Resource Report

Historic Resource Summary

Names
Royal Viking Motel Pylon Sign (Primary)
Royal Viking Motel Pylon Sign (Historic)
Important Dates
1960-01-01 (Built Date)
Images
Royal Viking Motel Pylon Sign - PHOTO
Resource Types
Object
Architect
Builder
Owner

Location Information

Addresses
Location Description
No descriptions recorded
Northeast corner of Alvarado St and 3rd St
Administrative Areas
Westlake Community Plan Area (Community Plan Area)
Los Angeles City Council District 13 (Council District)
WESTLAKE NORTH NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL (Neighborhood Council)
TEMPLE-BEAUDRY 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
Commercial sign, composed of multiple sections arranged vertically on a free-standing pylon. The uppermost section reads "Royal Viking" and is outlined in neon tubing; the main section is parabolic in shape and reads "Motel" in block neon letters; additional rectangular sections below advertise various motel amenities.
Alterations
No major alterations

Resource Significance

Evaluation Details

Date Evaluated
2013-09-24
Context/Theme
Commercial Development, 1850-1980
Commercial Signs, 1906-1980
Pylons, Poles, Stantions, and Billboards, 1920-1980
Commercial - Sign
Freestanding Pylon
Eligibility Standards
  • Originally constructed as freestanding support for advertisements to be read from a distance by moving audiences
  • Evokes iconic cultural associations with period- or regionally specific commercial establishments, personae, or multiple-family residential properties, and/or is an excellent example of an architectural style or promotional technique from its period
  • 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
    Association
    Feeling
    Workmanship
    Materials
    Setting
    Design
    Location
    Retains sufficient integrity to convey significance
    California Historic Resources Status Codes (explanation of codes)
    5S3
    Significance Statement
    Excellent example of a 1960s Googie-style pylon sign with neon tubing. Evaluation is for the sign only; building is substantially altered. Signs appear to meet local criteria only and may not meet significance thresholds for National Register or California Register eligibility.
    Periods of Significance
    From: 1960-01-01

    External References

    External System References

    SurveyLA ID: b34fea63-2190-491d-a4df-4c8752800d75

    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)

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    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
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