HOME SAVINGS OF
AMERICA TOWER

Exit the building toward the west and look up at the ceiling of the Metro Rail portal...

The eclectically styled, neo-chateauesque Home Savings of America Tower at the northeast corner of Seventh and Figueroa displays an equally eclectic collection of artworks well worth a pause and perusal. Above the Seventh Street entrance are two 40-foot high Italian glass murals that render a vision of Los Angeles in a 16th Century decorative device. On the ground floor of the bank are detailed glass windows and behind the tellers is a major mural by Carlos Almaraz celebrating L. A. But by all means, take an elevator to the sixth floor "sky lobby," a soaring two-story space shining with striated marble floors and walls, a central fountain and a mural by Richard Haas offering a romanticized bird's eye view of the Los Angeles basin. And, yes, that small bronze statue in the elevator vestibule is a miniature Statue of Liberty by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi who sculpted the larger version that resides in New York Harbor.

Home Savings of America Tower
660 South Figueroa Street
Mon. - Fri. 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m., Sat. & Sun. - press intercom
(Seventh Street entrance) and ask to see the sky lobby.

For yet another great example of the integration of transit and art by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, look up at the ceiling of the Metro Rail portal. There, artist Terry Schoonhoven's "City Above," 1989, presents a tilted perspective of the sky and the Los Angeles urban scene you might glimpse if there were no building above. The best view is while ascending the escalator from the subway station one level below the street.

From here you can take Metro Rail lines west along Wilshire Boulevard and south to Long Beach and northeast to Union Station with connections to cities such as San Bernardino, San Diego and Santa Barbara. The live action/animation film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit featuring the death of the Pacific Electric "Red Cars" in Los Angeles in the 1940's, was filmed, in part, on Hope Street. Bob Hoskins said in the film, "Who needs a car in Los Angeles? We've got the best transportation in the world."

For a Side Stroll, cross Figueroa Street and then cross Seventh to see...

SEVENTH STREET
METRO CENTER
SEVENTH AND
FIGUEROA STREETS