Legion Stadium Giving Way to Health Center

An old haunt of boxing followers among Hollywood’s film stars is going down but not out.

In a $6-million conversion project, the landmark Hollywood Legion Stadium will become a health club.

Interior demolition has started at the Gower and Selma street site as the first phase of converting the 50-year-old boxing arena to an elegant Holiday Spa Health Club.

The Art Deco exterior of the building will be refurbished and preserved, according to Don Iler, project architect for Danielson Design Group of San Juan Capistrano. “We plan to bring the exterior back to its former glory,” he said.

Rudy Smith, Holiday Spa president, said the two-story, 55,000 square foot stadium will be converted into his firm’s largest spa and is the 20th in the chain.

It will have a 25-meter lap pool, banked, padded and carpeted running track, men’s, women’s and mixed-sex exercise rooms and whirlpools; locker rooms and juice bar. A four-level parking facility is also planned.

“We are taking advantage of the stadium’s unique configuration which resembles a square doughnut,” Iler said. “The inside circle of the ceiling extends up 45 feet and is supported by exposed steel bowstring trusses. The running track will be located along the perimeter of the circle, with a platform in the center from which members can look down on the lower levels or up into the high ceiling space.”

The Danielson firm has designed a gateway arch reminiscent of the old Hollywood studios for the Gower Street entrance, and the interior will also reflect an “old Hollywood” theme.

Completion is expected early next year. C .W. Driver, one of the city’s oldest contracting firms, is the general contractor.

During its heyday, the Hollywood Legion Stadium was a magnet for tourists who wanted to see the film stars among the spectators.