M E M O R A N D U M
PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
DEPARTMENT
CITY OF SANTA MONICA
PLANNING DIVISION
DATE: July 12, 2004
TO: The
Honorable Landmarks Commission
FROM: Planning
Staff
SUBJECT: 302
Colorado Avenue (LC-04LM-004)
Public Hearing to Consider a Landmark Designation
Application
PROPERTY OWNER:
Sears-Roebuck & Company
APPLICANT:
Landmarks Commission
INTRODUCTION
On May 10, 2004, the Landmarks Commission filed an application for Landmark designation of the subject property. The property contains a 1947 Late Moderne style department store building and garden shop of matching style, both designed for and still occupied by Sears. The remainder of the property contains a larger surface parking lot. This property is listed on the City’s Historic Resources Inventory (updated in the 1998 CBD Update) as individually eligible for National Register Landmark designation (3S).
BACKGROUND
This property has been previously identified and evaluated in the City’s Historic Resources Inventory (1983), and in the City’s Historic Resources Inventory Update of the Central Business District (1998). The property was identified as appearing eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (National Register) and at the local level of significance and was given a National Register status code of 3S.
Pursuant to SMMC Section 9.36.120, notice of the
public hearing was mailed to all owners and residential and commercial tenants
of property within a 300-foot radius of the project and was published in the “California” section of The Los
Angeles Times at least ten consecutive calendar days prior to the hearing.
A copy of the notice is included as Attachment C.
The property owner was notified of this application
and hearing date by mail on May 20, 2004.
Property Information and
Architectural Description
Constructed in 1946-7, the Sears Building is
rectangular in shape, constructed of reinforced concrete, and is two stories in
height with a three-story center core plus basement. Designed in the Late Moderne style, the flat-roofed department
store has three primary elevations corresponding with the public entrances
facing north on Colorado Avenue for pedestrian traffic; on the east elevation
paralleling an automobile driveway; and at the rear, south elevation for
serving customers who arrived by car and parked their automobiles in the large
surface parking lot behind the store.
Truck ramps located at the southwest corner of the parking area lead
down to a wide loading dock at the building’s basement level along the west
elevation.
Horizontally-patterned striations on the building’s
corners and a grid of incised squares on the remaining elevations further
define the Late Moderne design. Curved
projecting, cantilevered canopies shade all public entrances which consist of
glazed aluminum-framed double-doors.
Diagonal, glazed metal-framed display windows flank the public entrances
on the primary (north, east, and south) elevations. Flat storefront windows (that were replaced in 1953 and again in
1995) feature aluminum mullions and are located near the display windows. Crowning the recessed third floor is a
tapered parapet of stacked horizontal striations. An employee cafeteria, located on the northeast corner of the top
floor, is punctuated by horizontal bands of casement windows reminiscent of an
airport control tower. On the east and
west ends of the Colorado Avenue (north) elevation, stylized plaster sculptures
in relief evoke nautical mythology.
Original signs include the large neon letters spelling “SEARS” in a
stylized period typeface that highlight each elevation near the roofline and
similar lettering in the terrazzo flooring at the Colorado Avenue
entrance. The 1953 alterations included
the removal of three storefront window openings closest to the west end of the
Colorado Avenue (north) elevation.
At the northeast corner of the property is the
one-story Sears Garden Center, also Late Moderne in architectural style, which
was designed and built together with the department store originally as a
service station. It was converted to
its present use, a garden shop, in 1961.
The service station seems to have been directly associated with the Sears
Roebuck and Company department store.
The concrete structure is stylistically evocative of the primary
structure, capped with a flat roof and overhanging canopies on the west and
south elevations similar to those sheltering the Sears Building entrances. The original service station canopies,
intended to shelter refueling automobiles, extend to the sidewalk on the north
and east elevations. Incised squares
and rectangles near the west entrance mimic those of the adjacent Sears
building. In 1966, in order to increase
interior space for use as a garden shop, the exterior wall of the east
elevation was pushed out towards Fourth Street terminating near the edge of the
extant service station canopy at the sidewalk.
Currently, a fence surrounds the shop, blocking entrance from Fourth
Street and somewhat obscuring the building from view. However, this alteration is reversible and has not affected the
underlying character of this structure.
As detailed in
Attachment B, the Sears Building is a noteworthy and highly intact example of a
Late Moderne style commercial building, blending the pre-war Moderne and
soon-to-be dominant postwar International Style. The department store structure and service station (now Garden
Center) are among the few extant examples in Santa Monica of this architectural
style, which featured a stylistic melding of the curve and teardrop forms of
the Moderne complemented by the sharp angularity of the International Style and
use of newly developed materials. Some
of its most significant features are horizontally-patterned corner striations
and elongated window bands, smooth concrete exterior surfaces incised with a
grid-like pattern, curving canopies and stylized decorative bas-relief
sculptures. Key Late Moderne stylistic
elements found in the Garden Center include the low building’s broad
horizontality, curving canopies, and grid-like patterns in exterior concrete
walls.
An L.A. Times
article reporting on the opening of the store noted that it is a “Class A
structure made of steel and concrete that is both fireproof and earthquake-proof.” At a cost of $300,000, Sears-Roebuck’s
investment in both the design and materials for this structure was significant,
and the resulting development is thoroughly evocative of the optimism and
burgeoning middle-class consumer confidence that followed the end of the Second
World War. Furthermore the property
retains a high degree of integrity and continues to convey the building’s
original intent. Apparently, the
attention to sturdy construction has paid off in the long-term in that the
building has survived several earthquakes with little damage.
Architectural
historians and authors David Gebhard and Robert Winter describe the Sears
Building as “a classic example of a post-World War II Modern retail store
building,” representing a time of transition in physical form toward embracing
the automobile’s growing influence on the American public. Although after the war Sears-Roebuck focused
its new store development largely on suburban outlying areas, it is notable
that the company constructed its Bay Area store at the edge of Santa Monica’s
downtown, and with a particular emphasis on architectural quality. When it opened, it instantly stood out from
the older downtown core (prior to its visual separation in later years with the
advent of Santa Monica Place).
Additionally, the store was built during a very short period of
department store development when automobile accommodation co-existed with
street pedestrian orientation, and the 200-car parking lot, provided in keeping
with company’s automobile accommodation policy, is at the side of and behind
the store, while a primary entrance opens toward the Colorado Avenue
sidewalk. As local and national
consumer trends have vacillated between the attractions of spacious, sprawling
suburban shopping centers and return to newly revitalized downtowns, the Santa
Monica Sears store has retained the attraction of both poles, with its central
location, street orientation, provision of parking and (a later bonus) freeway
convenience. Throughout this time, the
building, apart from its storefront windows, has remained largely unchanged,
contributing to its familiarity as a local downtown landmark. Today, the subject property is the only
large retail store that was listed in 1947 in Santa Monica’s downtown area that
is still operating under the same ownership.
Historic Associations
The subject site was the tenth Southern
California store opened by Sears, Roebuck and Company, which was founded when
watchmakers Richard W. Sears and Alvah C. Roebuck combined forces to form a
catalog order company in Chicago in 1887.
In response to changing shopping habits, Sears successfully transitioned
from catalog to brick & mortar, growing through the depression and
expanding exponentially both before and after World War II with hundreds of
department stores across the country.
Of the original Los Angeles stores, the Santa Monica location is among
the oldest still in business.
In addition to Sears-Roebuck, the subject
property is associated with its architect, Rowland Crawford. From 1930 until 1933, Crawford was a designer
with the prominent Los Angeles architectural firm of Gordon B. Kaufmann. He established his own firm in 1938 with
offices in Beverly Hills. Besides the
Santa Monica Sears Building (1947), Crawford’s principal works also include the
Times-Mirror Building in downtown Los Angeles (1948) and the El Rancho Shopping
Center in Arcadia (1955). He was
Supervising Architect for both the Times-Mirror Company from 1945 until at least
1956 and the Janss Investment Corporation (the owner of the subject property)
from 1938 until 1955. He was also the
Consulting Architect for the Brown Derby Restaurant Corporation from 1939 until
at least 1956. Crawford was particularly successful in blending the Moderne and
International styles into a “Late Moderne” style, of which the Sears Building
is an excellent example. That a
well-known architect so closely identified with the Late Moderne architectural
style designed the subject property strongly supports the contention that the
subject property is associated with a person of historical importance.
The subject property’s significance also
lies in its association with the national postwar commercial trend in which
leading national companies competed to design department stores that would
attract the growing number of automobile-owning families to visit as an
“outing.” In the immediate postwar period, this included enlisting the services
of well-known architects to create structures that would be conspicuous and
create a strong company image. This
both reflected and promoted a shifting of American family life toward growing
consumerism fueled by the expanding selection of novel, affordable consumer
items enabled by innovative materials and technological advances. Viewing this trend as a sort of national
“event” of which this property was a part, additional significance is
attributed to this resource.
The Landmarks Ordinance requires an application for
Landmark designation to be scheduled for consideration within 65 days of the
date on which the application was deemed complete. This time limitation may be waived with written permission from
the applicant/owner of the property.
The Landmarks Ordinance requires the Commission to review the building’s eligibility as a landmark based on the six criteria discussed below. The Commission may designate a property as a landmark if it meets one or more of these criteria. If designated, the Commission may consider applications for Certificates of Appropriateness for any proposed alteration, restoration, construction, removal, relocation, or demolition, in whole or in part, to the Landmark structure or parcel.
Based on the research and evaluation of this property,
staff concludes that this resource meets all six designation criteria
and is therefore eligible for City Landmark designation. Contributing features of the property
include both the primary structure and the garden center, which were designed
by Rowland Crawford as a cohesive development. The following findings are made to support these conclusions:
(1) It exemplifies, symbolizes, or manifests elements
of the cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history of the
City.
When it opened its doors in 1947, the Sears Building became the largest and most prominent department store in the City of Santa Monica, strongly contributing to the economic development of the Central Business District in the postwar years. The Sears Santa Monica building remains the sole surviving large retail establishment of the early postwar years operating in the City. As such, its presence manifests and exemplifies elements of the City’s economic history. In addition, both the Sears Building and the complementary Garden Center exemplify a particular and short-lived stylistic phase in the architectural history of the City, the Late Moderne. Character-defining features of the Sears Building that are indicative of the Late Moderne style include horizontally-patterned corner striations and elongated window bands, smooth concrete exterior surfaces incised with a grid-like pattern, curving canopies, and stylized decorative bas-relief sculptures. Key Late Moderne stylistic elements found in the Garden Center include the low building’s broad horizontality, curving canopies, and grid-like patterns in exterior concrete walls.
(2) It has aesthetic or artistic interest or value, or
other noteworthy interest or value.
The Sears Building is aesthetically pleasing in its
siting, decorative details, and form.
Given its relative isolation from surrounding buildings, the Sears
Building manifests a strong iconic presence and form, especially when
approached from the west on Colorado Avenue.
The subtlety of the Sears Building’s decorative elements, such as the
horizontal striations and grid-like patterns rendered in concrete, and the pair
of stylized bas-relief sculptures gracing the north elevation, further
emphasize the building as an aesthetic object.
Therefore, as an excellent local example of the Late Moderne
architectural style as applied to a commercial structure, the Sears Building
possesses sufficient aesthetic and artistic value necessary for designation
under this criterion. However, the
Garden Center, though architecturally complementary to the Sears Building, is a
much-simplified companion to the main Sears store and does not contribute
features to be eligible under this particular criterion.
(3) It is identified with historic personages or with
important events in local, state or national history.
The iconic Sears store, built for the substantial sum
of $300,000 in 1946-7, is associated with the postwar transitional development
period of Sears-Roebuck, one of the oldest department store chains in the
country and a leading trendsetter in the retail department store industry. It
is also associated with its prominent Beverly Hills architect, Rowland
Crawford. As such, the property represents an era
in which leading national companies competed to grow, hiring talented
architects to design “landmark” department store buildings that would attract
newly mobile, automobile-owning families to shop as a form of recreation. One aspect of this was the relatively new
concept of granting primary consideration to automobile accommodation, which in
this case included provision of a 200-space parking lot and a service station
(later modified to the present-day garden shop). This commercial development trend both reflected and encouraged
the focusing of family life on growing consumerism within American culture,
fueled by expanding selections of novel, affordable items enabled by innovative
materials and technological advances. The subject property stands out
from other subsequent Sears outlets due to its pedestrian orientation, downtown
location and the attention to architectural design. Thus, this property holds
additional significance due to its uninterrupted association with Sears-Roebuck
and as a symbol of the nationally significant “event” of postwar auto-oriented
department store development, with its extensive influence on post-World War II
American life.
(4) It embodies distinguishing architectural
characteristics valuable to a study of a period, style, method of construction,
or the use of indigenous materials or craftsmanship, or is a unique or rare
example of an architectural design, detail or historical type valuable to such
a study.
The Sears Building and contributing Garden Center are
excellent examples of the Late Moderne architectural style. The Sears Building embodies a number of
distinguishing architectural characteristics of the style including a
pronounced emphasis on horizontality expressed by the horizontally-patterned
striations on the building's corners and parapets, the window bands of the
third floor employee cafeteria, and the curving canopies that shade the
customer entrances. Other
character-defining features of the style include a grid of incised squares that
center exterior elevations and several stylized bas-relief sculptures.
Additionally, the steel and concrete construction incorporating 1947 state-of-the-art
earthquake-proof construction is a notable feature of this structure. The Garden Center also exemplifies several
of these characteristics including horizontality, curved canopies, and incised
squares on concrete exterior walls. The
Late Moderne was a short-lived architectural style from the early postwar years
of which few highly intact examples exist in the City of Santa Monica. Therefore, the subject property is valuable
to a study of the architectural history of the early postwar period and the
Late Moderne style.
(5) It is a significant or a representative example of
the work or product of a notable builder, designer or architect.
The Santa Monica Sears building was designed by Beverly Hills-based architect Rowland H. Crawford (1902-1973), who worked as the Supervising Architect for the Times-Mirror Company, the Brown Derby Restaurants and the owner of the subject property, the Janss Investment Corporation. Crawford is acknowledged as one of the few architects closely identified with the Late Moderne architectural style in the Los Angeles area, as expressed in several key buildings designed by Crawford including the subject property (1946) and the Times-Mirror Building (1948). Crawford was identified by noted architectural historian Paul Gleye for his achievements in the Late Moderne architectural style, citing the Times-Mirror Building as one of the style’s most important local examples. The subject property, constructed one year earlier than the Times-Mirror Building, is a significant example of Crawford’s work and of his mastery of interpreting the Late Moderne style in the built environment.
(6) It has a unique location, a singular physical
characteristic, or is an established and familiar visual feature of a
neighborhood, community or the City.
The subject property is uniquely located on a large, triangular "island" of land adjacent to the Santa Monica Freeway (Interstate 10) and the Civic Center to the south, Fourth Street to the east, Colorado Avenue (and Santa Monica Place) to the north, and Main Street to the west. In addition to the thousands of automobiles that can view the site while driving west on the Santa Monica freeway, the Sears Building is visible by pedestrians and automobiles approaching the site on surface streets from virtually every direction. Due to the structure’s unique form and high visibility from many vantage points in the City both historically and today, it has become a local icon and a defining feature of Santa Monica’s downtown and is clearly an established and familiar visual feature of the City.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Commission designate the
property at 302 Colorado Avenue as a City Landmark based on all of the findings
listed above, noting both the primary building and garden center as
contributing features to the property’s significance and noting that the
structure has three primary facades on the north, east and south sides.
Attachments:
F:\PLAN\SHARE\Landmarks\Designations\2004\Sears
302 Colorado desgnation rpt.doc