September 27, 2005
Johnie's on Wilshire to Open
As part of the Los Angeles Conservancy's upcoming event, Curating the City: Wilshire Boulevard, the LAC Modern Committee will re-open the long-shuttered Googie style Johnie's Coffee Shop at 6101 Wilshire Boulevard for one day only! Designed by famed L.A. architects Armét & Davis, the coffee shop first opened in 1955 as Romeo's Times Square. By 1957 it had become Ram's and by 1966 Johnie's. Johnie's closed in 2000.
The structure is one of the last remaining Googie style coffee shops in Los Angeles.
Enjoy pie and coffee at Johnie's for the first time its been publicly open in five years! There will be a guided tour, an exhibit on lost Googie architecture, rare 3D slides of Wilshire Boulevard in the 1950s, and a book signing by Alan Hess, author of Googie Redux!. Eldon Davis, the architect of Johnie's, is also expected attend, schedule permitting.
The opening of Johnie's was featured in an article by the National Trust's Preservation Online:
Googie Coffee Shop to Reopen for a Day
"After five years in the dark, a Googie-style coffee shop on Los Angeles' Wilshire Boulevard will reopen for one day this weekend."
For more information on Johnie's Wilshire and Curating the City, visit: http://www.JohniesWilshire.org, http://www.curatingthecity.org, or http://www.preservela.com/archives/000641.html.
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