May Company Building (Wilshire, Los Angeles)

Completed in 1939, the Saban Building, formerly the May Company Building, on the Miracle Mile in the Wilshire district, Los Angeles, is a celebrated example of Streamline Moderne architecture. The building's architect Albert C. Martin, Sr., also designed the Million Dollar Theater and Los Angeles City Hall. The May Company Building is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.[2] The building was operated as a May Company department store from 1939 until 1992, when May merged with J. W. Robinson's to form Robinsons-May.

This article is about the May Company Building at Wilshire and Fairfax in Los Angeles. For other May Company buildings, see May Company Building (disambiguation).
May Company Building (Wilshire, Los Angeles)
May Company Wilshire Building as shown in the early 2000s as the LACMA West
Location6067 Wilshire Blvd. at Fairfax Ave., Wilshire district, Los Angeles
Coordinates34.0633°N 118.3610°W / 34.0633; -118.3610
Built1939
Built forMay Company
Original useDepartment store
Rebuilt2020 (expected)
ArchitectAlbert C. Martin, Sr.
Architectural style(s)Streamline Moderne
DesignatedSeptember 30, 1992[1]
Reference no.566[1]
Location in Western Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Conservancy calls it "the grandest example of Streamline Moderne remaining in Los Angeles". It is especially noted for its gold-tiled cylindrical section that faces the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard at Fairfax Avenue, of which it occupies the northeast corner.[3]

In 1994 the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) acquired the building and, as "LACMA West", used it as exhibition space for the museum.[4][5]

The building will be repurposed and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is set to open in the building in 2021.[6][7][8]

In 2017, the building was official renamed the Saban Building in honor of Cheryl and Haim Saban.[9][10][11] Plagued by cost overruns, construction was halted in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Academy officials still optimistically expects to have building opened by December 2020 as originally announced at the 92nd Academy Awards presentation in February 2020.[12]


References
  1. "Designated Historic-Cultural Monuments". Department of City Planning. City of Los Angeles. Retrieved 2014-07-22.
  2. Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission (July 1994). Historic-Cultural Monuments. City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department.
  3. "May Company Wilshire". Los Angeles Conservancy.
  4. "Overview". Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
  5. "May Co. Building to Reopen as LACMA West". Los Angeles Times. October 22, 1998.
  6. Academy Museum of Motion Pictures official website
  7. Boehm, Mike (2014-06-02). "Film academy to pay LACMA $36.1 million for movie museum lease". Los Angeles Times.
  8. "Academy Museum opening delayed to 2020". Curbed LA. 21 June 2019.
  9. Rottenberg, Josh (September 27, 2017). "$50 million gift from Cheryl and Haim Saban gives Motion Picture Academy museum a major boost". Los Angeles Times.
  10. "Academy Museum of Motion Pictures". Architect Magazine. October 6, 2017.
  11. "Historic May Company Building Undergoes Major Restoration and Transformation into Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Saban Building". Matt Construction.
  12. Thompson, Anne (March 19, 2020). "The Academy Museum Director Has a Path to Success: Just Let Him Do His Job". IndieWire.
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