Mayor Tom Bradley has been pounding the...

Mayor Tom Bradley has been pounding the pavement in Europe, trying to recruit tourists. A panel here is trying to figure out why the L.A. Convention Center can’t attract more business, especially with its giant sign.

We at Only in L.A. believe the problem is that these serious folks have failed to exploit the possibilities of offbeat tours such as: “The Seven Wonders of the Civic Center.” Certainly, no one could resist:

1. “Corporate Head,” Terry Allen’s sculpture of a businessman outside the Citicorp building at 7th and Figueroa streets. Here’s a guy who really buries himself in his work.

2. The mysterious formation of upside-down obelisks topped by upside-down cones in front of the Grand Promenade building on Bunker Hill. The work of extraterrestrials?

3. The pint-sized Christopher Columbus statue in the County Mall, which officials ordered to be constructed so that it was shorter than George Washington’s nearby statue.

4. The temporary--we hope--wooden intersections near Metro Rail construction sites, such as the 5th and Hill streets crossing. Step back into the 19th Century! That’s progress.

5. The Fred Harvey restaurant, preserved as though in a time capsule at Union Station, with its arched ceilings, leather banquettes and multicolored tiles, not to mention black marble sinks in the “Powder Room.” The cafe awaits an entrepreneur to reopen it.

6. The curvaceous Coca-Cola Bottling Co. plant, disguised as a ship at 1334 S. Central Ave. The half-century-old Streamline Moderne building is equipped with porthole windows, ship doors and a captain’s bridge. Has any employee ever put a note in a bottle and thrown it overboard?

7. The Pac Bell map sculpture on Grand Avenue. We mentioned a while back that it shows South America west of L.A. Several readers pointed out that Australia is upside-down.

And, of course, still to come, Epicenter, the earthquake-theme restaurant at 2nd and Hill: L.A.’s Eighth Wonder.

A true, must-miss event:

You won’t have to worry about getting a rubber-chicken dinner at the Santa Clarita Civic Assn.’s coming fund-raiser. “You won’t have to buy a new outfit, or go out,” adds the invitation.

You do nothing, in fact, but send money. The group, which is active in local politics, sends you a tea bag and a bookmark in return.

It’s called “Evening at Home” and billed as the Santa Clarita Valley’s “first-ever non-event.” First intentional non-event?

Ex-reporter Cliff Dektar noticed that a bit of old L.A. is disappearing, the Yellow Cab headquarters at 3rd and Lucas streets. “Back in the ‘30s and ‘40s,” Dektar recalled, “when Yellow Cab was the only cab company in town, the phone number was easy to remember--MAdison 1-2-3-4.”

A monument of sorts to the company survives across the street--the Taxi Bar.

California Lawyer magazine reports that a Hollywood barrister has caught the attention of State Bar investigators as well as Parker Brothers, owners of the Monopoly game. He’s been handing out business cards decorated with a Monopoly-type “Get Out of Jail Free” insignia. He had better watch out or he’ll be back on Baltic Avenue.

The slogan calls to mind the motto of Van Nuys bail bondsman Art (The Golden Boy) Aragon, a local boxing favorite in the ‘50s. Aragon’s guarantee these days is:

“I’ll get you out, if it takes 10 years.”

miscelLAny:

Lockheed Corp. was founded by brothers Allan and Malcolm Loughead, who used a phonetic spelling of their name to avoid potential mispronunciations such as “Lug-head.”