COLUMN ONE : New Lives for Aging Beauties? : Elegant buildings that once housed landmark department stores often face uncertain fates. Despite efforts to preserve their soul, some end up as office complexes or forlorn hulks.

"Nothing has galvanized the imagination of our members as much as this building," said Amy Forbes, president of the Los Angeles Conservancy, which is devoted to Southern California's architectural heritage. The 1929 landmark, closed since April, seems safe from demolition but not from decay or, Forbes fears, from a tenant who may care little about its striking murals and glowing marble halls."

"Across California and the nation, consolidations in the retail industry have left grand dame department stores empty hulks, ghostly reminders that they once anchored entire neighborhoods and were central to cities' very identities. As a result, from Mid-Wilshire in Los Angeles to 5th Avenue in Manhattan, efforts are under way to find new uses for these gigantic structures."

"Chiseled in stone over the stately Wilshire Boulevard entrance, the motto of the Bullocks Wilshire department store proclaims: "To Build a Business That Will Never Know Completion." Such jazz age optimism is painfully ironic as real estate agents and preservationists try to breathe life back into the Art Deco beauty suffering the indignity of boarded-up windows and doors."

Bullocks Wilshire, a 1929 Art Deco department store on Wilshire Boulevard, has been closed since April and faces an uncertain future despite being protected from demolition. The Los Angeles Conservancy and preservationists are concerned about the building's deteriorating condition and potential neglect of its architectural features, including striking murals and marble halls. Recent liquidation sales of fixtures and removal of original chandeliers have sparked disputes over landmark protection laws. This situation reflects a broader national trend where retail consolidations have left grand department stores abandoned. Similar historic stores across California and the nation are being repurposed for new uses. Speculation suggests Southwestern University School of Law library may occupy Bullocks Wilshire, while the nearby May Co. store is planned for conversion into a retail-office complex with possible museum space.

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