Star Maps: The Beverly Center

My friend Jake (Gebbe)* had brought me to the spot back in the winter of ’94, not long after I moved to LA to attend UCLA. Immediately, I recognized it from Video Days where Guy 180s the gap timed perfectly to the opening piano keys of Jackson 5’s I Want You Back before he unveils one of the first noseblunt slides skateboarding had ever seen (popping in and out in the middle of a curb no less). That curb is still there.

I could also almost see Jason Lee sailing his back 180, half Cab, and slow motion kickflip over the gap before his barrage of ‘91 manny tech. The gap and manny combo alone made for somewhat of an interesting and rare spot. You don’t generally prepare for manual tricks after jumping a gap. But JLee made it look like the most natural thing in the world. To the right of the gap, on the two manny pads Jason also does a fakie manny, then the line with pop-shove manny and back 180 fakie manny. That back 180 fakie manny lives permanently in my head as the default execution of that trick.

Meanwhile, you can see Spike’s white Honda Civic parked in the background—doors and trunk wide open with nary a care for cops, security or anything else. My experience at the Beverly Center was very similar in ‘94. We parked right by the gap and never got kicked out. The late ‘80s through mid ‘90s were a golden age for LA skatespots. Street skating had shifted from launch ramps and handstands to curbs, benches, and gaps almost overnight. It took the powers that be a few years to catch on. For a short window, you could roll up to almost any spot you wanted and skate freely, especially after hours.

There were clusters of spots around West Hollywood and Beverly Hills that today you might never even dream of trying to skate. The Wells Fargo brick banks on Rodeo Drive, The marble stairs and ledges at Robinsons May on Wilshire, the Pacific Design Center stairs (the set of three that JLee, Rudy, and Guy all skate in Video Days too), the Beverly Center garage, the stairs, rail, and marble ledges across from the Beverly Wilshire Hotel (of Beverly Hills Cop fame), the bump inside the Linden parking garage near Santa Monica Blvd and Wilshire. You could head out at night and hit them all.

Opened in ‘83, The Beverly Center was initially unpopular as the mall had been built on what was Beverly Park—a small but beloved amusement park featuring a Ferris Wheel, roller coaster, merry-go-round and a pony ride called Ponyland. Walt Disney reportedly got his idea for Disneyland from visiting Beverly Park. It also was home to the original Tail o’ the Pup hot dog stand.

Digging in further, the land was actually owned by the Beverly Oil Company and had an active oil well dating back to the ‘30s. After the land was leased for the amusement park, the oil well was hidden inside a giant dragon. There are still active oil wells hidden inside the mall today. During the late ‘70s between the time Beverly Park closed and construction began on the Beverly Center, David Lynch famously filmed the exterior shots of Eraserhead (’77) there. 

As far as the mall itself—designed by Lou Nardorf of Welton Becket and Associates, The Beverly Center was Becket's version of Le Centre Pompidou in Paris. By 1985, Angelino’s dismay over the loss of Ponyland had subsided and the mall’s aesthetic was embraced as peak ‘80s LA. A chapter of Bret Easton Ellis’ novel Less Than Zero is set in the Beverly Center.

Having a sizable portion (and some of the most memorable clips) of Jason Lee’s part filmed there seems fitting. Video Days helped both he and Spike Jonze launch their Hollywood careers after Gonz handed a copy on VHS to Kim Gordon in a Hollywood parking lot. Kim then hired Spike for his first directing job on Sonic Youth’s video 100% featuring none other than JLee, Spike and Guy. Cue Mall Rats, Shannon Doherty, Being John Malkovich and the rest.

A few months after Jake brought me to the Beverly Center we went to an advance screening of Mall Rats in Century City and cheered for Jason on the big screen. I saw the gap and manual pads again in the inaugural Stereo video, A Visual Sound (’95). Jason switch back 180s the gap (some rare JLee switch stance action) before redoing his patented back 180 manny again. I love the switch in direction on these two tricks. Dune also back heels the gap in his part. That was pretty much the last I ever heard of the spot. I honestly forgot it was still in there. We would go eat at California Pizza Kitchen on the ground floor of the Beverly Center from our offices at Skateboarder Magazine circa 2001 and for some reason I never thought to go look at it.

One reason the spot may have abruptly become a bust is that the security office for the entire mall is now located directly adjacent to the old gap. I noticed two guards entering the office as I walked around shooting photos. The mall also seems far more upscale than it used to be. Whatever the math, part of me prefers when spots as mythical as this one get preserved, even if it means they never get skated again. That said, the curb at the top of the gap is slightly slanted and now I want to go back and try and wallie the gap. I’ll save that for when my son isn’t waiting to get to a birthday party. Be sure to go pay your respects to this spot if you find yourself in the Beverly Center.

With this article pretty much ready to go, I checked in with the Gonz to see if he might have some random memories of the spot or mall. He kind of did; “I’m sorry, I don’t have any stories about the Beverley Center other than once while there I saw Faye Dunaway the actress.” Now, I kind of just want to hear that story.

Beverly Center Walk Through (0:17)

* Jake (aka Geoffrey) Gebbe is today a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts. The Star Maps project began when Jake and I made a loose pact in ‘96 to try to visit every single spot in Video Days. I’m closing in on that goal. Thanks for showing me so many skatespots when I moved to LA and introducing me to pretty much everyone I know here Jake.

Previous Star Maps & Origins Features:
Courthouse Saved (Again)
World Savings Rails
Westwood Federal Building Video
Mar Vista Elementary
San Pasqual High aka School Q
John Cardiel on the Cardiollie 1993
Origins of the FS Half Cab
Origins of the Switch 360 Flip
Origins of the FS Pop Shove
Origins of the Stalefish
Origins of the BS Noseblunt
Origins of the Noseslide
Origins of the Nollie Flip

Origins of the Sad Plant