Esotouric to offer "Secret History of Los Angeles"

Discover The Secrets of Downtown LA with Art Walk's Director Richard Schave

WHAT: Esotouric presents "The Lowdown on Downtown: The Secret History of Los Angeles" urban history bus tour hosted by Downtown LA Art Walk Director Richard Schave, from the Reyner Banham Loves LA architecture and urbanism series

WHEN: Saturday August 29, 11am-3:00pm

COST: $58, includes snack

WHERE: Departs from Philippe the Original, 1001 N. Alameda Street

INFO: http://www.esotouric.com or call 323-223-2767

It seems like the whole world is interested in Downtown L.A. the Germans have commissioned a neighborhood travel guide, overseas visitors fill the hotels, and folks from the Westside have even been spotted making the trek out to Art Walk. But many natives still have trouble understanding how Downtown works and how it got that way. That's why Esotouric, the eclectic bus adventure company whose tours reveal the secret history of L.A. through crime, culture and literature, is offering Richard Schave's THE LOWDOWN ON DOWNTOWN: THE SECRET HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES, a provocative tour in the "Reyner Banham Loves L.A." architecture and urbanism series. The tour exists to put the old ghosts and memories that cling to the historic core into context, and provide natives and visitors with the tools to understand this most fascinating neighborhood.

Esotouric is uniquely suited to explain Downtown. The husband-and-wife team of Kim Cooper and Richard Schave were named purveyors of the Best Downtown Tours by the Downtown News, are the creators of three "time travel blogs"exploring lost L.A. lore (On Bunker Hill, In SRO Land and 1947project), and Richard Schave is the new Director of the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk, the most successful grassroots cultural event in the Southland. Schave's most recent TV appearance was as the Downtown expert on the History Channel's "Cities of the Underworld," guiding host Don Wildman through the prohibition-era tunnels beneath the old King Edward Saloon, and he recently returned from lecturing on urban L.A. at the Canadian Centre forArchitecture in Montreal.

ABOUT THE TOUR:
THE LOWDOWN ON DOWNTOWN is a guided social history of the mysterious, complex and rapidly evolving center of L.A., a thriving neighborhood that was intentionally depopulated in the 1950s and is currently experiencing an extraordinary rebirth. Everyone complains L.A. lacks a center this tour explains why. Passengers will visit exquisite architectural gems, including some seldom seen by the general public, but they'll also enjoy a sophisticated analysis of the economic and social tools used to rebuild downtown, learn how the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk sprung up on the city's meanest streets and played a significant roll in transforming them, meet creative residents and explore unique destinations.

Featured locations include the intentionally depopulated Bunker Hill and its Angels Flight funicular railway, Grand Central Market, Pershing Square (with its tribute to novelist John Fante), the European-style dining alley St.Vincent's Court, the Mercantile Arcade Building (an exact replica of aLondon landmark), and guest host Terry Ellsworth's insider's tour of the Arts District including a reception in the American Hotel, site of the former Al's Bar, underground club Bedlam and the landmark Bloom's General Store.

ABOUT THE GUEST HOST:
Promoter TERRY ELLSWORTH has been a seminal Arts District figure for decades, curating the underground Bedlam space, hosting exhibitions at Bloom's General Store and presenting original film programs.

So climb aboard THE LOWDOWN ON DOWNTOWN tour and explore one of America's most fascinating neighborhoods with the tour company Lonely Planet calls "hip, offbeat, insightful and entertaining."

Upcoming Esotouric bus tour schedule
Sat Aug 15 - Blood & Dumplings
Sat Aug 22 - Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice
Sat Aug 29 - Reyner Banham Loves LA: The Lowdown on Downtown-The Secret History of LA
Thurs Sept 10 - The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat Sept 12 - The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's Southern California Nightmare
Sat Sept 19 - John Buntin's L.A. Noir (debut)
Thurs Oct 8- The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat Oct 10 - Wild Wild West Side
Sat Oct 17 ­ Raymond Chandler's Bay City
Sat Oct 31 - Save the date for a Halloween surprise tour!
Sun Nov 1 ­ Reyner Banham Loves LA: South LA
Sat Nov 7 - Charles Bukowski's LA
Thurs Nov 12 - The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat Nov 14 - The Real Black Dahlia
Sat December 5 ­ Pasadena Confidential
Thurs Dec 10 - The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat December 12 ­ Blood & Dumplings

For more info on Esotouric, please visit http://www.esotouric.com

For more on the Downtown LA Art Walk, http://www.downtownartwalk.com

For more on Reyner Banham, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reyner_Banham And the BBC documentary "Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles" http://reyner.notlong.com