. In 1936, the CBS radio network bought the site and tore down the studios, which is what we’re seeing here, in order to make way for their West Coast radio studios, known as Columbia Square, which is where they relocated their flagship station, KNX.
Here is what the Christie studios looked like on May 7, 1927. (Note the Mission bell on the sidewalk. The Mission bell signifed the El Camino Real and were first set up in 1893. That bell now sits roughly a block away between the Chase bank and the old Motown/House of Blues building.)
And in this photo we’re seeing the groundbreaking ceremony for CBS’s KNX radio station which took place on April 27, 1937. The multi-million dollar facility opened on April 30, 1938 to great fanfare.
And this is how that corner looked in June 2022.
As usual, another boring looking building now sits in that spot. Looks like a shoe box not a building. Don’t architects have any sense of style anymore????
I could be wrong, but if you go around the corner up Gower it looks like the old building. They probable did some changes to the front?
I’m fairly sure they tore down the whole thing to make way for Columbia Square.
Yes, what I meant was the building for Columbia Square that was being built in 37 is the same. I also found a couple of photos from 1911 and 1913 of Christie Studios at that site. I never heard of them to you posted, Thanks.
It began as the site of Nestor Studios, where the very first films shot in Hollywood began. The citrus groves up towards Hollywood Blvd behind here are cited as the actual location where the earliest footage was made.[ Often reported as oranges, but perhaps a mistake since this was a lemon growers region even though other crops can be found around the area. Would be nice if someone could find evidence of orange tracts.]