Looking north on Hope Street from Eighth Street, 1972-2011

1972-2011

Few architects have left a greater physical legacy on Los Angeles’ Financial District than the architect-developer Charles Luckman. In conjunction with his development firm, the Ogden Development Corporation, Charles Luckman Associates built two of the Financial District’s largest structures, Broadway Plaza and the United California Bank Building. The top photograph shows the projects in the midst of their construction in 1972; both were completed in 1974.

Built at a cost of $85 million by Ogden Development and Broadway-Hale Stores, Broadway Plaza rose on the 4.5 acre block bounded by Seventh, Eighth, Hope, and Flower Streets. The mixed-use complex included a 32-story office building, 23-story hotel, and small shopping center, anchored by a 250,000 square-foot Broadway department store. Much like Luckman’s most notorious work, Madison Square Garden, Broadway Plaza interacts poorly with its surroundings at the pedestrian level. The vast majority of its sidewalk space is fronted by blank brick walls, broken up by loading docks and driveways leading to the 1,975-car garage at the top of its bulky southern volume.

Rising in the right background is the 62-story United California Bank Building, famous for its slender yet austere rectangular volume. At the time of its completion in 1974, it was country’s tallest building west of Chicago, and would remain the city’s tallest until the completion of the Library Tower in 1989.

In 1996, following the dissolution of the Broadway department store chain, Broadway Plaza was renamed Macy’s Plaza; the United California Bank tower has been the AON Center since 2003. Nearly four decades after their completion, the buildings continue to dominate the above view of Hope Street, their imposing presence made only greater by the disappearance of the First Methodist Church.

First Methodist Church [Urban Diachrony]

Sources:
1. “About the architect.” Los Angeles Times. 11 Jul. 1971. T41.
2. Hebert, Ray. “Bank will construct 62-story building.” Los Angeles Times. 19 Feb. 1970. OC5.
3. Hebert, Ray. “Downtown meets a megastructure.” Los Angeles Times. 6 Aug. 1973. 3.
4. Hebert, Ray. “Huge shopping center planned for Downtown.” Los Angeles Times. 13 Nov. 1968. SG1.
5. Muschamp, Herbert. “Charles Luckman, architect who designed Penn Station’s replacement, dies at 89.” New York Times. 28 Jan. 1999.
6. “Work to start soon on Broadway Plaza.” Los Angeles Times. 1 Feb. 1971. G10.
Original photo: “00039418 – View of Hope from 8th Street.” 1972. Los Angeles Public Library. http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/FullRecord?databaseID=968&record=23&controlNumber=42256.

First Methodist Church, southwest corner of Eighth and Hope Streets, 1983-2011

1983-2011

In 1913, merely a decade after the completion of its church at Sixth and Hill Streets, the First Methodist Church purchased a plot at the southwest corner of Eighth and Hope Streets, then occupied by the Abbotsford Inn. Faced with the rapid development of its surrounding neighborhood and an ever-expanding membership, the church announced the imminent construction of a $300,000 building at Downtown’s southwestern edge, to be designed by architect John C. Austin.

It would be another ten years however, before the congregation could worship on Hope Street. The sale of its existing building was put on hold at the outbreak of the First World War, and changes to its expansion needs led to several redesigns by Austin’s firm. Groundbreaking did not take place until 1921, by which point its construction costs had ballooned to $1,500,000. Nonetheless, the Methodists had reason to be proud. At the time of its dedication in 1923, the steel-framed edifice housed 45,000 square feet of floor space, with a 3000-seat auditorium, 32 classrooms, a social hall, and a gymnasium. With its Spanish Renaissance Revival facade, glass panels by Louis Tiffany, and an imposing bell tower rising from the intersection’s corner, the First Methodist Church was arguably Los Angeles’ most impressive religious building yet.

Sadly, like many of its Downtown neighbors, the First Methodist Church eventually became unable to maintain its majestic lodgings due to the shrinking size of its congregation. After membership plummeted from 6,000 to 400 during the 1970s, the congregation’s leaders decided in 1982 to sell the property at $9 million to the Southern California Gas Company, headquartered next door at Eighth and Flower Streets. Although the corporation had no imminent plans to redevelop the site, their offer was contingent on the existing building’s demolition.

In an effort to change the course of events, a lone congregation member named Barbara Dumas filed a landmark status application to the city, quickly gaining the support of the Community Redevelopment Agency and the Los Angeles Conservancy. While its approval would not have ended the demolition plans, they would have been substantially delayed, allowing some time for public debate and the development of alternative proposals. Nonetheless, after unanimous approval by the Cultural Heritage Board, landmark status was rejected by City Council by a vote of 10 to 2, citing the absence of a viable plan to finance the building’s preservation.

Despite continued protests led by the conservancy (pictured above) and the Community Redevelopment Agency’s attempts at negotiation, the historic church was demolished in the spring of 1983. As evident in the contemporary photograph, the Gas Company never redeveloped the land. They opted several years later to build their new headquarters at Fifth Street and Grand Avenue, partially on the ruins of yet another destroyed church.

A horizontally aligned comparison can be viewed here.

Sources:
1. “Council rejects bid to save L.A. church.” Los Angeles Times. 20 Dec. 1982. OC_A4.
2. “Finest church here planned.” Los Angeles Times. 1 Nov. 1913. I10.
3. “First methodists buy a new church site.” Los Angeles Times. 23 Aug. 1913. II1.
4. “For new church homes.” Los Angeles Times. 12 Apr. 1920. II1.
5. “Give complete plans of super-church building.” Los Angeles Times. 23 Jun. 1921. II1.
6. Kaplan, Sam Hall. “A downtown church threatened.” Los Angeles Times. 27 Oct. 1982. G1.
7. Kaplan, Sam Hall. “As the dust settles on Hope Street.” Los Angeles Times. 11 Mar. 1983. I1.
8. “Methodists to dedicate.” Los Angeles Times. 7 Jul. 1923. II2.
Original photo: Ruebsamen, James. “Protest over church closing.” 1983. Herald-Examiner Collection. Los Angeles Public Library. http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/FullRecord?databaseID=968&record=1&controlNumber=5030342.

Looking west on Wilshire Boulevard from Westlake Avenue, 1931-1934

1931-1934

Between 1931 and 1934, three major road projects completely reshaped the easternmost stretch of Wilshire Boulevard, leaving behind the thoroughfare as we know it today. In addition to a two-block extension east of Figueroa Street and a causeway through Westlake Park, its former Orange Street right-of-way was widened from 60 to 90 feet, as illustrated in the above photographs. Though primarily for the benefit of automobile traffic, the project also widened the boulevard’s sidewalks from 10 to 17 feet.

As typical of large public works initiatives, its planning first emerged nearly a decade before its completion, even before the incorporation of Orange Street. Visible at the left edge of both photographs is a 13-story medical office building by John and Donald B. Parkinson, designed in anticipation of the widening project. At the time of its completion in 1928, the tower came with an extremely generous 40-foot sidewalk, as wide was the roadway itself.

Wilshire Boulevard’s eastern extension [urban diachrony]

Sources:
1. “Asks Orange Street be named Wilshire.” Los Angeles Times. 20 Mar. 1924. A10.
2. “Improvement launched on Wilshire Boulevard.” Los Angeles Times. 6 May 1934. 25.
3. “Structure nears completion.” Los Angeles Times. 29 Jul 1928. E2.
Photographs:
1.  “Chs-m470 – View of Wilshire Boulevard looking west from Bonnie Brae Street before widening, March 2, 1931.” Title Insurance and Trust/C. C. Pierce Photography Collection. USC Digital Library. USC Libraries Special Collections. http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search/controller/view/chs-m470.html.
2. “Chs-m472 – View of Wilshire Boulevard west from Bonnie Brae Street after widening, December 3, 1934.” Title Insurance and Trust/C. C. Pierce Photography Collection. USC Digital Library. USC Libraries Special Collections. http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search/controller/view/chs-m472.html.

Looking east on Santa Monica Boulevard from Vermont Avenue, c.1950-2011

c. 1950-2011

Much as it was a half-century ago, the eastern stretches of Santa Monica Boulevard are dominated primarily by the utility poles along its north side, made only more prominent by the gradual erosion of its street wall. Completed around 1937, the Ralphs supermarket in the top photograph occupied an L-shaped plot with frontages on both Santa Monica Boulevard and Vermont Avenue, wrapped around an older commercial building at the intersection’s northeast corner (pictured far left). Although increasingly designed to accomodate automobile parking, the grocery chain continued to build its new stores with at least one facade and pedestrian entrance along the sidewalk. The Santa Monica Boulevard store remained in operation through the 1980s, until all of the buildings in its vicinity were replaced by a sprawling, fully car-oriented shopping center.

The original photograph was taken shortly before the removal of the tracks and streetcar poles once used by the Pacific Electric Railway. During the early 20th century, the transit company’s Santa Monica Boulevard Line was the region’s primary transit route between West Hollywood and Downtown, and one of several lines which radiated from the Subway Terminal Building. Its relatively high ridership made it one of the last routes to succumb to the Pacific Electric Railway’s rapid dismantling of its rail network. Once its streetcars were replaced by buses on June 1, 1953, the transit corporation operated only six streetcar lines alongside 40 bus routes.

Sources:
1. “Hollywood market evacuated.” Los Angeles Times. 30 Oct 1985. A31.
2. “PE displays air suspension motor coaches.” Los Angeles Times. 29 May 1953. A3.
3. “PE rail line will change to busses June 1.” Los Angeles Times. 20 May 1953. 12.
4. “Realty purchase heralds new activity.” Los Angeles Times. 3 May 1936. E2.
Original photo: “chs-m1361 – View of Santa Monica Boluevard, looking east of Vermont, showing Ralphs grocery store, 1954 (1951?).” California Historical Society Collection. USC Digital Library. USC Libraries Special Collections. http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search/controller/view/chs-m1361.html.

Looking north on Spring Street from Sixth Street c.1940-2011

c. 1940-2011

After decades of neglect, the rebirth of Spring Street as an active mixed-use residential and retail street is one of downtown Los Angeles’ greatest success stories. Yet despite the preservation of its historic highrises, its street-level views have changed dramatically since the neighborhood’s prewar heyday.

Though now largely forgotten, Spring Street’s towers were once interspersed by multiple clusters of low-rise buildings, two of which are seen on both sides of the top photograph. During the mid-century decades, these low-rise blocks were virtually obliterated in favor of surface parking lots, leaving behind a gap-toothed street wall and pockets of little activity. In 1970, several years after the end of streetcar service, Spring Street was converted into a one-way thoroughfare, greatly increasing vehicle travel speeds along its length. Both changes resulted in substantial degradations to the corridor’s pedestrian environment. Even its street trees, Indian Laurel figs first planted in the late 1950s, have outgrown their welcome; the perennially overgrown canopy fairly blackens the sidewalks and storefronts below on all but the brightest of summer days.

Nonetheless, Spring Street may be due for significant reconfigurations to its streetscape by the end of the year. Current plans advanced by the Department of Transportation, Downtown L.A. Neighborhood Council and the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition call for the installation of a buffered green bike lane to replace two existing car lanes, as well as the replacement of parking spaces on the 600 block by two parklets.

Spring Street to get bike lane, ‘parklets’ [Los Angeles Downtown News]

Source: Sherman, Gene. “Cityside with Gene Sherman.” Los Angeles Times. 4 Mar. 1958. 2.
Original photo: “Chs-m24429 – View down a street at 5245 Spring Street.” California Historical Society Collection. USC Digital Library. USC Libraries Special Collections. http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search/controller/view/chs-m24429.html?x=1319264383916.

Pershing Square viewed from the Pershing Square Building, c. 1930-2011

c. 1930-2011

Despite the massive redevelopment of their adjacent neighborhoods, the buildings flanking Pershing Square’s southern and western sides remain largely intact, the primary addition being the 26-story City National Bank tower. Contemporary Pershing Square, twice rebuilt in the intervening years, bears precious little resemblance to its 1910 design by John Parksinon. The top photograph shows the park sometime around 1930, soon after the initial introduction of tropical plants (written about previously).

The elevated view allows for a number of comparisons of two very different park designs. Perhaps most striking is the fact that pre-war Pershing Square had relatively few paved areas and accessible open spaces aside from its bench-lined walkways and central fountain area. Furthermore, the six walkways which radiated from the fountain provided direct, largely unobstructed paths through the square. On the other hand, modern Pershing Square has an abundance of open paved areas in its central region, and few direct paths from one end to another. Whereas today’s park does not appear to have drastically less tree cover than its predecessor, it is nearly entirely concentrated along the park’s edges, obstructing views between it and its neighboring buildings.

Both photographs were taken from the upper stories of the Pershing Square Building, completed at the park’s northeast corner in 1924. This commanding view of downtown’s central park is currently accessible to patrons of Perch, a rooftop bar which sits atop two new floors recently added to the historic office building.

Source: Richardson, Eric. “Pershing Square Building still growing.” Blogdowntown. 15 Oct. 2008. http://blogdowntown.com/2008/10/3715-pershing-square-building-still-growing.
Original photo: “CHS-m2880. Pershing Square from the top of an area building, ca. 1920-1939.” Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce Collection. USC Digital Library. USC Libraries Special Collections. http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search/controller/view/chs-m2880.html.

Northeast corner of Seventh Street and Broadway, 1927-2011

1927-2011

Once at the junction of Los Angeles’ greatest retail corridors, the intersection of Seventh Street and Broadway was arguably the city’s busiest crossing throughout the interwar years. In 1915, the Haas Realty Company completed the construction of a 12-story office tower at its northeast corner, joining Bullock’s department store (1907) and the Hotel Lankershim (1904). At the time of its opening, the Haas Building’s corner retail space was leased to the Bank of Italy (later Bank of America), which remained in the building for nearly four decades.

Seventh Street and Broadway lost most of their luster during the latter half of the 20th century, a fate permanently etched into the Haas Building’s walls. Its Beaux-Arts terra cotta facade, designed by Morgan, Walls & Morgan, was nearly entirely destroyed during an unfortunate remodeling in the 1970s. All that remains is the building’s office entrance on Seventh Street, uncovered and restored during its 2009 conversion into residential lofts.

Renovated entrace juxtaposes old and new on Broadway [blogdowntown]

Sources:
1. “Fact and comment” Los Angeles Times. 5 Apr. 1914. V1.
2. “Lease opposite park.” Los Angeles Times. 14 Jan. 1915. I10.
3. “Rushing work on skyscraper.” Los Angeles Times. 13 Dec. 1914. V1.
4. “Structure sales hit $15,000,000.” Los Angeles Times. 27 Jul. 1952. E1.
Original photo: “acsc-m857 – Pedestrian and automobile traffic-7th and Broadway, Los Angeles, 1927.” Automobile Club of Southern California negatives. USC Digital Library. Automobile Club of Southern California. http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assetserver/controller/view/AAA-NG-1203-I.

The Brownstein-Louis Building, 751 S. Figueroa St, 1929-2011

1929-2011

In the first decades of the 20th century, Los Angeles’ central Figueroa Street vicinity quickly shed its residential character as it grew into a mixed-use office and light industrial district. In 1920, the Brownstein-Louis Company started work on a five-story menswear factory at the northwest corner of Figueroa and Eighth Streets. Although original plans for the site were drawn up by Meyer and Holler, design work was ultimately completed by the office of John Parkinson.

In addition to its relative proximity to downtown’s center and the quality of its construction, the Brownstein-Louis Building was noted for the synergy of its Neoclassical design with the factory’s functional needs. In order to maximize natural light, the upper three stories were built in an H-shaped volume featuring expansive windows. In anticipation of the area’s future growth, ground-floor shops lined its Figueroa Street side, set back from the roadway by a generously wide sidewalk. Despite its hefty initial investment, the Brownstein-Louis Company vacated its namesake building in 1929. Its upper-story factory spaces were subsequently renovated into offices, designed once again by Parkinson’s firm.

The top photograph appears to show the building immediately before its renovation. Visible at the right is Potter Park Avenue, a one-block roadway which formerly ran between Figueroa and Franscisco Streets (renamed 7th Place in the early 1930s). After a brief stint as a federal office building during the Depression years, the Brownstein-Louis Building dwindled for five decades under various warehouse uses. In 1980, both the Brownstein-Louis Building and 7th Place were razed during the construction of the Seventh Marketplace shopping center, now known as 7+Fig. Since 1990, the remainder of its original footprint has been taken up by the 777 Tower, a 53-story office skyscraper designed by Cesar Pelli.

Sources:
1. “Big cash deal for property.” Los Angeles Times. 21 Aug. 1919. II3.
2. Dirlam, Sharon. “Downtown retail mall, offices planned.” Los Angeles Times. 23 Mar. 1980. J2.
3. “Federal office building picked.” Los Angeles Times. 19 Oct. 1929. A6.
4. “Ideal behind factory plan.” Los Angeles Times. 24 Aug. 1919. V1.
5. “New building need indicated.” Los Angeles Times. 26 Apr. 1930. A1.
6. “Remodeling of building scheduled.” Los Angeles Times. 19 May 1929. E9.
7. “Start work on fine building.” Los Angeles Times. 12 Sep. 1920. V!.
8. Whiteson, Leon. “Pelli stretches his skin to new heights.” Los Angeles Times. 8 Apr. 1990. 1.
Original photo: “examiner-m2633 – Brownstein-Louis building, downtown Los Angeles, 1929.” 1929. Los Angeles Examiner Prints Collection. USC Digital Library. USC Libraries Special Collections. http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assetserver/controller/view/EXM-P-S-LOS-ANG-CIT-BUI-021.

Looking west on Wilshire Boulevard from Hoover Street, c.1930-2011

c. 1930-2011

The top photograph shows Wilshire Center as it appeared soon after the 1929 completion of two of its greatest landmarks, Bullock’s Wilshire (left) and the Town House (right). Looming further in the distance is the Gaylord Apartments, now well hidden by the office towers that have risen around it. The contemporary photograph also shows the impressive results of the Wilshire Center Streetscape Project, which installed landscaped medians and hundreds of street trees along Wilshire Boulevard between 1994 and 1996. The partnership which initiated the project has since grown into the Wilshire Center Business Improvement Corporation, which maintains the district’s landscaping to this day.

A history of the Wilshire streetscape project [Wilshire Center BID]

Sources:
1. Doherty, Jake. “Wilshire Center trees give boost to ‘Streetscape’ project.” Los Angeles Times. 22 May 1994. 6.
2. Gordon, Larry. “Cities Look to the Streets to Improve Their Images.” Los Angeles Times. 11 Feb. 1996. 1.
Original photo: “Chs-m424 – View of Wilshire Boulevard near Hoover, 1920-1929.” Title Insurance and Trust/C. C. Pierce Photography Collection. USC Digital Library. USC Libraries Special Collections. http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assetserver/controller/view/CHS-36682.

428 South Hill Street, c.1900-2011

c. 1900-2011

The Ezra Wilson Building, also known as the Occidental Hotel, was completed around 1898 at 428 South Hill Street. Though never one of the city’s landmark establishments, it was one of the earlier commercial buildings to venture into Pershing Square’s vicinity, at the onset of its rapid transition from residential district to downtown center. In 1914, the relatively humble building was dwarfed by the 11-story Hotel Clark, which rose on the adjacent plot on its north side. The Occidental Hotel was eventually acquired and demolished by its neighbor, replaced by a two-story annex in 1937, pictured above.

In 1950, the annex was handed to the Salvation Army for use as a servicemen’s club, which was then transferred to the Los Angeles USO the following year. Though it appears that the USO stayed at this location for at least two decades, both the Hotel Clark and its annex have remained vacant since the early 1990s. Fortunately, both structures are included in the Chetrit Group’s ongoing renovation of the of the historic hotel complex.

Long Renovation of the Hotel Clark Continues [blogdowntown]

Sources:
1. “Festive night at the Clark.” Los Angeles Times. 25 Jan. 1914. III7.
2. “Fire sears hotel, one heroic rescue.” Los Angeles Times. 28 Dec. 1908. 14.
3. “House and lot.” Los Angeles Times. 28 Oct. 1897. 6.
4. Insurance Maps of Los Angeles California: Volume 1. New York: Sanborn Map Company, 1953.
5. “New serviceman club to be dedicated today.” Los Angeles Times. 27 Nov. 1950. 23.
6. “Salvation army service center goes to USO.” Los Angeles Times. 13 Apr. 1951. A2.
Original photo: “chs-m1291-Occidental Hotel on the east side of Hill Street between Fourth Street and Fifth Street, ca.1910.” Title Insurance and Trust/C. C. Pierce Photography Collection. USC Digital Library. USC Libraries Special Collections. http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assetserver/controller/view/CHS-2431.