Thanks for the excellent follow-up about Dreamland,
Flyingwedge. What a transient life the roller rink had.
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Another motel postcard that I found on eBay. The seller dates it vaguely at pre-1980, but the Moytel Motel at 946 Yale Street appears as far back as the 1961 CD.
eBay
Here's the motel today. I don't know if the roof details ever matched the postcard, but the upper floor and tall sign seem pretty close. I found a picture of the sign on
jericl cat's Flickr account which includes the comment that it's not lit at night. The caption also says that the motel "has turned to long-term occupancy".
GSV
There were also a couple of references to the motel appearing in an episode of 'The A-Team' called 'The Maltese Cow' (season 2, episode 13). It's only seen in the background as these cars crash into some garbage cans. From what I can see, it hasn't changed much since 1984.
Universal TV/Stephen J. Cannell Productions
Various other locations in or near Chinatown can also be seen in this episode. The bad guys' headquarters in the Wan Chu Laundry (below) is actually 905 Yale Street. The building still stands. I also spotted N Hill Street, N Broadway and Mei Ling Way.
Universal TV/Stephen J. Cannell Productions
The building they used for the police station is the 1929 former Hills Bros Coffee Building on Mateo Street.
Universal TV/Stephen J. Cannell Productions
BifRayRock posted some great construction pictures of this building in
post #13969, including the one below. The building in the background is the old Metropolitan Warehouse building on E 6th Street which also appeared in the background of
a picture posted recently by e_r. I posted a current GSV image in
post #26175. It look like the tower never contained a clock!
California State Library
Finally, another screengrab from the A-Team episode. This is just a static camera shot with cars passing to establish a location, although I'm pretty sure the following scenes aren't filmed here. It's not
the Tiki Bahia Motel in Anaheim that I posted about recently, and I don't think it's the Bahia Motel of Hollywood at 5265 Sunset Boulevard either, so does anyone recognize it?
Universal TV/Stephen J. Cannell Productions