The photograph is seedy-chic, with a hint of glamour and low-life menace.
The four members of the rock group the Doors peer out through a hotel window. On the glass is inscribed the name of the institution: Morrison Hotel. And, in the centre of the picture, the group’s lead singer, Jim Morrison, appears to be holding a sign that reads ”Rooms — $2,50”.
But the picture of bohemian life suggested by the cover of the Doors album Morrison Hotel has given way to a much seedier reality.
This week 40 residents of the hotel filed a ”slumlord” action against the building’s owners. Far from being charmingly scruffy, they allege, the building is now home to rats, cockroaches, mould and exposed electric wiring.
”The owners have chosen to let these people live in pretty despicable conditions, even though they are continuing to pay rent,” said the tenants’ lawyer, Eric Castelblanco.
The Morrison Hotel, built in 1914, is on Hope Street in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, and is still a stop on Doors tribute tours of the city.
But much of downtown has moved on, leaving the green-and-white tiled building behind, a forlorn relic from the past.
Nearby a giant music, sports and exhibition venue, the Staples Center, dominates the area.
The famous photograph was taken after the group’s keyboard player, Ray Manzarek, came across the hotel at the end of 1969. The following day the group visited the spot to have a photograph taken for a forthcoming album, released in 1970.
The photograph has an equally famous twin. After having their picture taken by Henry Diltz the group adjourned to a nearby bar, where the photographer took further pictures, one of which was also included on the album’s artwork.
A Londoner who saw that picture asked the photographer if he could use the name. The bar was called the Hard Rock Cafe.
But today the Morrison Hotel is in a sorry state. Security guards operate a virtual curfew on residents and are accused of harassing and intimidating the occupants of the 111 rooms.
Augustina Ramirez told a press conference that she was plagued by raw sewage escaping from a leaking toilet on the floor above her.
”I would have to leave the apartment to eat somewhere else because of the stench,” she said.
”And I had to sleep somewhere else because the carpet stank.”
She said guards had prevented her sister from visiting and that her two sons have asthma, and fungus growing on their feet and in their hair. She pays $420 a month for her room.
City council officials who visited the building in the spring found it violated more than 100 building and safety regulations.
Last week the city’s attorney lodged a criminal complaint against the building’s owners. Each of the 34 counts in the charge carries a sentence of up to six months in jail or a $1 000 fine. – Guardian Unlimited Â