From the Archives: The U.S. Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Training Center in Chavez Ravine
The Art Deco Naval and Marine Corps Training Center was built from 1938 to 1941, through the Works Progress Administration. It opened just before World War II.
During the war, 20,000 sailors passed through the training center, including reservists Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and director John Ford.
On Feb. 27, 1980, a fire heavily damaged the center. Los Angeles firefighter Frank Hotchkin was killed when a portion of the roof collapsed.
The building is now operated by the Los Angeles City Fire Department as the Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Facility.
This John Malmin photo appeared in the Dec. 24, 1955, Los Angeles Times as part of the Know Your City photography series. The original caption reported:
KNOW YOUR CITY, NO. 37 — Silly to make these things so simple. If the gun doesn’t tip you off, the lettering on the building should. But for those who don’t recognize it, the answer is on Page 18, Part ll.
ANSWER: The one in the picture is not, of course, the only big gun at the United States Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Training Center in Chavez Ravine, the entrance of which is shown in the photo.
This post was originally published on Jan. 10, 2017.
