CASE STUDY
Preserving an Art Moderne Masterpiece: Los Angeles U.S. Courthouse Los Angeles, California
Monumental in scale and concept, the U.S. Courthouse and Post Office on North Spring Street occupies a double-sized urban block site in downtown Los Angeles and forms an integral part of the LA Civic Center, along with LA City Hall and the Hall of Justice.When completed in 1940, the 17-story edifice was the largest federal building in the western United States, signaling a strong, stable governmental presence during a time of uncertainty. The interior lobbies retain their original polychrome terrazzo floors, ornamental plaster ceilings, marble walls, statuary, painted murals, and ornate aluminum fixtures.The U.S. Courthouse’s Courtroom No. 8 is nationally significant as the venue for the court case Mendez et al v.Westminster School District (1946), a lawsuit filed by five Hispanic families whose children
were denied admission to public schools in southern California.The court heard the first federal challenge to the doctrine of “separate but equal.” The decision determined that separate was, in fact, not equal.The U.S. Courthouse and Post Office was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2006 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2012. The relocation of the U.S. District Courts to a new courthouse in 2016 left vacant interior space.This threatened the economic viability and continued federal ownership of the U.S. Courthouse and Post Office building.The building had substantial capital investment needs at a level that was noncompetitive within the context of nationwide funding levels. Thus the General Services Administration’s (GSA)
Inside a courtroom (Carol M. Highsmith Photography, Inc./GSA)
60 | IN A SPIRIT OF STEWARDSHIP: A REPORT ON FEDERAL HISTORIC PROPERTY MANAGEMENT 2021
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