Goodrum and Vincent Building 417 Colorado Boulevard, 1554-1558 5Th Street, and 1550 5 Street Santa Monica, California APN: 4291
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Goodrum and Vincent Building 417 Colorado Boulevard, 1554-1558 5th Street, and 1550 5th Street Santa Monica, California APN: 4291-025-011 City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report Prepared for: City of Santa Monica Planning Division Prepared by: PCR Services Corporation Santa Monica, California April 2012 Table of Contents Environmental Setting ............................................................................................................ 2 Research Questions ................................................................................................................. 2 Regulatory Setting .................................................................................................................. 2 The Central Business District ............................................................................................... 4 Historical Background............................................................................................................ 5 Santa Monica ........................................................................................................................ 5 The Development of Subject Property and the Vicinity ....................................................... 6 Goodrum and Vincent Building (Midas Building) ............................................................... 6 Occupancy History ................................................................................................................ 7 Construction History and Alterations ................................................................................... 9 Auto Dealerships in Santa Monica ...................................................................................... 11 Automobiles, City of Santa Monica Directory, 1933 ......................................................... 11 Aviation and Aeronautics History in Santa Monica .......................................................... 14 Waldo Waterman (1894-1976) ........................................................................................... 19 Waldo Waterman and the Flying Car Movement ............................................................... 21 First Car-style Assembly Lines for Aviation ...................................................................... 27 Amelia Earhart and Waldo Waterman ................................................................................ 27 Aerophysics Development Corporation .............................................................................. 29 Hill and Vaughn .................................................................................................................. 32 Architectural Description ..................................................................................................... 32 1554-1558 5th Street ............................................................................................................ 32 417 Colorado Boulevard ..................................................................................................... 34 1550 5th Street ..................................................................................................................... 34 Evaluation of Significance .................................................................................................... 35 Is the structure representative of a style in the City that is no longer prevalent? ............... 35 Does the structure contribute to a potential historic district? ............................................. 35 Landmark Criteria ............................................................................................................... 36 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 39 APPENDIX Sanborn Map 1918 Sanborn Map, Paste-up 1950 1920 Census Waterman Patent, 1937 Goodrum and Vincent Building City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report page i Goodrum and Vincent Building 417 Colorado Boulevard, 1554-1558 5th Street, and 1550 5th Street City of Santa Monica APN: 4291-025-011 City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Environmental Setting The Goodrum and Vincent Building (Midas Building), identified by the addresses 417 Colorado Boulevard, 1554-1558 5th Street, and 1550 5th Street is situated on the northwest corner of 5th Street and Colorado avenue between 5th Street to the east, 4th Street Street to the west, Broadway to the north, and Colorado Avenue to the south. The subject property includes three distinct sections, each originally designed for its specific program: the used car dealership at 417 Colorado Boulevard; the new car auto dealership at 1554-1558 5th Street; and the auto service section at 1550 5th Street. The legal description of the subject property is Lots J, K, and L, Block 195 of the City of Santa Monica Tract. Research Questions At the Landmarks Commission meeting held on February 13, 2011, the Commission voted to nominate the Goodrum and Vincent Building as a Santa Monica Landmark and requested additional information regarding the following topics: More information on the significance of Aerophysics Development Corporation and relevant history associated with the property Any comparative history of the former Buick dealership with other local auto dealerships extant at the time. Is it possible that the building housed one of the first car-style assembly lines for aviation? Any information on the Waterman Research Corporation that operated out of Ocean Park. Does Amelia Earhart add any significance? Was the building a site of Formula One race car Driver Phil Hill and Ken Vaughn's classic car business which ran from the 70s through the 90s? Regulatory Setting The subject property has been identified and assessed under the City’s ongoing survey process on multiple occasions. The property located at 417 Colorado Boulevard and 1558 5th Street was originally identified in the City’s Historic Resources Inventory in 1983 during Phase 1; and 1550 5th Goodrum and Vincent Building City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report page 2 Street was surveyed in Phase 3 of the City’s Historic Resources Survey. The individual units were determined to be contributors to a potential historic district called the “Central Business District.” At that time, the subject properties were assigned a National Register status code of “5D1," individually eligible for local listing as a contributor to a local district or eligible for local listing. The Central Business District includes the 100 - 700 blocks of Broadway, Colorado, Santa Monica, Wilshire, and the 1200-1500 blocks of 2nd, 4th, and a small section of 5th Street. The 1994 Northridge Earthquake caused major cracking to the unreinforced brick walls on the two 5th Street units, and therefore, the building was green tagged by the City of Santa Monica. Green tagged buildings were deemed structures damaged by the earthquake that presented no apparent hazard, but repairs were needed. According to the Historic Resources Inventory Update for the City of Santa Monica dated September 30, 1995, the building was damaged and there was major cracking to the unreinforced brick walls. The repairs following the earthquake included steel reinforcing bars and gunnite finished with painted plaster1 on the exterior walls and columns and new barrel clay tile roofing. The majority of the Spanish Colonial decoration on the facade was retained.2 Since the property was a contributor to the Central Business District, the retrofitting was required to meet the historic property design criteria for the repair and reconstruction of earthquake damaged properties as set forth in the “Earthquake Recovery Act.” It appears the Architectural Review Board approved the retrofit as an acceptable change to a district contributor and that the retrofit did not compromise the integrity of the district as a whole. In 1995, as part of the City’s assessment to determine the earthquake’s overall effects to those properties listed in the City’s Historic Resources Inventory, the property was resurveyed and determined eligible as a district contributor and given a 5D1 status code. At the time of the survey, the property had already been retrofitted. Roughly one year later, in 1996, the subject property was surveyed again as part of the Inventory update. The same survey team that had one year earlier determined the property, as a whole, remained a district contributor, now assigned 1550 5th Street (Royalty Auto Body) eligible as a contributor to the potential Central Business District and individually eligible for local listing, while keeping 1554-1558 5th Street (the Midas Building) only eligible as a district contributor. The status code for 1550 5th Street was changed to the National Register Code 5B1, which states that the building is both individually eligible for local designation and a contributor to a local district. Meanwhile, 1554-1558 5th street retained its 5D1 status code, which states the building is eligible only as a district contributor. No changes to the property had occurred between the 1995 survey and the 1996 survey. Finally, during the 2006-07 Citywide Historic Resources Inventory Update, the subject property was resurveyed and status code was changed to the California Historical Resources Status Code 5B, which states that the building is both individually eligible for local designation and a contributor to a local district. 1 City of Santa Monica, Department of Building and Safety, Building Permit No.EQR0715, August