631 Colorado Avenue – Revised Findings
The consultant evaluations by ESA and GPA of the Landmark Designation Application for 631 Colorado Avenue have brought many interesting new facts to light. This discussion takes new perspectives into account and is followed by revised suggested findings for the Landmark Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue. The property at 631 Colorado Avenue is listed as 5S3, a potentially individual resource, in the 2018 HRI. ESA quotes the HRIs reasoning on page 3:
631 Broadway [sic] appears eligible for listing as a Santa Monica Landmark. The property is significant for conveying patterns of industrial development in the Downtown neighborhood of Santa Monica. Constructed in 1937, it is one of relatively few extant industrial buildings in the area from the pre-World War II period.
Notwithstanding alterations to the structures outlined in the Landmark Designation Application and in both consultant’s reports, the Santa Monica Conservancy found upon further research that this “windshield” evaluation of the subject property succinctly captured the property’s significance as an extremely rare building type in the city that demonstrates the use of particular materials and building techniques unique to its time of its construction, and was occupied by a series of uses that tell the story of the industrial history of the city.
Etta Vena Moxley
The original application provided a robust history of the life of Etta Vena Moxley. Both ESA and GPA acknowledge Etta Moxley as a person of historic significance. The Conservancy did not nominate this site, which is now devoid of any physical evidence of Moxley’s life, on the strength that association. But because the subject property otherwise meets Criteria 1 and Criteria 4 for designation, we believe that this important story should nonetheless be included in the record. The history of African American communities has not been understood, recorded, or preserved in Santa Monica until recent attention has begun to dig up the stories. In fact, Moxley’s story was found inadvertently during research into 631 Colorado Avenue as a resource reflecting the city’s industrial past. Without artifacts to represent them, Santa Monica’s Historic Preservation program has difficulty recognizing many important histories. But when designation criteria are met based on physical improvements that remain extant, the Landmarks Commission has the discretion to add recognition into the findings of erased histories that took place on a particular parcel. In this case, we recommend that a reference to Etta Moxley be included in the findings.
GPA incorrectly places the city’s first African American homes in the present-day Civic Center (and Samohi campus), which are in the vicinity of Philips Chapel in Ocean Park. In fact, the first African American homes in Santa Monica at the end of the 19th century and in the first decade of the 20th century were in the immediate vicinity of the subject parcel, and not a one still exists today. GPA acknowledges that the erased history of African American communities is not easily acknowledged by our current program and recommends other kinds of recognition for the events. The Conservancy hopes the Landmarks Commission will pay close attention to ensure our official program is not biased towards the history of rich, white men who built things that are “worth” saving, and that it recognizes all aspects of our history by referencing earlier stories that took place on redeveloped parcels that bear other significance as well.
These maps show the locations of African American households (in blue) listed in the United States Census for Santa Monica in 1900 and in 1910. Note: The Pacific Ocean is along the bottoms of the maps and the white streak in the middle represents the Santa Monica Freeway.
Architectural Significance
From 1904 – 1972, Santa Monica hosted five different clay extraction and brick manufacturing sites covering much of the eastern reaches of the city from Virginia Avenue to Broadway and from 22nd Street to Franklin Street. By the time of the 1918 Sanborn maps, brick buildings in Ocean Park proliferated on Main Street, Pier Avenue, Marine Street and on the Ocean Front Promenade. Of those, only the brick commercial buildings on Main Street are still extant. In downtown, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Streets, and Santa Monica Boulevard as far as 7th Street were other concentrations of brick buildings. To these groups Wilshire Boulevard in downtown and Wilshire Boulevard between Euclid and 16th Streets were added to the inventory of brick building clusters through the 1920s. All these clusters were retail districts. There were other brick buildings scattered across other districts for schools and homes, but they are few and far between. The peak period of major brickmaking activity in the city and the nation came to a sudden end in 1929, when the stock market crash disabled new building starts. The industry was further impeded by the perception of bricks as unsafe after the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake caused so many structures made of them to collapse. It was in this context that the Simons Brick Company began an aggressive campaign to promote Groutlock bricks and revive the market for clay products. Right before the crash Simons’ plants were producing almost a million bricks per day. Production was restored to 150,000 Groutlock bricks per day as a result of the campaign.
In this light, 631 Colorado Avenue represents a snapshot of a historical moment of crisis in the brick industry where buildings were made of Groutlock and Porta Costa bricks as manufacturers scrambled to rebuild confidence in the material. Of the 47 brick buildings from our HRI listed in the ESA report, only five are from the 1930s, and only one other, a retail building at 1327 5th Street, also exhibits decorative detailing in the manner of the subject property. ESA notes that a structure at 1631 10th Street exhibits similar construction techniques to the subject property, though that structure was built a decade later and the permits only describe it as brick masonry. GPA dismisses the use of specialized reinforced brick construction from the 1930s because it was a passing phase replaced by more sustained techniques. In fact, the subject property is an extremely rare example that shows how the brick construction industry recovered after two historical blows (the financial crisis and the earthquake) and would soon take over again to provide a ubiquitous material for commercial industrial buildings in Santa Monica through the 1950s and 1960s. The use of this new brick type, plus the use of reinforced concrete posts and beams, marks an advance in building technology that exemplifies this moment in our history.
The subject property exhibits characteristics of the Art Deco style that is rare in commercial industrial buildings in the city. The subject property is dismissed by GPA as an example of the Art Deco style because it is not an exemplary example of that style, disregarding the fact that any style or ornamentation on this type of structure is unusual and likely to be applied with a light touch. Exhibiting the classic features of that style: grooved piers, horizontal speed lines, and step-back forms in the capitals, the subject property is a successful manifestation of how the subtle application of a style can result in an industrial building with notable street appeal.
That is just what makes this a very rare example. The discussion about Groutlock bricks and Porta Costa bricks by GPA shows that while the use of Porta Costa brick is visible on the south elevation, the design of Groutlock bricks would make it difficult to ascertain if they were used or not by a non-invasive visual inspection because the angled surfaces are hidden inside. The notched Porta Costa bricks are visible in the areas that had been stuccoed so their notched grooves would have been covered, but the Groutlock bricks called for in the original building permit were likely used in the areas where the bricks were left exposed. The use of these specialized bricks that transitioned the brick industry through hard times is exactly what is meant by Santa Monica’s Criteria 4 for Landmark Designation: 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.
Cultural Significance
The GPA report quotes the city’s context statement on page 6:
…Though most resources from this period [1920-1941] are no longer extant, Santa Monica’s industrial development during this period provided the foundation for rampant expansion during and after World War II.
The history of the tenancy of 631 Colorado Avenue literally “exemplifies, symbolizes, or manifests elements of the cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history of the City” in a manner consistent with Santa Monica’s Criteria 1 for Landmark Designation. ESA acknowledges the big picture of how the uses of the subject property relate to Santa Monica History on page 52:
The occupancy and ownership history of the subject property illustrates the overall pattern of economic development along Colorado Avenue from the pre-World War II to post-World War II periods, to the mid- to late-twentieth century, and through the first two decades of the twenty-first century. Both buildings on the subject property, Buildings A and B, appear to have been owned and occupied by the same owners/tenants throughout their history. From post-Prohibition initial construction as a wholesale liquor distribution office and warehouse, use of the property then briefly supported post-war classified missile development and atomic research. With the post-war resurgence of automobile production, the site reflected the dominance of American car culture in its use as an auto body paint and repair shop along a busy thoroughfare. With the changing economic focus and explosive growth of media and communications in the twenty-first century, the property has been home to a series of highly successful film production companies.
The post-prohibition era began while the Great Depression still weighed heavily on people’s lives. In Santa Monica, it was characterized by what ESA terms on page 63 as the “mutually supportive endeavors” of tourism and alcohol. Santa Monica’s Context Statement supports this assertion, listing gambling ships, illegal slot machine rings, hotel room bookies, and more as popular distractions. So, in a city where most industrial warehouses were still built with wood, a costly brick beer distribution center with attractive art deco styling reflected the elevated stature of that type of business in that era. As the post-prohibition excitement over access to alcohol normalized, and WWII brought an abrupt end to the Great Depression, the aviation and aerospace industries took hold in the city, occupying space everywhere it could be found, including at the subject property. It also led to a proliferation of new one-story, brick, commercial industrial buildings in various parts of the city including downtown for a variety of new, mostly aerospace related industries springing from the resulting “ripple effect.” The site’s next use as an autobody repair shop, while not significant in itself represents another industry that exemplifies Santa Monica and California culture. That was followed in the 1990s by the present film industry use, which has an obvious connection to the history and culture of the United States, California, Los Angeles, and Santa Monica. And Bay Films in particular, would very likely qualify the site for designation in future decades when the active business life of its principles is over and can be viewed as a whole.
GPA dismisses the property’s ability to exemplify the commercial industrial typology, and the beer distribution use in particular because a particular storage structure is no longer extant and there is no loading dock on site anymore. The storage structure, as was noted in the Application for Landmark Designation, was actually a wooden residential structure that was left behind from the site’s residential phase. So, it is not clear how its survival relates to the newer buildings. A demolished canopy on the north property line was similarly insignificant to understanding the use of the main structures. Regarding the lack of a loading dock, one can only wonder how adaptive reuse can be permitted and even encouraged after a resource is deemed of value and is designated as a landmark, but is seen as a loss of integrity if it occurs before designation. As for the auxiliary brick structure on the site, as in all designations, its value to an understanding of the property is debatable. The Santa Monica Conservancy concedes that the secondary (west) structure on the site may not be critical to this designation.
What is important is that it is extremely unlikely that any one-story, brick commercial industrial buildings will be left in downtown in a few more years. We hope the commission will protect this one, unique example. We recently lost the last remaining examples from the first phase of development downtown of Victorian and Queen Anne homes. Let’s not let that happen with phase 2 development in Santa Monica’s downtown.
Revised Findings for Santa Monica Landmark Designation Criteria 1 & 4 Landmark Criteria:
1. It exemplifies, symbolizes, or manifests elements of the cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history of the City.
The subject property qualifies under this criterion. When the A.B.C. Distributing Company building was constructed in 1937, it was the first light industrial commercial building in the south-east portion of Santa Monica’s downtown, which had been a working-class neighborhood occupied by people of color since the founding of the Town of Santa Monica in 1875. The two contributing structures book-ending the property were built during the economic recovery from the Great Depression and the Art Deco/Streamline Moderne period. The primary structure on the parcel reflects classic architectural characteristics of that style. The A.B.C. Distributing Company building was a pioneer of the industrial commercial phase of development in downtown, and the only built in downtown with characteristics of the Art Deco/Streamline Moderne style. Furthermore, since the 1990s the neighborhood has been almost completely redeveloped with a third phase of development, leaving the subject property as a rare and significant example of the industrial commercial phase it pioneered.
The succession of uses of the A.B.C. Distributing Company property conveys a significant pattern of economic development in Santa Monica, representative of the City’s evolution from the 1930s to the present day. It was built as a beer outlet in the city after the repeal of prohibition. The post-prohibition era in Santa Monica was characterized by the tourism industry, which relied heavily of alcohol sales for its appeal. Gambling ships were moored off the coast of the city, and illegal slot machine rings and hotel room bookies added to the new economy. The brick A.B.C. Distributing Company warehouse with attractive art deco styling reflected the elevated stature of the liquor business in that era. With the success of Douglas Aircraft and the coming of WWII, the aviation and aerospace industry took hold in Santa Monica next, soon occupying space everywhere it could be found, including at the subject property. Aerospace industry demands led to a proliferation of new one-story, brick, commercial industrial buildings in various parts of the city including downtown to house a variety of related industries. The site’s next use as an autobody repair shop beginning in the late 1950s when post-war car culture was peaking, represents another industry that exemplifies Santa Monica and California culture. That use was followed in the 1990s by film industry use, which also has a strong connection to the history and culture of the United States, California, Los Angeles, and Santa Monica.
The subject parcel is also significant for its association with Etta Vena Moxley (1870-1950), a dedicated life-long leader in the African American Women’s Club movement in the State of California, Los Angeles and in Santa Monica. She lived at 631 Colorado Avenue from 1898 – 1927 and continued to own it until 1937. Etta Moxley was a member of a leading group of Los Angeles and Santa Monica African American activists striving for social justice and equal rights for people of all races. Etta Moxley was associated with a number of significant groups often in leadership roles.
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 subject property qualifies under this criterion because the A.B.C. Distributing Company building is the only known example of post-Long Beach Earthquake transitional engineering techniques for ensuring that brick and mortar structures had seismic integrity.
By 1929, brick buildings in Santa Monica were primarily clustered in the city’s retail districts.
Brick structures serving as schools, churches or homes were thinly scattered across other areas.
Brickmaking in the city’s five brickyards, the first established in 1904, was dramatically curtailed in 1929, when the stock market crash disabled new building starts. The industry was further impeded by the perception of brick as unsafe after the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake. It was in this context that the Simons Brick Company began an aggressive campaign to promote Groutlock bricks to rebuild the market for clay products. Right before the crash Simons’ plants had been producing almost a million bricks per day and were considered the top producer in the world. The promotions restored production to 150,000 Groutlock bricks per day. During that period, brick was primarily used for small scale industrial buildings such as the subject property. The subject property is an excellent example of the use of Groutlock brick within reinforced concrete structural frames as seismically safe construction methods developed in the mid-1930s as a response to the Long Beach Earthquake. No other Groutlock brick structures are known in Santa Monica, making the A.B.C. Distributing Company buildings a unique and rare example of a post-Long Beach Earthquake reinforced brick construction technique.
The subject property exhibits characteristics of the Art Deco style that is rare in commercial industrial buildings in the city. The attractive street presence of the A.B.C. Distributing Company building evidences the successful manifestation of a subtle application of classic elements of the Art Deco style resulting in an industrial building with recognizable street appeal. Its primary façade facing Colorado is divided into three bays separated by protruding piers embossed with four vertical grooved lines, and with stepped tapered caps that rise above the roofline. The area above the windows is stuccoed and embossed with two horizontal sets of grooved lines, three in each set, appearing continuous behind the piers. The stepped caps over the piers reflect the step-backs found in Art Deco architecture. The utilitarian secondary elevation facing east abuts the sidewalk on Seventh Street. It is divided into six bays by a reinforced cement support structure of vertical and horizontal beams that are flush with the surface of the brick. The bay closest to Colorado Avenue is punctuated by a large window opening. Each of the remaining bays has a small window opening in the center, flush with the ceiling height as marked by a horizontal reinforced concrete beam.
Nina Fresco
January 2022