"Reinventing Broadway Street: Los Angeles' Architectural Reincarnation" is California author Marques Vickers' second celebratory pictorial edition recounting the evolution and transformation of one of downtown Los Angeles' primary boulevards. The edition features photographs of the structures with their architectural details that line the blocks of North and South Broadway Street in the center of downtown Los Angeles. The book traces colorful legends, anecdotes and landmarks that preceded current standing constructions.Broadway Street was originally identified as Fort Street in the initial 1849 city tract created by U.S. Army map surveyor Lieutenant Edward Ord. The Fort referenced Fort Moore Hill, a prominent and strategic incline that overlooked the early settlement. The Fort Moore district served as one of the city's first burial grounds and was later leveled to construct the Hollywood Freeway. In 1890, Broadway Street was permanently renamed.The Los Angeles El Pueblo settlement was established in the mid-18th century along the then fertile banks of the Los Angeles River. The colony's terrain was agriculturally cultivated for vineyards, cattle ranching and later citrus groves before an encroaching urban environment altered the complexion of city towards the close of the 19th century.Drawing from varied archival documentation and narratives, Vickers traces the evolutionary stages of Broadway Street into the city's commercial and entertainment center. Broadway's reputation extended throughout the first half of the twentieth century but was followed by a prolonged period of four-decade stagnation. The most current reinvention has introduced retail, office and residential mixed-use developments. This synergy of change, however, has been slowed by existing retail lease commitments contracted during the street's lean years of decline."Reinventing Broadway Street" documents numerous colorful and influential contributors to the local history. Among the profiled personalities include Oliver Morosco, John Temple, William Wolfskill, Jean-Luis Vignes, Abel and Arcadia Sterns, Isaias Hellman, Joaquin Murrieta, John C. Fremont, John Parkinson, Prudent Beaudry, Sarah Bernhardt, Harris Newmark, and many others.The book profiles over 65 existing distinctive building's lineage and their unique legacies. The structures photographed include the Times Mirror Square, Bradbury, Irvine-Byrne, Hosfield, Zobel, Trustee, O. T. Johnson #1 and #2, Junipero Serra, Metropolitan, Judson Rives, Bumiller, Chester Williams, Remick and Grayson, Schulte United, J. W. Gold, Story, Desmond, Jewelry Trade, Mercantile Arcade, Norton, Hass, Merritt, Clifton's Brookside and Schaber's Cafeterias, Yorkshire Hotel, Garland, Charles C. Chapman, Eastern Columbia, Wurlitzer, Brown-Israel, Broadway Leasehold, Platt, Western Pacific, Howard Huntington, Case Hotel and Los Angeles Herald Examiner.Theatres include The Million Dollar, Roxie, Cameo, Los Angeles, Palace, Globe, Tower, Rialto, Orpheum, Arcade and United Artists. Former department store buildings includes The May Company, Bullock's, Swelldom's, F. W. Woolworth's, National Dollar Store, S. H. Kress, Broadway, Silverwood's, Hartfield's, and Barker Brothers. Notable government constructions include the LA County Hall of Record, Justice Building, Foltz Criminal Justice Center and the nearly completed Federal Courthouse Building."Reinventing Broadway Street" takes the reader on a stroll through the history, present and progressive future envisioned and being created simultaneously.Architecture: Urban & Land Use PlanningArchitecture: History...Contemporarydowntown los angeles, historic architecture, urban design, historic renovation, city center, downtown development, urban architecture
About the Author: Visual Artist, Writer and Photographer Marques Vickers is a California native presently living in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, Washington regions. He was born in 1957 and raised in Vallejo, California. He is a 1979 Business Administration graduate from Azusa Pacific University in the Los Angeles area. Following graduation, he became the Public Relations and ultimately Executive Director of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce between 1979-84. He subsequently became the Vice President of Sales for AsTRA Tours and Travel in Westwood between 1984-86. Following a one-year residence in Dijon, France where he studied at the University of Bourgogne, he began Marquis Enterprises in 1987. His company operations have included sports apparel exporting, travel and tour operations, wine brokering, publishing, rare book and collectibles reselling. He has established numerous e-commerce, barter exchange and art websites including MarquesV.com, ArtsInAmerica.com, InsiderSeriesBooks.com, DiscountVintages.com and WineScalper.com. Between 2005-2009, he relocated to the Languedoc region of southern France. He concentrated on his painting and sculptural work while restoring two 19th century stone village residences. His figurative painting, photography and sculptural works have been sold and exhibited internationally since 1986. He re-established his Pacific Coast residence in 2009 and has focused his creative productivity on writing and photography. His published works span a diverse variety of subjects including true crime, international travel, California wines, architecture, history, Southern France, Pacific Coast attractions, auctions, fine art marketing, poetry, fiction and photojournalism. He has two daughters, Charline and Caroline who presently reside in Europe.