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The 1965 Columbia Savings Building on the Miracle Mile has been demolished. The building was an important example of postwar bank design as well as the innovative integration of art and architecture. Most recently, the building had served as Wilshire Grace Church.

On Friday, December 4, the Los Angeles City Council voted to certify the environmental impact report (EIR) for the Wilshire and La Brea Project, which called for the demolition of the Columbia Savings Building. Staff from the Conservancy attended the Council meeting to voice our opposition to the project one last time, as we have for over a year.

Knowing that the certification of the EIR was likely, the Conservancy intended to ask the Council to add a condition to the certification that would require the issuance of building permits for the new project before allowing demolition of the Columbia Savings Building. This would safeguard against the building's pre-emptive demolition and the very real potential that the site could remain vacant indefinitely, given the current economic climate.

A number of Conservancy supporters and community members also attended the meeting to voice their concerns. Unfortunately, no one had the opportunity to address the Council. The agenda item was quickly voted on with no public discussion, despite speaker request cards submitted at the beginning of the meeting.

Since no public comment was heard, the Council couldn't consider adding a condition to prevent pre-emptive demolition. As a result, the EIR has been certified, and the Columbia Savings Building faces immediate demolition with no assurance that new construction will begin in the foreseeable future.

Postcard image of Columbia Savings building, 1965. Courtesy Marcello Vavala.

This issue underscores the plight of buildings from our recent past that are not yet fully understood or appreciated. The Sixties Turn 50 program by the Conservancy and our Modern Committee is working hard to build awareness of our rich legacy of 1960s architecture, but we clearly have far to go.

Today's City Council showing also underscored the power of each individual voice for historic preservation. While we did not get to enter public comment into the record or before the full City Council, those who had intended to speak did have the chance to meet privately with Councilmember Tom LaBonge (in whose district the project will take place) and voice our concerns. Your passion and eloquence were remarkable.

Interior of the Columbia Savings Building with its beautiful dalle-de-verre skylight. Photo by Lee Auslender.

We'd specifically like to thank Sharon Eastman, Toby Horn, Steven Luftman, Annie Morrissey, Regina O'Brien, and Tony Villanueva for attending the meeting and voicing your preservation concerns to Councilmember LaBonge.

Despite the ultimate outcome of the meeting, you sent a clear message that Angelenos want, need, and deserve protection of our historic resources. It is up to all of us to defend our architectural heritage, and we greatly appreciate your time and dedication.

Background

Columbia Savings building’s 85-foot-tall signage. Photo by Gabriel Monroy.

The entire block bounded by Wilshire Boulevard, Eighth Street, and La Brea and Sycamore Avenues is slated for redevelopment with mixed-use retail and restaurant space and 480 apartment units.

Despite detailed information submitted by the Conservancy on the building’s significance, the final EIR did not consider any preservation alternatives, even though creative options exist for reusing the former bank building while meeting most of the project objectives. The Conservancy urged the Planning Commission to require full consideration of alternatives to demolition before approving the EIR.

In an effort to definitively prove the building’s historic significance—and require consideration of preservation alternatives—the Conservancy nominated the building for listing in the California Register of Historical Resources. The nomination was scheduled to be heard in January 2010. The Conservancy urged the PLUM Committee to postpone its vote on the final EIR until the State Historic Resources Commission had a chance to review the nomination.

The city's Planning Commission voted on August 13 to recommend certification. On December 1, the City Council's Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee voted to recommend certification of the EIR.

Epitome of Postwar Bank Design

The Columbia Savings building’s bold design and transparency exemplified the new trend in postwar bank design. Photo by Marvin Rand.

The Columbia Savings building was designed by architect Irving Shapiro and completed in 1965.

The result of a design competition for the new Home Office of Columbia Savings and Loan Association, Shapiro’s winning design was selected over competing entries from Charles Luckman Associates and the Bank Building & Equipment Corporation of America.

The iconic building was profiled in the prestigious French architecture journal L’architecture d’aujourd’hui the following year.

American bank architecture underwent an incredible transformation following World War II. As financial institutions nationwide analyzed the need for progressive banking methods, architects responded by radically reinventing the bank’s form.

Detail of 1,300-square-foot dalle-de-verre skylight designed by artist Roger Darricarrere. Photo by David Ruth.

With its bold design, expansive use of glass for transparency, and integrated program of abstract art, the Columbia Savings building is an exceptional example of national postwar banking trends. Displaying the influence of New Formalism, the building’s modernist form and symmetry represent a reinterpretation of the classically inspired banks of the turn-of-the-twentieth century.

Exceptional signage includes two sculptural pylons soaring eighty-five-feet tall. Visible from great distances, their incredible height marks the evolution of building signage in response to Los Angeles’ auto-oriented society.

The bank's design integrates significant works of abstract art, including a 45-foot-long brass screen-waterfall sculptural fountain by local artist Taki and a 1,300-square-foot dalle-de-verre (faceted glass) stained-glass skylight by acclaimed artist Roger Darricarrere that crowns the interior light well.