{"nrhp_refnum":"02000330","name":"Broadway Theatre and Commercial District (Boundary Increase)","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"242, 248-260, 249-259, 900-911,908-910, 921-937, 930-947 S. Broadway","address_restricted":false,"city":"Los Angeles","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":34.05210584800005,"lon":-118.24895367599999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-04-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce","Entertainment/Recreation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A boundary increase and documentation update to the Broadway Theater and Commercial District in downtown Los Angeles, California, adding 3.03 acres and eight buildings along South Broadway between Second and Olympic Boulevard. The district was developed between 1894 and 1931 and first listed in 1979.","why_significant":"The district was the leading shopping and movie-going destination for Los Angeles residents and tourists as the city grew into a major metropolis. Its varied, high-quality architecture, including movie palaces and retail and office buildings by prominent Los Angeles architects, reflects the area's role in the regional economy. The update adds six contributing buildings and reclassifies six earlier contributors as non-contributing.","narrative":"This update expands a historic commercial and theater district along South Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. The original district, listed in 1979, covers seven blocks developed between 1894 and 1931 with office buildings, department stores and theaters. The expansion adds 3.03 acres and eight buildings at the north and south ends, six of them contributing. They include the five-story Victor Clothing Company building of 1914, designed by Train & Williams, the Classical Revival Irvine-Byrne Building, a Gothic Revival seven-story commercial building, a thirteen-story theater and office building with Gothic-inspired terra cotta, and an eleven-story Renaissance Revival building. The update also removes six buildings from the contributing count. One was demolished in the 1980s, and five were altered too much to retain integrity. The district is significant for its role as the main shopping and entertainment center of a growing city and for its concentration of Beaux-Arts and revival-style commercial architecture. Its buildings share a common setback, similar cladding such as glazed terra cotta and brick, and street-level storefronts.","period_of_significance":"1894-1931","architect_builder":"Hunt, Sumner; Walker & Eisen; Train & Williams (designed 242 S. Broadway)","architectural_style":"Late 19th & 20th Century Revival; Beaux Arts","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Current functions listed include vacant, manufacturing facility and department store. The six added contributing buildings are described as being in good condition with good integrity, though several have altered ground floors.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.134863-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/02000330.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000330/4d9b831da1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000330/4d9b831da1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Mort the B.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oct2025_view_of_350_S_Broadway.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Mort the B.</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oct2025_view_of_350_S_Broadway.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858985","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadway_Theater_District_(Los_Angeles)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4972516"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/broadway-theatre-and-commercial-district-boundary-increase-02000330/"}