1976 - The Castaway Starlight Ballroom
1976
Interior daytime view of the empty Starlight Ballroom at The Castaway Restaurant in 1976. Floor-to-ceiling windows cast hazy sunlight onto the polished dance floor surrounded by unoccupied tables and chairs. Two large chandeliers hang from the ceiling while palm trees dominate the outside view. According to the Los Angeles Times, The Castaway remodel in 1976 cost over $200,000 and included new landscaping and a relocation of the cocktail bar. The Castaway originally opened in March of 1962 as the second themed restaurant launched by Specialty Restaurants Corporation. Known for their award-winning destination restaurants, the company was founded by World War II bomber pilot, David Tallichet, who acquired a reputation for opening his restaurants next to an airport, on the waterfront, or on top of a hill. Nicknamed “The Jewel on the Hill,” the South Seas themed restaurant in the Burbank hillside became a landmark and meeting place for local businesses such as NBC, Lockheed, and the Walt Disney Company, as well as a venue for wedding receptions and prom parties. Bob Hope was known to frequent the cocktail bar where he and other visitors enjoyed the panoramic view of the San Fernando Valley. A fire destroyed the original Castaway Restaurant in 1993 but it was rebuilt a year later. In 2017, the venue undertook a $10 million-dollar renovation to revamp the banquet rooms, outside patio dining area, and catering kitchen space.
1250 East Harvard Rd., Burbank, CA 91501
3 x 5 b&w print
Burbank Public Library, Burbank in Focus Office
cco01517
City Clerk's Office
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