Municipal Monuments of Moderne Style

Whatever you might think about Santa Monica’s maverick municipal government, you have to like City Hall.

The stolid, symmetrical, three-story white-stucco structure on a broad lawn at 1685 Main St., north of Pico Boulevard, exudes a nautical tone appropriate to an ocean-side community.

Designed by architects Donald Parkinson and Joseph Estep in 1938, the landmark structure is one of Southern California’s prime examples of the architectural style generally known as Late Moderne.

The style is also known as PWA Moderne. PWA stands for the federal Public Works Administration, which, to stimulate the economy during the Depression years, funded the design and construction of numerous projects across the nation, including the Santa Monica City Hall.

Distinguishing the style, as exemplified by City Hall, is its balanced classical massing, accented by recessed vertical windows, and a rather formal tone. Originally two stories, a third was built in the 1950s, along with a nondescript rear addition.

The steps of the hall will be the gathering place Sunday at 10 a.m. for a walking tour exploring Moderne and Art Deco architecture in downtown Santa Monica. The tour is being sponsored by the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles. Tickets are $5 for the public and free to society members.

While waiting for the tour to start you might wander over to the nearby formal rose garden. It was dedicated by the Gold Star Mothers of Santa Monica in 1951 to local residents who died in the nation’s wars. The memorial at the western end of the garden is to Eugene Biscailuz, a prominent Santa Monica resident who served as the Los Angeles County sheriff from 1936 to 1962.

The tour will include a view of the interior of City Hall and its two-story foyer. Whether on the tour or not, the decorative tile floor with the city seal set in it and the rich, narrative murals are worth a detour.

The murals on the north and south walls depicting the history of Santa Monica deserve close examination. They were the creation of local artist Stanton McDonald Wright, who did them in a medium he had developed in 1939. Known as Petracrome, the process involved painting with a liquid mixture of materials that included crushed tile, marble and granite, letting it dry and then polishing it.

Among other local Moderne-styled landmarks on the tour will be the Bay Cities office building, at the northwest corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Mall; the Central Tower building, 1424 4th St.; the Santa Monica Post Office, 1248 5th St.; the Shangri-La Hotel, 1301 Ocean Ave., at the southeast corner of Arizona Avenue; and the Sears department store, 302 Colorado Ave.

Not on the tour but worth a mention is the white office tower at the southeast corner of Ocean Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard, formerly known as the General Telephone building. Designed in 1973 by the firm of Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall, its coloring and curved corners are an obvious variation on the Streamline Moderne style found in Santa Monica.