{"nrhp_refnum":"78000743","name":"Sacramento Memorial Auditorium","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"16th and J Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sacramento","county":"Sacramento County","state":"CA","lat":38.57889534900005,"lon":-121.48568936599997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-03-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation","Architecture","Performing Arts"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story brick municipal auditorium on a one-block landscaped site at 16th and J Streets in Sacramento, California, built between 1925 and 1927 and owned by the City of Sacramento.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a fine, largely unaltered example of 1920s theater and auditorium architecture, blending Byzantine, Lombardic Romanesque and southern European Renaissance Revival elements. It was also considered structurally and mechanically advanced for its day. It has hosted a wide range of civic events, performances and gatherings for 50 years.","narrative":"Sacramento Memorial Auditorium is a three-story brick building occupying a full city block at 16th and J Streets, built from 1925 to 1927 as a memorial to local people who died in service to the country. City Architect James S. Dean designed it with consultants Arthur Brown, Jr., and G. Albert Landsburgh. Its exterior mixes Byzantine, Lombardic and Renaissance Revival features, including a six-column stone portico, terra cotta details, a rose window and a red clay tile roof. Inside, long-span trusses create a 176-foot-wide hall without obstructing columns, and a movable steel floor still operates. The site once held an 1872 grammar school, whose demolition drew a lawsuit before the city prevailed. Nearly $1 million in mostly bond money paid for construction. Over its first fifty years the hall hosted opera, concerts, sports, inaugural balls, conventions and wartime troop housing. The nomination values its design, its little-changed condition and its role in community life.","period_of_significance":"1925-1927","architect_builder":"City Architect James S. Dean, assisted by consulting architect Arthur Brown, Jr., and collaborating architect G. Albert Landsburgh; City Engineer Allan J. Wagner, Structural Engineer George J. Calder, Construction Engineer H. V. Grant","architectural_style":"Byzantine, Lombardic Romanesque, southern European Early Renaissance Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and still in use as a community auditorium; condition listed as excellent and unaltered, with only minor changes such as new seating and a 1960 cooling system.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.891683-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/78000743.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000743/1b95fba0d5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000743/1b95fba0d5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"King of Hearts","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sacramento_Memorial_Auditorium_March_2009.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">King of Hearts</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:Sacramento_Memorial_Auditorium_March_2009.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860662","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento_Memorial_Auditorium","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q125912237"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/sacramento-county/sacramento-memorial-auditorium-78000743/"}