Resource Report

Historic Resource Summary

Names
City Center Hotel Sign (Primary)
City Center Hotel Sign (Historic)
Important Dates
1956-01-01 (Built Date)
Images
City Center Hotel Sign - PHOTO
Resource Types
Object
Architect
Builder
Owner

Location Information

Addresses
Location Description
No descriptions recorded
1135 W 7th Street
Administrative Areas
Westlake Community Plan Area (Community Plan Area)
Los Angeles City Council District 1 (Council District)
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL (Neighborhood Council)
WESTLAKE NEIGHBORHOOD (Neighborhood)

Resource Description

Classification
Type: Commercial-Sign, Pylon, Pole, Stantion   Use: Historic     Style: Googie    
Type: California OHP Resource Attribute - HP39. Other          
Features
No components recorded
Architectural Description
Freestanding pole sign; parabolic upper section reads "City Center"; rectangular lower section reads "hotel" in a vertical configuration; neon lettering; curved arrow with incandescent bulbs.
Alterations
No major alterations

Resource Significance

Evaluation Details

Date Evaluated
2013-11-19
Context/Theme
Commercial Development, 1850-1980
Commercial Signs, 1906-1980
Pylons, Poles, Stantions, and Billboards, 1920-1980
Commercial - Sign
Freestanding Pole
Eligibility Standards
  • Originally constructed as freestanding support for advertisements to be read from a distance by moving audiences
  • Usually freestanding steel poles, rectilinear stucco-faced pylons, towers, or stantions that extend vertically, separate from and usually (especially in post-World War II years) rising to a height above that of the building it advertises
  • Retains most of the essential character-defining features of its type
  • Pylons, poles, stantions, or towers support metal or plastic boxes (in varying dimensions and shapes), cutouts, spheres, statuary, or other three-dimensional forms
  • Often serves to advertise and visually link the building and parking lot to street frontage
  • Often bear signs on both sides and may include other intersecting shapes and forms that jut from the primary structure at different angles
  • May support a combination of backlit plastic, incandescent bulbs, neon tubing, and/or fluorescent tubing
  • May exemplify design features of sans-serif modernism; scripted and slanted typefaces of post-World War II period; askew, modernist or “Googie” styled forms and features; thematic or exotic imagery; or bubble-type, psychedelic
  • May exemplify design features of Art Deco, Streamline Moderne, exaggeratedly modernist/“Googie,” or thematic architectural styles—streamlines, angularity, offset composition of intersecting forms, fanciful or programmatic pictorial illustrations
  • Evokes commercial ethos of its period through forms, typography, materials, and/or imagery
    • Integrity Aspects
    Location
    Design
    Setting
    Materials
    Workmanship
    Feeling
    Association
    Retains sufficient integrity to convey significance
    California Historic Resources Status Codes (explanation of codes)
    5S3
    Significance Statement
    Excellent example of a 1950 motel sign with neon lettering and incandescent bulbs. The sign appears to meet local criteria only and may not meet significance thresholds for National Register or California Register eligibility.
    Periods of Significance
    From: 1956-01-01

    External References

    External System References

    SurveyLA ID: 6e8eedae-5079-4305-9c66-5e2a0432f49c

    Related Resources

    Related Historic Resources

    None

    Related Historic Districts

    None

    Related Activities

    SurveyLA - Westlake Survey (was assessed in / assessed)

    Related Historic Events

    None

    Related People/Organizations

    Historic Resources Group (Surveying Firm, was surveyed by / surveyed)

    Related Information Resources

    Images
    Documents
    SurveyLA: Westlake Historic Resources Survey Report (Document/Text, is referred to in / refers to)

    SurveyLA

    SurveyLA is the first comprehensive program to identify significant historic resources throughout the City of Los Angeles, and is scheduled to be completed in 2017. HistoricPlacesLA includes SurveyLA data published to date. Find out more about SurveyLA at: http://www.preservation.lacity.org/survey

    Office of Historic Resources

    Office of Historic Resources
    Department of City Planning
    221 N. Figueroa Street, Suite 1350
    Los Angeles, CA 90012
    (213) 847-3676 phone
    Email: planning.historicplacesla@lacity.org
    http://www.preservation.lacity.org
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