Roses, Lemon Awards Go to Downtown Projects

The First Interstate World Center, the Checkers Hotel and the Russ Hotel, a single-room occupancy hotel in Skid Row, have been awarded Roses by the Downtown Breakfast Club in its annual Roses and Lemons competition.

This year’s Lemon--only one was chosen--is Pershing Square, according to Fred Merritt, club chairman. The 5-acre park bounded by 5th, 6th and Hill and Olive streets, was singled out “for being neglected for too long . . . it’s a desert in the middle of downtown and has been since I was in the service in World War II,” Merritt said.

The three buildings are among six Roses selected by the group of 28 business leaders concerned with aesthetics and real estate development in downtown Los Angeles. The awards were made Thursday at a luncheon at the Biltmore Hotel.

First Interstate World Center, 633 W. 5th St., won in the new construction category; the Checkers Hotel, 535 S. Grand Ave., won in the renovation category, and the Russ Hotel, 521 S. San Julian St., won in the downtown housing category.

Roses also were presented to The Metropolitan, an apartment building at 950 S. Flower St., in the downtown housing category for a tie with the Russ Hotel; to the Inner City Arts Center, at 1202 E. Olympic Blvd., in the civic/private commitment category, and to Downtown Dollar Days in the good ideas category.