{"nrhp_refnum":"88000554","name":"San Diego Civic Center","other_names":["San Diego County Administration Center"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"1600 Pacific Hwy.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Diego","county":"San Diego County","state":"CA","lat":32.73119602050005,"lon":-117.1716777017536,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-05-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Landscape Architecture","Art","Engineering","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A government building complex on 16.738 acres of reclaimed tidelands at 1600 Pacific Highway, San Diego, California. The main building, the Civic Center (County Administration Center), was built 1936-1938 and sits in a landscaped setting with a granite sculpture and fountain.","why_significant":"The nomination cites the project's link to the New Deal Works Progress Administration and its place in John Nolen's 1926 Plan for San Diego. It also points to the architectural and structural quality of the building, the symbolic public sculpture by Donal Hord, and the landscaping by Roland Hoyt. Together the building, art and landscape are presented as an example of three disciplines working together.","narrative":"Built between 1936 and 1938 on reclaimed bayfront tidelands, the San Diego Civic Center originally housed both city and county offices and now serves as the County Administration Center. The reinforced concrete building combines Spanish Revival and Streamline Moderne styling with Beaux-Arts touches, a Mission tile roof, inlaid Franciscan pottery tile, and a ten-story central tower. Inside are marble-covered lobbies, bronze detailing and Philippine mahogany stairs. Over 1,500 steel pilings and a five-section structure were used to resist earthquakes. Four San Diego architects designed it: Louis J. Gill, Samuel W. Hamill, William T. Johnson and Richard S. Requa. Funding came largely from the Works Progress Administration. The site includes Donal Hord's granite Guardian of Water sculpture and fountain, placed in 1939, and Roland Hoyt's landscaping. The location reflects John Nolen's 1926 city plan, which envisioned a paseo linking civic buildings to Balboa Park, though that was never realized. Stories were added to the wings in 1968.","period_of_significance":"1936-1939","architect_builder":"Gill, Louis J.; Hamill, Samuel W.","architectural_style":"Moderne; Spanish Revival (Spanish Revival with Streamline Moderne influences and Beaux-Arts touches)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The historic Civic Center building remains in government office use and the nomination says it retains a fairly high degree of integrity. A 1958 public health building on the site was vacated and slated for demolition.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.324009-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/88000554.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88000554/cb07d02885-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88000554/cb07d02885-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Adbar","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Diego_City_and_County_Administration_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Adbar</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_City_and_County_Administration_Building.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860972","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego_County_Administration_Center","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5761215"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-diego-county/san-diego-civic-center-88000554/"}