The hotel where Senator Robert F Kennedy was shot and the first Oscar was handed out is to be almost completely demolished and turned into a school.
The Ambassador hotel in Los Angeles had been a playground for Hollywood's glitterati for decades. As well as staging the first Academy Awards and housing guests such as author F Scott Fitzgerald and actor Errol Flynn, the hotel was also the starting point for many Hollywood legends. Film star Joan Crawford was discovered there after winning 100 dance contests, while crooner Bing Crosby began his singing career at the hotel.
But the Ambassador began its slow demise in 1968 when Kennedy was assassinated in its pantry by Sirhan Sirhan. In 1989 the hotel was closed and has stood empty ever since.
In 2001 the Los Angeles Unified School District bought the hotel and now plans to demolish the building and turn it into a school for up to 4,240 pupils.