by Nicholas Slayton

The El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument offers a number of attractions. Visitors can stroll down Olvera Street and buy kitschy goods, check out the city's oldest building or grab a meal at one of the area's Mexican restaurants. They can inspect the monuments to the city's founding in 1781, drop by the Chinese American Museum or glimpse the preserved David Alfaro Siqueiros mural "America Tropical."

Now there's a new attraction, and it is unlike anything else in the area. The $4.5 million Italian American Museum of Los Angeles opens on Sunday, Aug. 14, in a 6,000-square-foot space on the second floor of the renovated 1908 Italian Hall at 644 N. Main St. The museum, which has been in the works in some form or another for more than two decades, holds a collection of maps, letters and photographs relating to the past and present Italian community — it touches on everything from the original Little Italy (where Chinatown now stands) to Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda.

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Source: http://www.ladowntownnews.com/