After the Psychic Temple had been demoed and before reconstruction began, I took a walk around the building with local author, expert, and member of many preservation committees Stan Poe. He gave me the building’s history (link) and pointed out some architectural details, as well as some hints as to what architect Jan Van Dijs might have in store for the restoration.
“The Broadway façade was slightly out of style when it was built. Long Beach was that way even then! But the front is what is designated as historic, which give Jan room to work.
“We discovered a big parapet. At the top of the building is a big cornice, and above that the parapet, which was a short wall of chimneys coming off the top. They probably fell off or were taken off during the earthquake, but we found a picture of them that Jan’s going to copy.”
“This was an arched opening. We think that when the Temple of the Holy Kiss was opened in 1905, the first floor may have been one great big open area with stairs in back. The stairs on the far end were added in the 1920s.
“Permits were real loosy goosy, and when the earthquake happened a lot of stuff was thrown of city hall as trash. I think the architect’s name was Henry Starbuck. He also built the Masonic temple down the street. “
“These iron pieces are interesting. They’re interesting because they have an Eastlake design from the 1890s. They must have been sitting around the foundry and brought in for the building. Until Jan got in there, we didn’t know they existed. The front was all black reflective tile. They were added at some point.”
“There was another hotel here that was built in the teens. It came smack up next to the wall and they connected. You can see the fill-in.”
“The staircase isn’t grand but it’s nice enough to cut it. Over the stairs is a skylight that was painted out but once lit up the whole thing.”
“The little rooms had just enough space for a single bed. There’s been a lot of speculation about what went on in them, but people would check in to have their souls cleaned overnight.”