Cable Cars Get a Push From City : Transportation: Officials want to take over historic Angels Flight railway project from a developer.

After waiting for years for a developer to get the job done, Los Angeles city officials have decided to move ahead themselves with a plan to get the historic Angels Flight railway rolling again on downtown’s Bunker Hill.

The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency on Thursday approved a $4-million restoration of the twin cable car system that connected Bunker Hill and downtown for 68 years before being dismantled in 1969.

If the plan receives final approval from the City Council later this month, construction could begin by the end of the year and the funicular could return to regular operation by late 1994.

City officials have been promising to restore the block-long railway connecting Hill and Olive streets since its demise.

But the project was delayed as the redevelopment of Bunker Hill struggled to get off the ground. Then the Redevelopment Agency put the railway reconstruction in the hands of the builder of the California Plaza office complex.

But the firm, Metropolitan Structures, dropped its plans for the third of three office towers. And with the office project indefinitely on hold, so was the railway.

“It was just another unfortunate consequence of the less than favorable market for office space,” said Jeffrey Skorneck, Bunker Hill project manager for the redevelopment agency.

Skorneck said that in any event, the railway will be more in demand now than in the past because of the mushrooming of office towers atop Bunker Hill and the opening of the Metro Rail subway station at the bottom of the hill.

Commuters will be able to jump off the Metro Red Line and onto Angels Flight rather than struggling up steep Bunker Hill on foot, Skorneck said. And office workers who might remain cloistered in their glass towers atop the hill may be more likely to venture to Grand Central Market and the lively streets down the hill if they have an easy ride there and back, he said.

“It was hard to build a case for it before because there wasn’t a lot of activity at either end,” Skorneck said. “But now we have a prime opportunity.”

Linda Dishman, executive director of the Los Angeles Conservancy, said die-hard fans have never stopped following the progress of the restoration effort.

“Our office gets calls every month from people saying, ‘When is Angels Flight coming back?’ ” Dishman said. “This is just one of the things that captured the heart and soul of Los Angeles.”

The round-trip fare had remained at a nickel for half a century. But when the line reopens, a ride is expected to cost 25 cents.

is Angels Flight coming back?’ ” Dishman said. “This is just one of the things that captured the heart and soul of Los Angeles.”

The round-trip fare had remained at a nickel for half a century. But when the line reopens, a ride is expected to cost 25 cents.

Return Flight

After 24 years of delays, “the world’s shortest railway” may soon roll again, linking the past to the present.

1900: Col. J.W. Eddy, a onetime school teacher and legislator, decides it would be easier to transport people to Bunker Hill by an open train than by horse and buggy.

Two white cable cars, Olivet and Sinai, debut on New Year’s Eve as Angels Flight opens beside the 3rd Street tunnel connecting the downtown business district with a swanky residential neighborhood atop Bunker Hill.

1905: New black-and-orange cable cars seating 16 passengers each are put into service. The 45-second ride costs 5 cents.

1913: Cable controls fail and the Sinai careens into the Olivet. One woman is injured jumping off.

1935: An editorial writer dismisses the railway as “outmoded.” But it hangs on, making 400 trips each day from 6 a.m. to 12:20 a.m.

1962: Ridership slips and the Community Redevelopment Agency purchases the railway for $35,000. Bunker Hill mansions become seedy rooming houses and site is earmarked for new high-rise office buildings and residential and cultural projects.

1969: After more than 100 million riders, Olivet and Sinai make their last nickel trip up the 315-foot railway on a 33% grade. City officials promise to rebuild it in two years.

1991: The funicular station house and landmark archway are taken out of storage and placed on a vacant lot at 4th and Hill streets.

1993: The Community Redevelopment Agency board approves $4 million to reconstruct and restore the historic railway half a block south of the old site. The ride is expected to cost 25 cents and is scheduled to open in late 1994.

Compiled by Times researcher CECILIA RASMUSSEN