Bowling alley on Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles, California
The Holiday Bowl was a bowling alley on Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1958 by five Japanese-Americans and was a significant part of the rebuilding process of the Nikkei community after internment during World War II.[1] The owners of the Holiday Bowl sold shares throughout the community to finance its construction."[1]
Cultural significance
Located on Crenshaw Boulevard, the Holiday Bowl was important in the desegregation of Los Angeles and served an Anglo American, African American, and Japanese American clientele.[1] The coffee shop served grits, udon, chow mein, and hamburgers.[1] The Bowl operated four decades, and was a cultural, architectural, and recreational feature for the Crenshaw business district "as the Hollywood Bowl has for the Hollywood Hills".[2]
History
The Bowl was built by Japanese entrepreneurs as a combination bowling alley, pool hall, bar and coffee shop in 1958 and served Crenshaw's Japanese residents who "had not long before suffered Manzanar's internment camps and a blanket racial ban by the American Bowling Congress."[2] A Los Angeles Times magazine story noted: "Once haunted at 4 a.m. by swing-shift aerospace workers and nighthawk Central Avenue jazz musicians, the Holiday Bowl, like Leimert Park to its south, remains a concrete expression of community in an era when the whole notion of community has been raised to the level of abstraction."[2] A 1999 LA Weekly story said, "Holiday speaks of Crenshaw’s bright, enduring middle-class dreams, with its ’50s-inspired orange-and-green décor and giant plate-glass window that affords a grand view of Baldwin Hills to the south. Eat your grits and eat your heart out."[3] The article also states that the ownership of the Bowl changed hands several times and offered "a huge cross section of ethnic dishes: Japanese (harusame (春雨), yakisoba, donburi), Chinese (a vast assortment of chow mein, pork noodles, Foo young, saifun) and black Southern (hot links, grits, salmon patties, short ribs, biscuits and gravy)."[3]
The owner said he took pride in Holiday's staying power, in its history, and the fact that it was designed by Armet & Davis, "the architectural firm that popularized Googie-style coffee shops and turned diners like Holiday and the nearby Wich Stand into zig-zaggy emblems of L.A. optimism."[3] He said the building was not damaged during the 1992 Los Angeles riots and that people bowled that night.[3]
Architecture
The Holiday Bowl is considered an example of Googie architecture and was designed by the Armet & Davis architectural firm.[4] The firm is said to have "defined '50s Googie architecture".[2] Helen Liu Fong was the designer at Armet & Davis who is credited with designing the Holiday Bowl.[5]
The Bowl was photographed in stereo for 3-D viewing by Jack Laxer.[6]
Closure
The Bowl closed in 2000 and was targeted for demolition. Bowl supporters mobilized, persuading the City of Los Angeles's Cultural Heritage Commission to designate the structure an historical-cultural monument.[1] It is listed as number 688 on the City of Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument list.[4][7]
Revitalization
The former bowling alley front area was refurbished in October 2004 and replaced with a modern outdoor shopping center anchored by Walgreens that opened in early 2006. The former Coffee Shop had become a Starbucks Coffee and other restaurants from the former alley and the neon signs from the nearby former famous Honda/Pontiac car dealership had been upgraded.[8][9] Preservationists wanted the landmark saved for its history, cultural significance, and architectural history.[10]
References
External links
Media related to Holiday Bowl (building) at Wikimedia Commons
