Eric Richardson []

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 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?