Ovation Hollywood
Ovation Hollywood (formerly Hollywood & Highland) is a shopping center and entertainment complex at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States.
Coordinates
6801 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, California
90028
November 9, 2001
Hollywood & Highland
DJM and Gaw Capital
Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects
60
1 (Dolby Theatre)
640,000 sq ft (59,000 m2)
5 (retail)
On-street, parking garage
The 387,000-square-foot (36,000 m2) shopping center also includes the TCL Chinese Theatre, a historic movie palace, and the Dolby Theatre, an auditorium that has been home to the Academy Awards since 2002. The historic site was once the home of the famed Hollywood Hotel. Located in the heart of Hollywood, along the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it is among the most visited tourist destinations and shopping complexes in Los Angeles.
The complex sits just across Hollywood Blvd. from the El Capitan Theatre and offers views of the Hollywood Hills and Hollywood Sign to the north, Santa Monica Mountains to the west and downtown Los Angeles to the southeast. The centerpiece of the complex is a massive three-story courtyard inspired by the Babylon scene from the D.W. Griffith film Intolerance. The developer of the shopping center built parts of the archway and two pillars with elephant sculptures on the capitals, just as seen in the film, to the same full scale. It gives visitors an idea of how large the original set must have been.[1][2]
The center has more than 70 shops and 25 restaurants.[3] Major retail tenants that face Hollywood Boulevard include American Eagle Outfitters, Forever 21, and Sephora. The complex also houses a Lucky Strike Lanes bowling alley, and a nightclub.[4] The complex also houses 65,000 square feet (6,000 m2) of gathering spaces including the Grand Ballroom, used for the Oscars Governors Ball. Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck operates his regional headquarters out of the complex. The center also includes television broadcast facilities that in 2004 included the studios for the daily talk show On Air With Ryan Seacrest. Currently, the studio is home to Revolt TV.
The 637-room Loews Hollywood Hotel is also part of the site. The Metro B Line's Hollywood/Highland station is beneath the structure.[5] Also, Metro Local lines 212, 217, 222, 237, 656 and Metro Rapid 780 serve the complex.
Site history[edit]
The site was the location of the 1902 Hollywood Hotel, in which many celebrities stayed in the early days of Hollywood. The hotel was demolished in August 1956 and, despite initial plans for a high-rise hotel and a department store on the site,[6][7] it was replaced by the twelve-story First Federal Building of the First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Hollywood; a shopping center; and parking lots. These stood until 1998.[8]
Controversy and criticism[edit]
The complex opened in 2001 with a conditional use permit that enabled, among other things, for the center to have special exemptions of Los Angeles billboard ordinances. Despite objections of some residents and neighbors, in 2002 this agreement was amended and extended for an additional 20 years. L.A. City Councilman Eric Garcetti, who then represented the Hollywood-area district and was elected mayor in 2013, supported extending this special permit.[18]
The design of the center has been criticized by multiple reporters and journalists. In 2007, Curbed L.A., an online magazine, named Hollywood & Highland the "winner" of their Ugliest Building in Los Angeles contest. In selecting Hollywood & Highland, they cited its aesthetics, pedestrian unfriendliness (including the lack of storefronts on the side facing Highland Ave.), confusing circulation, and "mish-mash of architectural styles".[19]