First United Methodist Church of Hollywood

The place

United Methodist Church at the corner of Franklin Avenue and Highland Avenue, in the Hollywood Heights neighborhood. The recreation hall and gymnasium were built in the early 1920s; the Gothic-style sanctuary, designed by Thomas P. Barber and partly inspired by Westminster Hall in London, was begun in 1927 and opened on March 16, 1930, for 800,000 dollars. Its steel-framed concrete structure makes it relatively earthquake-resistant. It has been designated a historic-cultural monument of Los Angeles No. 248 since December 4, 1981, under the name of First United Methodist Church of Hollywood. The large red ribbon for AIDS placed on the bell tower in 1993 was replaced by a durable version in 1996, and then repainted in 2004.