| Address: |
72 E GLENARM ST |
APN: |
5317-030-901 |
This property is designated by the city as an individual historic resource (see "designation type" field for the specific city designation type). *
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| Address: |
72 E GLENARM ST |
| City: |
Pasadena |
State: |
CA |
| Zip Code: |
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County: |
Los Angeles |
| County Code: |
37 |
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| Historic Name: |
GLENARM POWER PLANT |
Common Name: |
Glenarm Power Plant |
| APN: |
5317-030-901 |
Zoning: |
IG |
| Building Sq. Ft: |
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Site Size (Acres): |
6.680 |
| Year Built: |
1928 Documented |
District: |
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| District: |
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Property Status: |
Designated |
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| Resource Description: |
Glenarm Power Plant:
The Glenarm Power Plant is located on a 7-acre property at the southeast corner of East Glenarm Street and South Fair Oaks Avenue. The power plant building itself is situated toward the northwest corner of the property; adjacent to it, at the extreme northwest corner is a landscaped yard and fountain. The remainder of the property consists of large tanks, transformers, transmission lines, and associated unenclosed infrastructure. The power plant building that exists today was built as an addition to the now-demolished original power plant. The original power plant building, which was located on the south side of Glenarm Street at the terminus of South Raymond Avenue, and a 1924 addition, were demolished in the 1960’s. The additions that comprise the existing building were constructed in 1928 and 1932. The fountain was built in 1938 as a mechanism to cool turbine unit number 8 and the building itself.
The 32,250-square-foot power plant building is rectangular in plan and monumental in scale, with two architecturally distinct wings on the eastern and western ends. The height of the building ranges from 30 feet to 70 feet. The three-story western end, constructed in 1932 and the portion most open to public view, is designed in the Moderne style. It is configured with two similar bays, both of which have a flat roof. The northern bay has a shorter parapet than the southern bay and has arched windows on the first floor as opposed to the southern bay, which has rectangular window openings. The remainder of the west elevation is symmetrical with fluted pilasters framing tripartite second and third floor window groupings. The entire western wing has a sculptural geometric frieze at the roofline.
The eastern wing, constructed in 1928 and designed in the Georgian Revival style, is two-stories in height. It has paired gambrel roof forms oriented toward the east. The north elevation of this wing (facing E. Glenarm Street) gives the appearance of having a flat roof. This impression is enhanced by the addition of an articulated cornice. This elevation is highly symmetrical with cast cement plaster pilasters separating ground-floor arched windows and second-floor round windows, all framed in cast cement plaster. Windows throughout the entire building are steel fixed or casement windows with divided lights.
The interior spaces of the building are completely open from floor to ceiling. The turbine hall, which is the northernmost portion of the building, includes two deep mechanical wells, surrounded by wrought-iron railings with a classical fretwork design. The interior walls also have Gladding McBean ceramic tile wainscoting and bracketed metal lamps, as well as a built-in clock on the westernmost wall. The only remaining turbines, unit number 8 installed in 1932 and unit number 9 installed in 1949, are located in the western end of the turbine hall (the portion constructed in 1932). The mechanical well beneath these turbines contains the condenser units associated with each turbine and the southern wall of the turbine hall has control panels and gauges. The boiler room, adjacent to and south of the turbine hall, contains the boilers, burners, feed pumps, steam valves and pressure and heat gauges for each of the turbine units (two boilers per unit).
Electric Fountain:
The electric fountain, located immediately west of the existing building within the front yard area, was originally built for the purposes of cooling the facility and equipment (specifically, turbine unit number 8). The front yard area also has a series of walkways that radiate out from the fountain as well as a freestanding monument. The fountain was designed by the City’s Power Department engineers and replaced a cooling tower that had been on the site since the original power plant was built in 1906.
The fountain is set within a circular basin and reflecting pool lined with yellow tiles (a portion of which have images of the City logo flanked by lightning bolts). The pool is surrounded by a low cast-stone wall with inscription, “Light Power Pasadena 1938” between two rows of wave crests in low relief. The fountain itself consists of a single-tier center tower framed metal and covered with nozzles and translucent-glass panels. Originally the jets of water were as high as 100 feet and had pulsating colors and displays. The fountain was turned off during war-time blackouts during the Second World War and when it resumed operation the water spray was considerably lower in height.
Pacific Electric Substation #2 (on same property with address of 1154 S. Fair Oaks Avenue):
The Pacific Electric Railway Station building at 1154 S. Fair Oaks Avenue, constructed in 1893, is located at the extreme southern end of the same 7-acre property as the Glenarm Power Plant, at the northeast corner of South Fair Oaks Avenue and East State Street. The one-story building is rectangular in plan and is a utilitarian brick warehouse structure with a gabled roof. The building was constructed with unreinforced masonry and has not been seismically braced as required by state law.
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| Legal Description: |
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| Primary Architectural Style: |
Georgian Revival |
| Secondary Architectural Style: |
Streamline Moderne |
| Architect: |
Bennett & Haskell |
| Builder: |
Unknown |
| Contractor: |
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| Context: |
Period Revival Architecture
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| Original Owner: |
City of Pasadena |
| Original Use: |
Industrial |
| Original Location: |
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| Demolished: |
no |
| Notes: |
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| Moved: |
no |
| Date Moved: |
n/a |
| Designation Date: |
11/19/2007 |
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* This is a simplified statement of the property's status. Please review the NRHP Status Code field on the search screen for official, adopted status language.
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