This Midcentury Hollywood motel may soon become a historic monument — a first in L.A.

The Hollywood Premiere Motel hasn’t won immoderate prizes lately. It has a 1.5 prima standing connected Trip Advisor, which ranks it 112th of 118 motels successful Los Angeles.

“Never again,” writes 1 reviewer.

“I similar to slumber successful my car,” writes another.

But the motel’s chances of being named a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument? Strong. In fact, the Hollywood Premiere mightiness go the archetypal motel connected the city’s monuments list.

The motel, which stands astatine Hollywood Boulevard and Serrano Avenue, is simply a 1960 throwback whose neon motion rises implicit a gritty agelong of Hollywood Boulevard.

On Thursday, the L.A. Cultural Heritage Commission voted unanimously to determination guardant with the motel’s information arsenic a monument. That enactment clears the mode for a tract inspection and different vote, astir apt successful May. Then the information would determination connected to a ballot by the City Council.

“This to maine is simply a landmark that defines the full vicinity of East Hollywood,” said James Dastoli, a preservationist who nominated the spot and spoke astatine the meeting. He called it “an fantabulous illustration of the Midcentury Modern style,” noting its Googie-style sign, “simple geometric volumes, debased sloped roof, comparatively chaste exterior walls and decorative factual blocks.”

“My archetypal response, looking astatine the nomination, was, really?” said committee President Barry Milofsky. But the much helium read, the much helium was persuaded.

As the aboriginal decades of car civilization and roadside plan statesman to shrink successful the rear-view mirror, historians and preservationists accidental nationalist officials are progressively wrestling with the question of which artifacts to protect. A $99-a-night Hollywood motel mightiness not transportation historical grandeur to rival the Ahwahnee successful Yosemite oregon the Hotel del Coronado successful San Diego, but arsenic writer John Margolies writes successful “Home Away from Home: Motels successful America,” a motel successful discourse besides tells a invaluable communicative — arsenic “part of the ethos of American mobility and fashionable culture.”

The Hollywood Premiere was built successful 1960 with 42 units successful a two-story, stucco-clad building, a tall, Googie-style neon motion connected a pole, parking adjacent the impermanent rooms and a swimming excavation astatine the country of the batch down breeeze blocks. It erstwhile had a java shop, but that abstraction is present idle. The designer was Joyce Miller, a pistillate moving successful a commercialized past dominated by men.

By 1973, Dastoli noted, less autarkic motels were being built, Midcentury benignant was fading and the Hollywood Premiere was advertizing its waterbeds and big movies successful backmost pages of the Los Angeles Times. Yet successful the people of 65 years connected the boulevard, Dastoli wrote, the gathering itself has seen lone “minimal alterations.” The motel’s look has attracted predominant filming successful the past decade, including TV’s “Twin Peaks,” “Fargo” and “NCIS: Los Angeles,” and Justin Timberlake’s 2016 “Can’t Stop the Feeling” euphony video.

If approved, the motel would articulation a large, divers Historic-Cultural Monuments list, which includes much than 1,300 businesses, homes and scenery features. The list, begun successful 1962, includes galore acquainted icons (Union Station, the Bradbury Building, the Hollywood sign, etc.) but besides galore little evident choices, including TAIX French Restaurant; the Biltmore Los Angeles hotel; the Studio City tract of the now-closed Oil Can Harry’s bar; and Green Dog & Cat Hospital successful South L.A.

Designation arsenic a metropolis Historic-Cultural Monument doesn’t automatically support a gathering from changes oregon demolition, nor does it trigger immoderate authorities spending connected preservation. But erstwhile a gathering is designated a landmark, the city’s Office of Historic Resources indispensable reappraisal licence exertion earlier immoderate alterations are allowed. Demolition is forbidden unless an biology reappraisal has been approved.

Property owners sometimes enactment historical designations and sometimes reason them, hoping to support much flexibility successful making changes. Bonnie Xi, whose household has owned the motel since the 1980s, said she hasn’t taken a presumption connected the nomination. She besides said that dealing with stateless radical successful the vicinity had go much hard and that she mightiness see selling soon.

Though the Hollywood Premiere would beryllium the city’s archetypal landmarked motel, the main metropolis planner successful the city’s Office of Historic Resources, Ken Bernstein, pointed retired that the city’s historical landmark database does see 1 precursor to the motel.

That would beryllium the Monterey Trailer Park, which was named a landmark successful 2002. Before it evolved into a trailer park, that spot successful the Hermon vicinity (near South Pasadena) served successful the 1920s and beyond arsenic an “auto camp” for motorists enjoying the caller possibilities of automobile travel. The connection “motel” was coined successful 1925 aft galore car camps, car courts and centrifugal hotels had sprung up crossed the U.S.

Beyond L.A. metropolis limits, astatine slightest 1 Southern California motel has won historical designation — San Bernardino’s Wigwam Motel, which has been listed successful the National Register of Historic Places since 2012. (Its 19 factual “teepees” on Route 66 stay unfastened for business.)

The Hollywood Premiere information besides noted 2 different Midcentury motels with salient signs adjacent connected Hollywood Boulevard eastbound of the 101. One is the Harvard House Motel (built successful 1947). The different is the Hollywood Downtowner Motel (1956), which has been bought up by the state’s Project Homekey program. Through that program, L.A. County and Covenant House are converting the 30-unit spot to service arsenic interim lodging for younker astatine hazard of homelessness.