SIDE STROLL THE GAS COMPANY TOWER To appreciate the symbolic statement of the sculpted modernist Gas Company Tower at the northeast corner of Fifth and Grand, you should view it from a spot across or down the street that presents a perspective of the upper floors of the 52-story tower. A setback in the colored blue glass facade creates the illusion of - what else? - a gas flame. The building was designed by Richard Keating of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in 1991. For a change of scale and style, enter the slick, stately raised lobby, with its rows of fountains underneath you like some underground river. An almost seamless wall of glass gives you a view of the huge, abstract mural on the south wall of the adjoining building. Created by artist Frank Stella, the colorful 300-foot long, 35,000-square-foot mural entitled "Dusk," 1992, is said to be one of the largest in North America. Its theme purportedly is a commentary on the mock-up of a studio model for Stella's distinctive and much smaller three-dimensional paintings.

The movie Speed was filmed throughout the building, mainly in the elevator shafts.

The Gas Company Tower
555 West Fifth Street
Open 24 hours

Cross Fifth Street where the grand dame of L.A.'s hotels awaits...