This project is a multimedia website exploring the history of the El Cortez, a landmark hotel in San Diego that has been at the center of the city for 80 years. The El Cortez Hotel was once the tallest and most important building in San Diego. When the El Cortez was inaugurated in 1927, over 50,000 people, a third of the population of San Diego, attended. This website documents its history from the El Cortez's construction as a hotel, its evolution into the center of downtown life, and reinvention as a controversial evangelism school. The video clips below show the elevator views from the 1950s, President Obama visit to the El Cortez, and scenes from the movie A Ticklish Affair (1963) filmed at the El Cortez.