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Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation

Coordinates: 34°11′25″N 118°21′14″W / 34.19028°N 118.35389°W / 34.19028; -118.35389
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Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation and Museum
The structure in 1929
Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation
Location of structure in Los Angeles County
Location10621 Victory Boulevard, North Hollywood, California
Coordinates34°11′25″N 118°21′14″W / 34.19028°N 118.35389°W / 34.19028; -118.35389
Built1924
ArchitectKenneth A. MacDonald Jr.
Architectural styleSpanish Colonial Revival
Restored1996
Restored byThe Sculpture Conservation Studio
NRHP reference No.98000246
Added to NRHPMarch 18, 1998

Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation, also known as Valhalla Memorial Rotunda and The Rotunda, is a 72-foot-tall (22 m) shrine to aviation located at the former entrance to Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood and Burbank, California. The shrine, which has been called Arlington of the Air and Westminster Abbey of Reverence for the Founders of the Air Age, was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.[1]

History

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Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery was founded by John B. Osborne and C.C. Fitzpatrick in 1923.[1] The following year, architect Kenneth A. MacDonald Jr., known for Spreckels Mansion and the Broadway-Spring Arcade,[2][3] built a large arched rotunda at the entrance, with the cast stone and concrete carved by Federico Augustino Giorgi, the sculptor who also created the Babylonian elephants and lions for the film Intolerance.[4] The structure, which cost more than $140,000 ($2.57 million in 2024) to construct, was dedicated on March 1, 1925[4] and became a landmark in the sparsely populated area where it was built. It was also the site of Sunday afternoon opera concerts throughout the 1920s and 30s.[1][5]

In 1950, a new entrance was created for Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery, away from the structure built by Kenneth A. MacDonald Jr..[4]

Aviation enthusiast James Gillette was impressed by the structure and its proximity to Burbank Airport. He conceived a plan to use the structure as a shrine to aviation, something he worked toward for two decades. The shrine was dedicated on December 17, 1953, the 50th anniversary of powered flight. The dedication ceremony was presided by Lieutenant General Ira C. Eaker and officiated by Reverend John Carruthers.[1][6][7] Charles Edward Taylor and Matilde Moisant attended the ceremony, as did the wife of Walter Richard Brookins, whose ashes had recently been interred under the structure.[4]

The shrine was re-dedicated in 1956, organized by James Gillette. Roy Knabenshue was honored by Warren S. Eaton and John Franklin Bruce Carruthers at the re-dedication, with William Lear, Paul Mantz, Matilde Moisant, and George Otto Noville also in attendance.[8]

On July 18, 1969, a twin-Piper Navajo that had just taken off from Burbank Airport crashed into the dome atop the shrine, killing the pilot and one passenger, while another passenger survived. The dome was repaired at a cost of $70,000 ($600,209 in 2024).[4]

The 1994, the Northridge Earthquake damaged the shrine's decorative facade, although the structure itself remained sturdy.[8] In 1996, the shrine underwent restoration and conservation work, including bringing it to modern earthquake standards. The interior was also renovated and converted to an aviation museum.[1] On May 27, 1996, the shrine was re-dedicated once again, this time by Dr. Tom Crouch, Chairman of the Aeronautics Department at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.[9][10]

On March 18, 1997, Linda Finch was hosted at the shrine as she began her re-creation of Amelia Earhart's 1937 world flight. Several aviation dignitaries, family members of aviation pioneers, and more than 200 visitors attended.[1]

The shrine was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.[1] It was also registered with California State Parks that same year.[11]

Design

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The structure in 2006

The shrine is an arched, four pillared structure made of stone, Colorado yule white marble, and steel-framed reinforced concrete. It is square in plan with 50-foot sides and tops out 72 feet above the ground. Each side is identical excepting some signage and is aligned with the cardinal directions. The roof follows the square building plan, is made of made of concrete, terra cotta, and red Spanish style tiles, and is surrounded by copper flashing.[1]

The shrine features a Spanish Colonial Revival design with Churrigueresque detailing and a cast stone skirt. Small Cupid faces peer out between garlands, geometric designs, and within empty niches above the skirt. Just below the roofline, the building is wrapped by a continuous cast stone facade featuring multiple urns flanked by petaled swirls and winged Cupids. Topping the shrine is a mortar-based cupola covered in mosaic tiles that form a multicolored repeating geometric pattern with a bursting-star at the center. Sculptural elements, including full-size figures, flora, swirl and flame finials, obelisks, and scrollwork are located on the roof line, the most noticeable being an elaborate 12-foot clam shell niche that both frames and provides a pedestal for a life-size Lady figure that reflects those of ancient Rome.[1]

Marker plaques inside the shrine

The shrine's four pillars each house approximately 10x10 foot rooms that are accessed through large steel-frame doors with bronze sheathing and ornamental rosettes. Each room also has 1x1 inch white ceramic tile floors and two windows featuring bronze grillwork. Between each pillar is an arch that enters to a flagstone-floored interior with a dome-shaped ceiling that features a mural resembling a starry night. Niches with figures are located on each side of each arch. Additional interior ornament include geometric and twisted roping designs, repetitive cross-hatching, wreaths, and realistic-looking garlands of either fruits or flowers.[1]

The structure also features an aircraft warning light atop the rotunda, installed by Lockheed when the nearby Burbank Airport opened in 1930.[1]

Burials

[edit]
Amelia Earhart cenotaph

The shrine contains cenotaphs for Amelia Earhart and Billy Mitchell[5] and is also the burial site for thirteen aviation pioneers,[8] including:

John Franklin Bruce Carruthers, air historian and Portal of the Folded Wings chaplain, is also buried at the shrine,[8] as was Jimmie Angel, the pilot who discovered Angel Falls. However, Angel's ashes were later removed and scattered over the falls.[23]

Shrine sculptor Federico Augustino Giorgi was buried "at the point offering the best view of the portal"[5] and James Gillette was also buried at a site facing the portal.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Giacinta Bradley Koontz (September 9, 1997). "Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation and Museum" (PDF). National Park Service. Photos
  2. ^ Bevk, Alex (November 25, 2014). "Behind the Hedges and Inside the History of Danielle Steel's Spreckels Mansion". Curbed SF.
  3. ^ "International Artisan Dining at the New Spring Arcade Building Space". Local Food Eater. August 9, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e Meares, Hadley (December 6, 2013). "Valhalla Memorial Park and Portal of the Folded Wings: The Criminal Beginnings of a Burbank Burial Ground". PBS SoCal.
  5. ^ a b c Schiff, Barry (June 30, 2023). "Portal of the Folded Wings". Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
  6. ^ "Planes Fly Over Resting Place. Air Pioneers Paid Frequent Homage". Los Angeles Times. April 8, 1979.
  7. ^ "Portal of the Folded Wings". Valhalla Memorial Park trustees. Retrieved May 10, 2025 – via hmdb.org.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i "The Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation and Museum". Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University. February 1996.
  9. ^ "Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation". Archived from the original on August 16, 2007. Retrieved September 25, 2007.
  10. ^ "Resting Place for Early Aviators Gets a New Look". Daily News of Los Angeles. April 1, 1996.
  11. ^ "Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation and Museum". California Natural Resources Agency. March 18, 1998.
  12. ^ "Paris Preliminaries". Time. April 25, 1927. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010.
  13. ^ "Walter Brookins, 63, Early Record Flyer". New York Times. April 30, 1953.
  14. ^ Cooper, Ralph. "Mark M. Campbell (1897-1963) aka Mark Mitchell Campbell". Early Aviators. Retrieved May 11, 2025.
  15. ^ "Winfield B. "Bert" Kinner Collection". National Air and Space Museum. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  16. ^ Taylor, Charles Edward (December 1, 2003). "My Story". Archived from the original on December 19, 2013., as told to Robert S. Ball, Collier's, 25 December 1948.
  17. ^ "Mrs. Elizabeth Bancroft, Air Pioneer, Dies at 80— Former Mrs. McQueen Best Known as Founder of Women's Aeronautics Group". Los Angeles Times. December 26, 1958. p. I-4. Retrieved May 11, 2025.
  18. ^ "Matilde Moisant, Early Flyer, Dies". New York Times. February 7, 1964. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  19. ^ "Miss Moisant Wins License. Second Woman In This Country To Prove Her Ability To Fly". New York Times. August 14, 1911. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
  20. ^ a b Ladino, Marie. "Pulling the Rip Cord". USPTO.gov. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  21. ^ "James Floyd Smith, 71". Washington Post. December 18, 1956. Aeronautic engineer and pioneer flier who invented the first successful free type of manually operated parachute now used by the Air Force, established three altitude records for seaplanes and was awarded the Aero Club of America Medal or Merit; in San Diego, California. ...
  22. ^ Adams, Jean; Kimball, Margaret; Eaton, Jeanette (1970). Heroines of the Sky. p. XII. ISBN 9780836915396. Among the more piquant characters of that second decade of our century was Mrs. Hilder Florentina Smith, an Illinois woman first heard of as a member of a flying aerial team, The Flying Sylvesters
  23. ^ "Jimmie Angel Historical Project". Archived from the original on March 16, 2010. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
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