Rebirth of Angels Flight

Officials announced Tuesday that the funicular will reopen this summer -- but Angels Flight will return to a decidedly different downtown Los Angeles.

In the six years during which Angels Flight has been out of operation, downtown has seen a remarkable residential transformation. Luxury lofts and high-rise condos have sprung up nearby, adding thousands of people to downtown's residential population and changing downtown's profile from a sleepy city center into a much more vibrant, hip neighborhood.

With the massive Grand Avenue project about to break ground atop Bunker Hill, there is a growing feeling that the new Angels Flight will actually serve as a valued form of transportation downtown -- not just as a tourist attraction.

It's a strange turn of events for the fabled railway, which has served as both an icon for L.A.'s sense of daring and its long neglect of its city core.

In many ways, the two rail cars that climb up Bunker Hill -- known as Olivet and Sinai -- would barely recognize their old haunts.

Cultural institutions, including the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, have opened their doors, and the Colburn School is in the midst of a major expansion. A Ralphs market will open in June -- the area's first supermarket in half a century. And other amenities, including new restaurants and bars, are mixed in throughout the corridor.

At a news conference Tuesday, officials showed off the refurbished railroad and announced that they were about to begin the third phase of the railway's $2.6-million restoration, which will include installation of a new drive system and safety improvements. They also expressed excitement that as new developments, including the nearby Grand Avenue project, reach completion, Angels Flight might actually be used again for commuting.

"Angels Flight was an interesting part of downtown," said John Welborne, president of Angels Flight Railway Foundation, which took over the railroad after the 2001 accident and has raised funds for its restoration. "Even more so now."

The development boom has an ironic twist for Angels Flight.

The rail line was designed to connect downtown with the once-bustling residential community on Bunker Hill. But when the city leveled that neighborhood as part of a 1960s redevelopment push, Angels Flight was left moribund.