Tourist Office Closing : Will Hollywood Become the Land of the Lost?

Richard I. Guardian, head of the Hollywood office of the Greater Los Angeles Visitors and Convention Bureau, takes pride in his ability to tell anyone where to go in almost any language.

But the thousands of tourists who seek his multilingual directions and advice about restaurants and places to visit will have to look elsewhere after July 3, when the bureau will shut its doors.

The bureau, at 6801 Hollywood Blvd., must vacate its premises in the lobby of American Savings & Loan Assn. because of a major remodeling project. An alternate location has not been found.

“It is really a shame,” said Guardian, a retired motion picture executive. “Most of the people who come in here are really lost and in need of tourist information. I don’t know what’s going to happen to them.

“But there is not much we can do about it. We have to move out and my understanding is that it will take us some time to get another place ready to operate.”

More outspoken on the subject is Michael Kellerman, owner-operator of Fantasy Tours, which takes tourists on rides through Hollywood and Beverly Hills.

“The closing of the office here is catastrophic,” Kellerman said. “July and August are the busiest months of the tour business. The bureau is absolutely crucial to businesses that cater to tourists.”

He accused officials of the Greater Los Angeles Visitors and Convention Bureau of “being too cheap” to find a replacement site.

“They want a place for free, as they had at the savings and loan,” Kellerman said. “The result is that we in the tourist businesses are the ones who will be hurt.”

William Arey, director of travel development for the bureau, said the bureau does not have the funds to pay rent on an office. He said the Hollywood facility costs from $15,000 to $20,000 annually, including Guardian’s salary.

“Ideally,” he said, “we would like to have an office readily available to walk-in traffic off Hollywood Boulevard. But I do not know if we could afford to pay the high rents being asked for such properties.”

“The Hollywood office has always been rent free because of our arrangement with the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce,” he said. “Chamber officials have always found free space for us to use.”

He said bureau officials eventually hope to open offices throughout Los Angeles, including branches at the harbor in San Pedro and in the San Fernando Valley, but that the bureau’s $5-million yearly budget does not allow for them now.

‘Couple of Possibilities’

He said that the bureau is working with the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to find a place. “We have a couple of possibilities,” he said.

Additionally, he said, the bureau is considering installation of two telephones in strategic locations on Hollywood Boulevard, similar to freeway call boxes, where tourists could call the Los Angeles office for information.

Bill Welsh, president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, said that members of the chamber involved in tourism have expressed concern about the absence of a visitors bureau during the summer.

“In the long run,” he said, “it looks like we are going to be able to get a suitable place for the bureau. What we are trying to do now is come up with a stopgap location and the telephones to carry us through the summer.”

Until July 3, Guardian, who formerly traveled the world distributing films for major motion picture companies, will continue to dispense tourist advice, as he did Tuesday in fluent French, German and Italian.

Gabi Wegener, a German mechanic, said after her conversation with Guardian, “You really need someone like him to help you out. There is an awful lot to do here but there are many parts of Hollywood that are really bad.”

Harriette Hobbs, a tourist from Chevy Chase, Md., who was trying to locate the Walk of Fame star of actress Faye Dunaway, said that she could not believe that the office was going to be closed.

“Without the help offered here,” she said, “my husband and I would have bumble around. Closing the bureau is a really a mistake.”