SOUTHLAND : Fire Destroys Palm Springs’ Historic but Long Shuttered El Mirador Hotel
A three-alarm fire visible for miles early today destroyed the historic but shuttered El Mirador hotel that played host to Hollywood’s elite in the 1930s.
The fire broke out shortly after midnight with flames licking through the roof of the vacant structure and collapsing its landmark tower, said Robert Morgan, spokesman for the Palm Springs Fire Department. The hotel is on the grounds of the Desert Hospital, which uses the 90-foot tower as a logo. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Morgan said.
The Mirador was built in 1927 and has been vacant for years. Morgan said the hospital had planned to restore the 200-room building to its original Moroccan-Spanish design.
Some of the original “Amos ‘n’ Andy” radio shows were broadcast from a studio in the tower when the show’s creators, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, spent part of the season in Palm Springs. Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Rudolph Valentino were among its first guests.
A fire loss estimate was not immediately available, Morgan said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
