Cooper Arms Apartments facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Cooper Arms
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 Location in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Location in California
Location in the United States
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| Location | 455 E Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, California |
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| Built | 1923 |
| Architect | Curlett & Beelman; Scofield Construction |
| Architectural style | Renaissance Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 00001538 |
| Added to NRHP | December 28, 2000 |
The Cooper Arms Apartments is a cool old building in Long Beach, California. You can find it on Ocean Boulevard in the downtown area. This tall, twelve-story apartment building was built way back in 1923. It looks like buildings from the Renaissance period, which was a long time ago!
It was one of the first buildings in Long Beach to be called a 'Historic Landmark' in 1980. Later, in 2000, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, which means it's important to the whole country! Today, people live there in apartments called condominiums.
Contents
What Does Cooper Arms Look Like?
The Cooper Arms is a twelve-story building made from strong steel-reinforced concrete. Its outside walls are brick covered with stucco. It stands on Ocean Boulevard, close to downtown Long Beach.
Building Design and Style
The building was designed by architects named Curlett & Beelman from Los Angeles. Its L-shape design looks like Renaissance Revival style. It also has fancy decorations that remind you of neo-classical and neo-Egyptian art.
Original Features and Amenities
The Cooper Arms was first built as a special kind of apartment building called a housing cooperative. This meant people could buy their own apartments. There were 159 apartments in total, with 406 rooms! This idea was promoted by a real estate developer named Lionel Vincent Mayell.
Building the Cooper Arms cost $1,350,000, which was a huge amount of money for Long Beach at that time. The same company that built the famous Los Angeles Biltmore also built the Cooper Arms. Many people wanted to live there, and apartments worth over $1,250,000 were sold even before construction began!
The 12th floor had a special solarium and a ballroom. The ballroom had a beautiful domed ceiling with fancy decorations and lanterns. Another popular spot was the garden on the ground floor along Ocean Boulevard. It led to a Spanish-style walkway that went all the way to Linden Avenue.
A brochure from 1922 said the Cooper Arms would have the newest features. These included steam heating, fast elevators, hot water all the time, "Iceless Frigidors" (like early refrigerators), "Disappearing beds," and "Dustless roller screens."
A Look Back at Cooper Arms History
The land for the Cooper Arms was owned by Larkin Cooper. Before the apartments, there were eight nice homes on the site, all belonging to Cooper. He had moved to Long Beach from Kansas, where he worked in the feed and grain business.
In April 1922, the Long Beach Daily Telegram newspaper announced the plan for the luxury apartment building. They said it would be "Long Beach to Have Finest Apartments in Whole Southland."
Building Boom in Long Beach
The building was constructed from 1923 to 1924. This was a time when Long Beach was growing very fast with lots of new buildings and people. When construction started in March 1923, the Los Angeles Times newspaper showed a drawing of the Cooper Arms. They called it "one of the most imposing structures of its kind west of Chicago."
At that time, Long Beach didn't have many tall buildings. The Times thought this "magnificent building will become a landmark that may be seen from ocean vessels miles away."
Surviving the 1933 Earthquake
In 1933, a big earthquake hit Long Beach. The Cooper Arms survived it without much damage. One person who lived there for a long time remembered being on the roof when it happened:
I was tinkering with an old radio when the earthquake hit. It knocked me flat on my face. I watched the old Edgewater Building topple down. This building [Cooper Arms] is built out of steel and concrete. It just swayed from east to west — but it held together. We heard there was going to be a tidal wave after the earthquake, so I gathered my camping gear and fishing pole, got into my Franklin automobile and drove to Lake Henshaw to do a little fishing until the excitement died down.
Cooper Arms Today
In 1974, the building celebrated its 50th birthday. Three of the first people who lived there were still residents! The local newspaper, the Independent Press-Telegram, wrote that some of the old excitement had faded. They said the fancy lounge was "now quiet and empty."
Today, the Cooper Arms is run by the Cooper Arms Homeowners Association. People still live there in condominiums.
Why Cooper Arms is a Historic Landmark
In 1980, the Long Beach Cultural Heritage Committee officially named Cooper Arms a Long Beach Historic Landmark. It was one of the very first seven buildings to get this special title. Other buildings in that first group included the Villa Riviera and the First Congregational Church.
The Cooper Arms was also added to the National Register of Historic Places in October 2000. This means it's recognized as an important historic place for the entire country.
See also
