Eric Richardson [Flickr]

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — This plaque is on the side of the parking garage at the northwest corner of 8th/Flower. It says that General Petroleum erected the structure in 1949.

When I first saw it that made me think that perhaps they had built it as a building and then later it had been converted to parking. That theory's never seemed quite right, though, since the slanted floors would be a such a massive overhaul I can't seem how it would be worth it.

Doing a little more research I discovered 1949 to be the year that General Petroleum opened their new headquarters Downtown, in the building that's now Pegasus.

That leads me to believe that perhaps the company built this as a garage just a few blocks south of their buildinig since perhaps that was the nearest land they could find. The start of Downtown's peripheral parking policy perhaps?