Pasadena City Hall, completed in 1927, serves as the central location for city government in the City of Pasadena, California and it is a significant architectural example of the City Beautiful movement of the 1920s.
Pasadena City Hall is one of the finest examples of the California Mediterranean style. It is the dominant building in the Pasadena Civic Center, a complex of government, institutional and cultural buildings that epitomizes the City Beautiful movement.
Since its opening on December 27, 1927, 80-year old Pasadena City Hall has remained one of the most distinctive public buildings in the United States and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
"An official building of imposing beauty, massive yet graceful, and suited to a land of flowers and sunshine" is what the Pasadena Board of Directors (called the City Council in modern times) had in mind when they undertook to build the present City Hall.
The way had been prepared in 1923, when the people of Pasadena passed a bond issue of $3.5 million to establish a civic center. The Chicago firm of Bennett, Parsons and Frost was commissioned to draw up a civic center plan. The planners established Garfield Avenue as an axis, on which City Hall was to be the central element, with the Pasadena Public Library to the north and the Pasadena Civic Auditorium to the south. Also included in the original design were the Pasadena Police Department, Pasadena Municipal Court, YMCA, YWCA, Southern California Gas Company and United States Post Office. Over the years the new police building and county court house have been added. The YMCA building is now Centennial Place, a single-room-occupancy residential complex, and the Southern California Gas Company building now serves as the city's Permit Center. The YWCA building is unoccupied because of seismic and other issues.
Pasadena City Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 28, 1980, (listing number is 80-000813) as a contributor to the Pasadena Civic Center District; the listed significance is at the national level. As quoted from the National Register of Historic Places Inventory -- Nomination form: "The district, a Civic Center designed by Bennett, Parsons and Frost, "is a nationally significant example of civic art in the 'City Beautiful' style of the 1920's. The main features of the plan were actually executed, and the key buildings (including City Hall) actually built, by nationally recognized architects in a homogeneous style."
The City Hall has long been a favorite shooting location for filmmakers. The courtyard was used in the 1995 movie "A Walk in the Clouds" to portray a Napa Valley town square. It has also been used as an embassy in the "Mission: Impossible" television series, and a villa in Charlie Chaplin's Oscar-nominated 1940 film "The Great Dictator." Pasadena City Hall currently serves as the city hall of fictional Pawnee, Indiana, in the television show "Parks and Recreation." The dome is visible through the window of the main characters' apartment building in the television show The Big Bang Theory.
From a distance, Pasadena City Hall has always looked as though it has withstood the test of time. However, the building was showing signs of age by the late 20th century. The 1920s building did not meet modern building codes, and studies indicated that a major earthquake could destroy several parts of the building and likely result in a loss of life. The concrete walls had many deep cracks, and two of the stairway towers had considerable damage. There was also water damage from years of storms with little to no repair and maintenance. An effort to rehabilitate the aging building began in the late 1990s, led by Architectural Resources Group of San Francisco, CA.
In July 2004, the building was vacated in order to allow for a complete overhaul of the structure. Over the course of three years, all offices and council chambers were renovated, the facade was restored, the building was adapted to meet ADA standards, HVAC systems were replaced and modernized, and new landscaping and architectural lighting was installed. To help ensure it would withstand future earthquake activity, the building was lifted off its foundation, equipped with structural base isolators and given a new foundation. The renovation of Pasadena City Hall earned a LEED Gold certification.
Following construction, staff moved back starting in April 2007 and City Hall was fully operational again by July. At the time, the Los Angeles Times noted: "In a city where historic preservation is much like a civic obsession, City Hall has long been among the crown jewels of Pasadena, along with the Colorado Street Bridge, the Rose Bowl and the Gamble House. Although the renovation has been among the costliest public works projects in Pasadena, city officials decided that they couldn't risk losing the landmark in another quake."
Pasadena City Hall.
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