The campaign to save the Parker Center—the lovely and now empty mid-century home of the LAPD—hit a slight snag last week, when the LA City Council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee missed a review deadline for their application to designate the 1955 Welton Becket building as a landmark. There was some confusion in the camp of Councilmember Jose Huizar, who is the committee chairman, about getting a two-week extension, says the Downtown News, and without the extra time, the date for landmarking simply came and went. The building's fate has been uncertain for years now as the city debates what to do with the site.
Fortunately, all that means is that the process is now delayed, not dead. The city's Office of Historic Resources will submit another nomination for the Parker Center and officials will review it and move on from there. A new motion from Councilmember Huizar also recommends against razing the building as recommended, and instead preserving it and "build[ing] an adjacent tower taller than the one analyzed in the project's already complete environmental impact report."
The LAPD moved out of Parker Center in 2009 and into a new jagged monolith nearby. The debate over whether to save the old building or demolish it seemed to be listing in the direction of demolition—a city report last year recommended LA raze the building and build a 27-story tower atop the site.
· City Blows Parker Center Deadline, But Wrecking Ball Still Isn't Coming [DN]
· Will LA Demo or Rehab LAPD's Famous Old Parker Center HQ? [Curbed LA]
· DTLA's Parker Center Will Likely Fall, Be Replaced by Tower [Curbed LA]
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