DOWNTOWN
NEWS
6
PEDESTRIAN A South Park Picnic
Saturday, March 12, 2011, 2-5pm See Page 23 for Details
W W W. D O W N T O W N N E W S . C O M
March 7, 2011
Volume 40, Number 10
BEING
Greener Pastures
LOS ANGELES
INSIDE
More Broadway happenings.
2
Urban Scrawl’s Believe It or Not.
4
Trying to fund the streetcar.
5
Beware of the zombie buildings.
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At Your Service As Downtown Changes, So Do the Challenges for Hotel Concierges Conflict on Grand Avenue.
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15 CALENDAR LISTINGS 25 MAP 26 CLASSIFIEDS
by Richard Guzmán city editor
K
elvin Jarrett says his job has not gotten easier in the past decade. He’s not complaining, just stating a fact. The increased challenges, he said, are also precisely why his job is better than it was. Jarrett is a hotel concierge, the person who for many visitors is the vital source of information on the neighborhood. But with Downtown’s growth of the past decade, a lot has changed in the neighborhood. Those tasked with always being in the know say their jobs have evolved along with
the area. As the head concierge at the Omni Hotel at 251 S. Olive St., Jarrett’s job is to assist guests with any manner of requests. Some want tickets to a concert or game, others are looking for reservations at a hot restaurant, and still others just want to know where to go for a drink or what tour to take. For Jarrett, both the increased challenge and the heightened enjoyment comes from how much Downtown has to offer these days. It’s a marked contrast from 2001, he says, when the options in the see Concierges, page 21
photo by Gary Leonard
James Russell has been a concierge at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel for 20 years. The former singer says it is a challenge to keep up with the scores of new restaurants and bars in Downtown.
The Voice of Downtown Los Angeles