Thanks to Mike Informer:

During its more than 70 years at Grand Avenue and 18th Street, the Grand Olympic Auditorium gave millions of Angelenos memories — of boxing world championships, wrestling matches, rock concerts and high school graduations.

Built as a venue for the 1932 Olympics, the "Mecca of Boxing" became an emotional landmark with a history of closure and revival.

Now, the 7,000-seat auditorium is about to start a new chapter of its life. A Korean American church recently bought the property and is poised to make it home for a different kind of mission: Christian worship and outreach.

Glory Church of Jesus Christ, whose congregation has grown from 10 to more than 2,000 in six years, plans to move in during October after renovations. "It's a miracle; God worked out all the details," Senior Pastor Richard Seunghoon Shin said of the acquisition. "We are so grateful."

The church bought the hall from real estate tycoon Steve Needleman, owner of the Orpheum Theatre and other downtown properties. Needleman declined to comment on specifics of the sale, saying the parties signed a confidentiality agreement. Several church members say the price tag was $25 million.

"There is no question there is some sadness," said Needleman, whose family bought the building in 1980 from the Los Angeles Athletic Club. But there also is a "tremendous amount of excitement" about the property's future and satisfaction that the new owners have promised not to raze it.

The Olympic Auditorium is a humongous concrete structure painted beige with taupe, blue and cantaloupe trim on the outside. Today, 12,000 square feet of open floor space is bereft of a boxing ring, though its seating remains in an amphitheater arrangement. On one wall are the signatures of boxers who fought there. Also on the five-acre property is a gym.

"It was the showplace of boxing," said boxing promoter Don Chargin, who put together weekly fights at the venue from 1964 to 1984. "I am sorry to see the Olympic go. It's a shame."

Facing smaller crowds and competition from other facilities, the Grand Olympic Auditorium closed in 1987 except for occasional concerts and filming. In 1994, after a $5-million renovation, it reopened with Oscar De La Hoya facing Jimmi Bredahl of Denmark. But large attendance was not sustained.

The road to ownership has been trying for the immigrant congregation begun by Shin and 10 supporters in January 1999 in a Koreatown office.
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