Memory Banks

In the ‘50s and ‘60s, banks in Los Angeles stood as monuments to an optimistic economy fueled by aerospace, the studios and the Far West’s postwar manifest destiny. The entire free world knew Los Angeles TV banker Milburn Drysdale--a notorious tightwad, humping to please his depositors, especially if they rode in from Bug Tussle.

The mergers of this decade left many of our grand banking palaces vacant (Bank of America, in fact, vacated many of its branches for the larger, more modern Security Pacific locations when it absorbed the chain). But over the last few years, bookstores, theaters and even churches have discovered the joys of headquartering in a converted bank building. Meaning that the stolid architecture meant to reassure depositors is now edifying buyers of barbecued chicken. A few conversions on which to bank:

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El Pollo Loco, 2201 N. Broadway, Lincoln Heights. As the East-West Bank, this 1910 V-shaped structure with a glass rotunda sold savings bonds but now sells Loco Wraps.

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Borders Books, music & cafe, 900 State St., Santa Barbara. On what is practically Southern California’s Magnificent Mile of Banks, this former patrician B of A has converted from bank books and certificates of deposit to books and compact discs.

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Janell & Co., 11606 San Vicente Blvd., Brentwood. This ornate, 1926 concrete bank, its basement vault intact, is now home to an upscale wig-maker.

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Los Angeles Recording Workshop, 5278 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Former NoHo B of A, now in the shadow of an immense MTA dirt hill, takes stock in the area’s rich deposit of musicians and studios.

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Ripley’s Believe It or Not Odditorium, 6780 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Godzilla beckons to tourists on the boulevard from another former Bank of America.

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Mission Furniture, 10943 Valley Mall, El Monte. Yet another former Bank of America branch--pretty in pink as the centerpiece of Old El Monte’s revitalized shopping district.