{"nrhp_refnum":"07001177","name":"San Diego Armed Services YMCA","other_names":["San Diego Army and Navy YMCA"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"500 W Broadway","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Diego","county":"San Diego County","state":"CA","lat":32.71816486000006,"lon":-117.16882483399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2007-11-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A six-story-plus-basement reinforced concrete building at 500 West Broadway in San Diego, California, built in 1924 as the Army and Navy YMCA to a design by architect Lincoln Rogers. A small 1951 garage/storage building on the same parcel is non-contributing.","why_significant":"The building served as a social center and lodging for military personnel in San Diego from 1924 through 1949. It was described as the largest Armed Services YMCA in the country, with attendance peaking during World War II. It is also a well-preserved example of Italian Renaissance design by a master architect, and it was rehabilitated in 2001-2005.","narrative":"Completed in 1924 at 500 West Broadway in downtown San Diego, this six-story reinforced concrete building was built as the Army and Navy YMCA and designed by architect Lincoln Rogers in the Italian Renaissance style. Its three street facades are symmetrical, with rusticated masonry at the base, cream stucco midsections, terra cotta ornament, and a copper-roofed cornice. An ornate entrance with paired Ionic columns faces Broadway. Inside, the building held a lobby, gymnasium, Olympic-sized swimming pool and roughly 260 dormitory-style rooms for military guests. It stood close to the Santa Fe Depot and the Navy Pier, which supplied much of its patronage. Attendance rose above 25,000 men daily during World War II, and the organization reported more than 61 million visits in its first 25 years. A 1951 garage and storage building on the parcel is non-contributing. A certified rehabilitation between 2001 and 2005 restored original windows and the main entrance.","period_of_significance":"1924-1949","architect_builder":"Lincoln Rogers (architect)","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Italian Renaissance","criteria":[],"status_note":"Rehabilitated 2001-2005 under a certified historic preservation project; the building retains its historic integrity.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.534697-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/07001177.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07001177/8b86177efb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07001177/8b86177efb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jeffrey Beall","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Diego_Armed_Services_YMCA.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Jeffrey Beall</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Diego_Armed_Services_YMCA.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860970","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YMCA_Building_(San_Diego)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6118612"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-diego-county/san-diego-armed-services-ymca-07001177/"}