Quote:
Originally Posted by Lorendoc
The Civic Center was demolished in 1959 and today is the site of the Felicia Mahood Multipurpose Center, run by Jewish Family Service of LA. This part of WLA still has a number of undistinguished civic buildings - police, library, courthouse - nearby.
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The Civic Center was demolished and rebuilt to a master plan by architect Albert Criz from 1960 to 1965. The five-unit complex started with the regional public library, by Allison & Rible, in 1956, before the old Civic Center was torn down. After demolition, Criz added the public community center (now the Mahood Center), the amphitheater, branch City Hall and the court building. This last is on the other side of Purdue; part of this block of Purdue is now a pedestrian mall.
google maps
The previous Civic Building held the branch City Hall, Library and Fire Station at 11354 Santa Monica Blvd:
lapl/dick wittington
The new Civic Center was supposed to look grand, but as you noted, many people think it "undistinguished". Grim outdoor spaces, too many parking lots and poor maintenance kinda kill the atmosphere. Also, the Mahood Center walled off the Community Building and the Amphitheater after they took over, leaving the Civic Center w/o focus.
I think the best of the buildings is the Allison & Rible library, which faces Santa Monica Blvd, but the dead landscaping doesn't help:
gsv
LA Conservancy has a page on the West LA Civic Center
here. They call it "eye-catching".
The bunkerized police station was built a block to the west by KVA in 1972. One has to walk through a ridiculous tiled baffle, bristling with security cameras and a fish-eye mirror to enter. They must think they're under imminent attack:
gsv
The former police station was on the west side of Purdue at No. 1653:
lapl
P.S.
One of the only interesting buildings near the WLA Civic Center is the old Masonic Lodge, built in 1925-26 by Buckeye W[illiam] Asa Hudson (1890-1975), at Santa Monica and Butler, the next block west from the current library. The two floors of lodge rooms sat on a retail base. Now sadly diminished, although well-maintained, it's been home to
The Village Recording Studios since 1968.
gsv
W Asa Hudson, after coming to California from Cleveland, moved his offices from DTLA to Santa Monica before finally settling in Beverly Hills. Over a long and prolific career, he built business blocks, churches, homes and, memorably, the bungalows at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
The south side of the Masonic Lodge carries the faded ghost of the mural, "Isle of California" (1972), by the LA Fine Arts Squad (Victor Henderson, Terry Schoonhoven, Jim Frazin), now shot through w/ retrofitting bolts:
gvs
Here it is when relatively fresh:
experiencingLA
And a future echo courtesy of The Village Recorders:
greenbook
The Permit:
ladbs
Don't miss
e_r's post on the Village Recorders' interior and history.
.