County’s Administration Center Given Historic Status

The San Diego County Administration Center on Pacific Highway was added Friday to the National Register of Historic Places.

The state Historic Resources Commission approved the nomination of the 49-year-old building on Friday, said Bob Lerner, the county’s public information officer.

The U.S. Department of Interior will send a formal plaque to the Board of Supervisors noting the structure’s historic status in time for the 50th anniversary of the building’s opening on July 16, Lerner said.

The building, formerly known as the Civic Center, housed both the county and the city administration offices from 1938 until 1964. It was built during the height of the Depression with a $1 million grant from the Federal Works Progress Administration, said Lerner.

Many architects, said Lerner, have referred to it as the prototype of American civic center architecture.

County Supervisor Brian Bilbray, upon learning of the nomination, said, “In an era when 50-year-old buildings are being relegated to the wrecking ball, we are about to breathe new life into this grandest of government buildings.”