Monrovia's Aztec Hotel is showcasing fine art in its non-profit Aztec Art Center Route 66 Gallery. Visitors are not just from Monrovia, but from Pasadena, Duarte and Arcadia. A painting by Manuel Barillas is pictured. The hotel is owned by Kathie Reece-McNeill. The hotel was designed in 1925 by English architect Robert Stacy-Judd and was inspired by Mayan and Aztect structures. The building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976.
Arcadia's new city government first formed in 1903 and its first meeting took place at Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin's Oakwood Hotel, located at First Avenue and Santa Clara Road. Baldwin's hotel featured gambling and fine dining along with city government. The Oakwood Hotel burned down in 1911, and the city government moved to the McCoy Building at First Avenue and St. Joseph Street. Two years later, City Hall moved across the street to the Hibbard Building. In 1917, the first building was constructed as a City Hall at Huntington Drive and Second Avenue (?). A two-story colonial building was built for $18,000. This City Hall opened on July 13, 1918. City Hall moved in 1949 to a 13-acre parcel between Huntington Drive and the Pacific Electric railroad tracks.
Three sites are being considered for senior and/or low-income housing. They are: Marketowne at 150 W. Las Tunas Drive, the old Westerner Hotel at 161 W. Colorado Place, and the old Mounted Police site at 600 E. Live Oak Avenue.
A weaponless 15-year-old boy from Los Angeles tried to carjack a man in an Arcadia hotel parking lot. The driver ran to the Extended Stay America on Santa Clara Road where the police were called. The youth was arrested. No names were released by police.
In an opinion piece, writer Frank C. Girardot laments the suicide of Hunter S. Thompson. He shot and killed himself on Sunday, February 20, 2005. He had written two of his famous works, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", and "Strange Rumblings in Aztlan", when he lived in an Arcadia hotel in 1971.
The Breeders' Cup, known as the world championship of horse racing, was held at Santa Anita Park last Friday and Saturday. The event has helped the local economy in Arcadia, with an estimated $50 million spent on restaurants, hotels, wagering, taxis, etc.