{"nrhp_refnum":"80000813","name":"Pasadena Civic Center District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Walnut and Green Sts., Raymond and Euclid Aves.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pasadena","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":34.14666105850003,"lon":-118.14545736650597,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-07-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Art","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 55-acre civic center district in Pasadena, Los Angeles County, California, planned in the 1920s by Bennett, Parsons and Frost. It groups City Hall, the Public Library, the Civic Auditorium and other public, religious and commercial buildings along two crossing axes.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the district is a nationally significant example of 1920s \"City Beautiful\" civic art. The main features of the plan were actually carried out, and the key buildings were built by nationally recognized architects in a homogeneous style. The plan also eased traffic problems by adding Green and Holly Streets, and it placed major buildings at the ends of axes.","narrative":"Pasadena Civic Center District covers about 55 acres and was laid out in the 1920s by the firm of Bennett, Parsons and Frost. Its plan uses two crossing axes. City Hall, with its large dome, anchors the main axis along Holly Street. The Public Library and Civic Auditorium end the minor axis, which runs along Garfield Avenue. Lower buildings fill in between, including the Hall of Justice, First Baptist Church, YMCA, YWCA, Post Office, Gas Company and Courthouse. The Pasadena City Planning Commission began the effort in 1922, and Dr. George Ellery Hale invited Edward H. Bennett to prepare the plan, which was published in 1923 and backed by a bond issue. The buildings sit back from the streets, leaving room for carob and magnolia plantings and small parks. The nomination values the district as a rare, largely realized example of City Beautiful design. It also relieved traffic by adding Green and Holly Streets, and it ties the civic buildings to the downtown shopping area.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Bennett, Parsons and Frost (plan); Julia Morgan (YWCA); Reginald Johnson (All Saints Episcopal Church); Cyril Bennett and Fitch Harrison Haskell (Civic Auditorium); Sylvanus Marston (Turner and Stevens, Post Office addition)","architectural_style":"City Beautiful civic planning; California Mediterranean idiom, with American Renaissance, Craftsman and English Gothic buildings","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is checked as good, with some buildings altered and others unaltered. Present uses include government, educational, religious, military and athletic.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.976916-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/80000813.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000813/37c04acb56-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000813/37c04acb56-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Los Angeles","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pasadena_City_Hall_2.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Los Angeles</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:Pasadena_City_Hall_2.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859394","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasadena_Civic_Center_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12242324"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/pasadena-civic-center-district-80000813/"}