What is Downtown's Oldest Parking Garage?

By Eric Richardson
Published: Friday, May 26, 2006, at 10:13AM

Eric Richardson [Flickr]

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Continuing my tour of Downtown parking garages, did you know the garage at 746 S. Hope St. was built in 1925?

It opened in September of that year as the Auto Center Garage and offered gasoline and tires for sale, as well as car wash and lube services. A monthly parking pass would set you back a hefty $12.50.

Originally the garage also had 48 feet of ground floor retail frontage, though obviously that’s disappeared at some point over the years. Total construction cost was $500,000.

The garage was touted by the LA Times as the “most modern garage building west of Chicago.” It employed the d’Humy Motoramp principle which was patented a few years later as US Patent 1,704,499. From the patent:

This invention relates to buildings and more particularly to storage buildings such as garages of the type wherein the several floors are connected by ramps over which the vehicles may be driven from floor to floor in order to reach their respective storage spaces. The main objects of the invention are to improve and simplify the structure of such a building and to provide an easy ascent for the vehicular traffic without reducing the storage capacity of the floors.

So 1925… Is this Downtown’s oldest free-standing parking garage (that still exists), or is there an older one somewhere?

Update (Wednesday, 4pm): Martin suggested the old Hotel Clark garage, and we’ve vetted that one to decide it is no longer standing. Still up in the air is ed’s suggestion of the garage on Main, just south of 7th.

Update (Sunday, 7pm): We’ve had two suggested candidates for oldest garage, but as of right now 746 S. Hope is still winning.

Pacific Mutual Garage

In the comments Shannon asked about the Pacific Mutual garage. I’ve done a little research.

They didn’t open the structure with the building, but the article from July of 1921 talking about the building opening mentions it being under construction.

Excavations are now under way for the big two-story garage which is being erected by the Pacific Mutual Company at the rear of the present building. This garage, which will be of fireproof construction throughout, and ventilated by a modern system, will house 176 machines. The garage is to extend through from Olive street to Grand avenue, and the roof will be so constructed that it can be used as a thoroughfare and parking space by the tenants of the building and their guests are patrons. The underground garage, for use of the tenants of the building only, will be in the charge of a uniformed attendant.

That was a change from earlier plans. In an article from 1920 talking about the construction:

The private parkway seventy feet in width, that now exists to the north of the Pacific Mutual Building, will be extended through to Grand avenue making a parking space for automobiles seventy feet wide running through from Olive street to Grand avenue.

And it would appear they changed yet again… Instead of just the 176 car garage they attached into the building basement to add capacity. A brief story from January of 1922 under the heading “Solving the Downtown Parking Problem” says:

Occupying the entire basement of the Pacific Mutual is a huge garage capable of handling 300 cars at once.

So while this garage opened earlier, I think I have to disqualify it for being integrated into a building and not free-standing.

Interestingly, a different 1920 article spoke of plans to build the City’s largest garage – 1032 cars on 8-floors – on the corner of 5th and Grand. It doesn’t appear those plans were ever realized.

May Company Garage

The garage was announced on December 6th, 1926, when Architects Curlett and Beelman applied for a building permit to for a “six-story, three-basement garage building to be erected at a cost of approximately $500,000 for the May Company on the southeast corner of Ninth and Hill streets.”

A few others shots: old May Co signage, windows and air conditioners (and another)

Hotel Clark Garage

Comments

Don Garza writes:

GOsh it is so obvious that it seesm to me that you are bucking for best Downtown Blog again in the Downtown News Best of Downtwon.

I voted for you again this year

# on May.26.2006 AT 12:51 PM

shannon writes:

the pacific mutual life insurance company (now know as the pacific center, the 12 story building on 6th and grand) had an attached garage that i thought to be the oldest in the city. don’t quote me on the year but it was around 1921…at least that’s when the 12 story building went up. the structure i’m referring to specifically sits directly between pac ctr and biltmore on grand. go, run with it eric.

# on May.26.2006 AT 02:29 PM

Eric Richardson writes:

Good suggestion, Shannon. That garage opened late 1921 - early 1922 and held (holds?) 300 cars. I’m going to have to disqualify it from this content though, since I asked about free-standing garages and the Pacific Mutual garage hooks into the building basement.

# on May.26.2006 AT 03:16 PM

ed writes:

If you haven’t already, look at the parking garage at 9th and Hill. Clue one. “May Company” sign in alley. Clue two. If I recall, some facade stonework looks like same period as Hamburgers Department Store (aka the old May Company)

# on May.26.2006 AT 03:44 PM

Tim Quinn writes:

Who would have thought car ramps were patentable. Things change, I guess.

# on May.28.2006 AT 11:55 AM

Eric Richardson writes:

Thanks ed. I hadn’t noticed that garage before. It’s fascinating looking. It’s a little too new, though, having been announced in December of 1926 and opening in 1927.

I’m starting to think 746 S. Hope really is the winner. Any other ideas?

# on May.28.2006 AT 07:16 PM

celia writes:

You should check out the Alexandria Hotel Garage - it has an elevator to take the cars down to the lower parking level.

# on May.29.2006 AT 10:41 AM

martin from germany writes:

hi, i would suggest the HOTEL CLARK garage (1913) is one of the oldest. the garage is at the southeast corner of OLIVE and 4TH streets, just http://you-are-here.com/downtown/1913hotelclark.html

# on May.29.2006 AT 02:26 PM

ed writes:

…and there is a small garage on Main south of 7th. The sign reads storage and repairs - don’t know if either business is still there - but clearly it’s built for parking while nestled in between two other buildings. Being only two stories may not qualify if for this “contest” but I’m curious when it was built.

# on May.29.2006 AT 05:39 PM

Eric Richardson writes:

The formatting code ate Martin’s URL. It should have been http://you-are-here.com/downtown/1913_hotel_clark.html

martin: The Clark is obviously at 4th/Hill, and I don’t believe has a separate garage. You got me thinking, though, about the odd garage that is on that southeast corner of 4th/Olive (and which you may have been referring to) nestled into the Subway Terminal Building. That one’s certainly old, but I’m not sure it’s old enough. I haven’t found any dates for it, though.

ed: I don’t think I’d ever noticed that garage, which you can see here in jim winstead’s photo. Zimas lists last improvement date as 1924, but I can’t find anything more than that at the moment. I’m going to have to go take a look at it in person. It is small, but I didn’t explicitly bar small garages from competition.

Celia: I do need to check that out, even though it doesn’t qualify for this competition (being in a basement).

# on May.30.2006 AT 09:27 AM

shannon writes:

the subway terminal building opened in november of 1924 and one would think the attached garage thingy went up with it around the same time.

# on May.30.2006 AT 09:39 AM

Eric Richardson writes:

Shannon: You’re just off… The Subway Terminal Building opened in either late 1925 or very early 1926. An announcement article from early 1925 does mention the garage, so I’m going to assume it was built at the same time. An article from Nov. 22, 1925, shows the building without exterior cladding and plenty of cranes still in operation. By contrast the article talking about the completion of the Hope Street Garage ran on September 6th, 1925. The only way I could think that garage beat this one would be if it opened well before the rest of the building.

# on May.30.2006 AT 10:28 AM

Scott Mercer writes:

There is a garage within the Subway Terminal Building. If you’re talking about the structure NEXT to the Subway Terminal Building, enter on Olive, which is two stories, that is not a garage. Okay, it might be one now, but that structure was built as a station for Pacific Electric Red Cars. Yes, many of the streetcars came into the basement of the building through the subway. But there were many other lines that started there at that outdoor station and then went down Olive or Hill, and then turned west on Pico. Or something like that.

# on May.30.2006 AT 11:29 AM

Eric Richardson writes:

Interesting, Scott. Do you know that the little structure was a station for certain? It seems like an odd spot for it. It’s very much on an incline.

That was what I was thinking of, though (in keeping with my free-standing restriction). Looking back at the announcement from Jan 8, 1925, it does say that “two stories on the Olive street side will be given over to a tenants’ garage with a capacity of 128 cars.” That does make it sound like it’s in-building. Additionally, the company that leased the 2nd floor had 1/3 of their space set up as a garage.

So in any case, the Subway Terminal Building garage either a) came too late or b) isn’t free-standing.

# on May.30.2006 AT 12:03 PM

martin from germany writes:

hi, sorry for the wrong link and the interupted lines, but i’m currently working on an wacky computer on an oil-platform in the north-sea.

…i research most of my information at LAPL: http://www.lapl.org/resources/en/californiaindex.html (keyword 1 = clark / keyword 2 hotel ) ..here you’ll find a lot of information and pdf’s with all the information.

shannon: what about a ‘Downtown Garage Tour’ later his year?

# on May.30.2006 AT 03:07 PM

Eric Richardson writes:

martin: Good find. That brochure (4th result when I did the search you mentioned) does talk about them having built a garage a block away at 4th and Olive. I’m a bit puzzled by the orientation of the streets in the photo, though. If it is the southeast corner of the intersection (where there is currently a garage) both streets should be going down from the intersection. In the photo one is going up, leading me to believe that perhaps this was on the northeast corner.

The garage pictured did open on February 1st, 1919, so were it the one standing it would be the new leader.

On a side note, this also means the date LAPL has on that brochure is two years off.

# on May.30.2006 AT 04:59 PM

martin from germany writes:

e! maybe the photo was taken from across the street, southward. the facade we see on the photo vanished, because the ‘subway terminal’ was built there in 1926 - what do you think ?

can you check it out ?

# on May.31.2006 AT 12:47 AM

Eric Richardson writes:

I got over to 4th and Olive in the daylight today and took some photos. Looking at the new and the old side by side I feel pretty comfortable saying that these aren’t the same garage. If I had to make a guess I would put the Clark’s old garage on the northeast corner of that intersection.

# on May.31.2006 AT 03:51 PM

Scott Mercer writes:

I believe I have some pictures of the Red Car outdoor station directly south of the Subway Terminal Building. I’ll try to scan them and send them along if I get ambitious…

# on Jun.01.2006 AT 12:10 AM

David Kennedy writes:

Not sure if you’re aware. The May Company garage had a lot of ‘signage’ removed. This exposed the original exterior of the building just above the ground floor at street level. Very filthy and rundown, but you can see the original design intent.

# on Jun.13.2006 AT 02:29 PM

Eric Richardson writes:

Just recently? I’ll have to make a trip over there.

# on Jun.13.2006 AT 04:52 PM

David Kennedy writes:

I think so. I figure you’d have commented on it if you were aware.

# on Jun.13.2006 AT 08:10 PM

Eric Richardson writes:

I finally got proof of where that old Clark Hotel garage was. Check out this photo:

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics49/00044297.jpg

It was on the northeast corner of 4th/Olive as I had suspected. In the photo the Subway Terminal Building is on the bottom, with the four sections. The garage is immediately above the left side of the building.

# on Jun.14.2006 AT 09:40 PM

Trudi writes:

Wouldn’t it be great if you used all of this great investigation and research to nominate some of the remaining treasures for landmark status?! I’d be happy to help - right now, they are not protected from demolition…

Just a thought.

# on Jun.16.2006 AT 06:37 PM

Tim Quinn writes:

just for fun, I attempted to review the cities conservation plan. It seems to protect any building older than 50 years without it having been previously recognized as historic. Any proposed demolition of an old building must include an Environmental Impact Report that shows that the building has been previously altered to the extent that its historic significance is gone.

An example of this is the Freedman Bag building which sits next to the 101 freeway across from Union Station. It is slated for demolition for the runthrough tracks at some point and was found to have been altered beyond repair since it was built. Anything of architectural significance is long gone.

I believe that the demolition of a potentially historic building without this determination can lead to the property being unbuildable for five years after the illegal demolition. A penalty some developers might feel is worth enduring if their profits are large enough.

I am not suggesting that historic designation shouldn’t be pursued, but the old buildings downtown are already protected to this extent, at least.

# on Jun.16.2006 AT 10:56 PM

Trudi writes:

Tim: It does sound good, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, most people don’t even know there is such a policy, especially those at the permit counters of planning and building and safety offices. That is, if people even GET a permit.

Even designation does not ultimately protect historic buildings unfortunately.
Relying on the EIR process to protect a landmark, whether designated or not, is an imperfect mechanism at best and relies on the developer or the city to determine if it is historic. Even if a property is deemed historic in the EIR, the developer/city can submit a Statement of Overriding Consideration making the case for why it should be demolished and the “lead agency” (often the CRA or MTA in the case of downtown) can make its determination to demolish. The only remaining step would be a lawsuit based on the EIR - and if the EIR is done well, not even that is a possibility. It becomes a very political process.

When something is landmarked as an Historic Cultural Monument in LA, the City’s Historic Resources Commission has the right to deny demolition for up to 360 days. After that, if no other alternative solution has been reached, the building can be demolished. The benefit to designation in this case is that there is at least a public record that it is historic and we do not have to rely on a developer or the city to adhere to their conservation policy - and to do the right thing. So often, they do not.

# on Jun.19.2006 AT 06:08 PM

Eric Richardson writes:

Good information to know, Trudi. I’ll drop you an email and we can talk about what I’ve learned about these garages. Maybe you have some sources we can use to really settle this question of which one’s oldest.

# on Jun.19.2006 AT 06:20 PM

Robert writes:

I was looking at this older blog….just wanted to update you on the old May Company garage at 9th and Hill. It is now undergoing restoration…it is completely “wrapped” now. Retail spaces are available on the street level and I understand there will be an awning surrounding the lower level. Since it is part of my view at the Eastern Columbia, I can’t wait to see the restoration completed.

# on Mar.20.2007 AT 04:44 AM

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