{"id":6516,"date":"2025-10-15T19:58:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T19:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/6516\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T19:58:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T19:58:10","slug":"l-a-s-historic-bradbury-building-gets-a-modern-glow-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/6516\/","title":{"rendered":"L.A.\u2019s Historic Bradbury Building Gets a Modern Glow Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inside the latest restoration work at the 132-year-old architectural wonder<\/p>\n

Signs are ephemeral things. Movie posters last maybe a week and a big billboard disappears after a month or two. Those vinyl banners some shops hang above their storefront in lieu of a professionally made sign are usually faded and shredded in a year. How incredible is it that the sign above the entrance to Downtown\u2019s landmark Bradbury building<\/a> has been artfully welcoming visitors for 132 years?<\/p>\n

\"\"Inside the Bradbury BuildingCredit: Photo by Julius Shulman \u00a9 J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)<\/p>\n

The Victorian-era beauty got a bit of a glow-up last week when Spectra Company<\/a> replaced the last letter on the sign. \u201cThe Y had just failed. The sandstone was delaminating, and it was probably ready to fall off. It\u2019s a real soft stone so it\u2019s inherently prone to damage. We ended up having to recreate it,\u201d says Reuben Lombardo, Senior Preservation Estimator at the Pomona-based company.<\/p>\n

\"\"Bradbury building \u201cBefore\u201d Credit: Photo by Chris Nichols<\/p>\n

\"\"Bradbury building \u201cDuring\u201dCredit: Photo by Chris Nichols<\/p>\n

\"\"Bradbury Building \u201cAfter\u201dCredit: Photo by Chris Nichols<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to rebuild some of the lost lettering, ribbons and ornamental details.\u201d Lombardo\u2019s team used silicone molds to copy the decorations from an identical plaque on the north side of the building, crafting a perfect replica. \u201cThe Bradbury is a pretty simple job for us,\u201d Lombardo says. \u201cWe\u2019re also doing waterproofing to keep it from deteriorating more.\u201d The owners of the Bradbury building bring Spectra back annually to help with maintenance and keep the 1893 landmark in tip-top condition.<\/p>\n

\"\"Bradbury building in Downtown Los Angeles as it looked in 1960Credit: Photo by Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington DC<\/p>\n

Scroll to continue reading<\/p>\n

Spectra is the largest restoration contractor on the West Coast working on some 100 projects a year. The company has played a part in the restoration of most of L.A.\u2019s major restoration projects of the last few decades. Their work can be seen in the post-fire reconstruction of Mission San Gabriel,<\/a> the return of the Hollywood Palladium<\/a> and the Pantages<\/a>. They recently brought back decorative plaster ceilings to the Biltmore Hotel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"BradburyBradbury building in Downtown Los AngelesCredit: Photo by Chris Nichols<\/p>\n

Spectra was a major player in the award-winning restoration that turned Downtown\u2019s Tower Theater into a baroque Apple store<\/a>. \u201cThe [original] tower fell off in an earthquake and we recreated it out of glass fiber reinforced concrete,\u201d Lombardo says. \u201cInside, we disassembled the whole plaster ceiling when they did a whole structural refit and installed new mechanical, electrical and plumbing. Then we put them back up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Apple Tower Theater restored by SpectraCredit: Photo by Chris Nichols<\/p>\n

Lombardo knows his way around a construction site, but he also has an MFA from UCLA. \u201cI\u2019ve trained a lot of our guys on proper procedures to restore historic finishes,\u201d he says. \u201cWe bring them in and teach them the trades \u2013 woodwork, brick, terra cotta and making plaster molds. Some of our guys have been with us for 25 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Touch up work on the Bradbury building in Downtown Los AngelesCredit: Photo by Chris Nichols<\/p>\n

Work is wrapping up this week on the most recent improvements to the Bradbury, built in 1893 and designed by architect George Wyman. \u201cWhen the Bradbury was built they spared no expense,\u201d Lombardo says. \u201cThey built it right. It is the most beautiful building in Downtown L.A.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Bradbury Building in Downtown Los Angeles as it looked in 1960Credit: Photo by Jack Boucher \/ Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, DC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Inside the latest restoration work at the 132-year-old architectural wonder Signs are ephemeral things. Movie posters last maybe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[6856,6857,6858,6728,48,52,51,47,50,49,6859,6860,2976],"class_list":["post-6516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-apple","tag-bradbury-building","tag-dtla","tag-hollywood-palladium","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-mission-san-gabriel","tag-pantages","tag-tower-theatre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}