For May 18th...On This Day in Disney History in 1935, the Pan-Pacific Auditorium first opens at 7600 West Beverly Boulevard in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, California. Designed by the Los Angeles architectural firm of Wurdeman and Becket, it is considered to be one of America's finest examples of Streamline Moderne architecture (a branch of the Art Deco style). Over the years, the Pan-Pacific will host the Ice Capades, the Harlem Globetrotters, and even Elvis Presley! Unfortunately, a fire will destroy the Pan-Pacific in May 1989. Today a nearly full-scale and stylized replica of the Pan-Pacific's facade lives on as the theme park entrance to Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, as well as Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida. Welton Becket’s company also designed the Contemporary and Polynesian resorts in Walt Disney World, as well as the General Electric and Ford pavilions for Disney at the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair. His company went on to design three other hotels for Walt Disney World that were never built; a Thai-inspired Asian, an exotic Persian-style, and a Venetian resort. A good friend of Walt's, Becket was originally hired to design Disneyland, but later told Walt Disney: "No one can design Disneyland for you, you have to do it yourself." Like his good friend Walt, Welton Becket died years before Walt Disney World opened and so never got to see the fruits of his company's labors.
