Hotel where RFK was shot may be razed

A deal reached between school officials and a conservancy group paves the way to demolish the landmark hotel where Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, but would allocate money to help preserve historic schools around the district.

Under the agreement passed Tuesday by the Los Angeles Unified School District board, a group of historic preservationists will drop lawsuits seeking to prevent the district from razing the hotel, in exchange for the district giving $4.9 million to a nonprofit group that works to conserve school buildings.

"This is a landmark settlement to preserve historic schools for generations to come," said Marlene Canter, school board president.

The school district bought the Ambassador Hotel out of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in 2001 and planned to tear it down to build three schools at the 23-acre site.

Preservationists consider the hotel a historic gem and sued to prevent the demolition.

The long-closed hotel was once a celebrity hotspot whose guests included F. Scott Fitzgerald, Rudolph Valentino and Albert Einstein.