Parker Center facts for kids
Parker Center was the main building for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) for many years. It served as their headquarters from 1955 until October 2009. The building was located in downtown LA at 150 N. Los Angeles Street. It was built where older city buildings from the 1800s used to stand. The area where Parker Center once stood will become a new building called the "Los Angeles Street Civic Building." This is part of a bigger plan to make the downtown area more lively and connected.
People often called Parker Center "The Glass House." It was named after a former LAPD chief, William H. Parker. When it first opened, it was called the Police Administration Building (PAB). Construction started on December 30, 1952, and the building was finished in 1955. The main architect was Welton Becket and Associates. The eight-story building was made of strong concrete with special windows. It brought together many police offices that were spread out across the city center.
When it was new, Parker Center was considered very modern. A magazine in 1956 even called its jail "The Jail that Modern Science Built." The jail cells had no metal bars. Instead, they used strong, unbreakable glass. The floors were made of a special material to prevent injuries. The police department was one of the first to use IBM computers for their records. The Scientific Investigation Division had its labs on the entire fourth floor. They even had early versions of tests to check alcohol levels. Two important artworks were made for the building. One was a large bronze sculpture by Bernard Rosenthal called "The American Family." The other was a colorful mosaic in the lobby by Joseph Young, showing famous Los Angeles landmarks. Both artworks were taken out of the building by the LAPD in 2018. Before Parker Center, the Olympic Hotel was on this spot.
On July 16, 1966, Chief Parker passed away. Soon after, the Los Angeles City Council decided to rename the building "Parker Center" in his honor. The building was one of the places where protests and unrest happened during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. These events followed a court decision related to the Rodney King incident.
New LAPD Headquarters Building
Over time, Parker Center became old and needed expensive repairs, especially to make it safer in an earthquake. The city looked at several places downtown for a new police headquarters. They chose a spot right next to City Hall. Construction for the new building began in January 2007. It officially opened on October 24, 2009.
Both the old Parker Center and the new headquarters have places for helicopters to land. The old Parker Center's heliport had a number "5" on it, while the new one has an "H." Even after the main building closed, the LAPD Robbery and Homicide Division still worked from a smaller building next to the old Parker Center.
On January 15, 2013, the City of Los Angeles officially closed Parker Center for good. In 2014, city officials suggested tearing down the empty Parker Center. They wanted to build a new 27-story tower in its place. The plan was to take the building down floor by floor, instead of using wrecking balls or dynamite. Construction of the new building was expected to start in 2016 and finish by 2018.
Efforts to Save Parker Center (2015)
On January 29, 2015, a city group called The Cultural Heritage Commission tried to give Parker Center a special historical status. This would have helped protect it from being torn down. A decision was planned for April 28, 2015, but it was moved to May 5, 2015. However, during the meeting on May 5, the council said they missed a deadline and couldn't make a decision.
A council member, José Huizar, suggested a new idea. He recommended not tearing down the building completely. Instead, he thought they could save parts of it and build a taller tower next to it. After this, a group of city leaders met in May 2015 to talk about Parker Center's future. They discussed whether to keep the old police headquarters. Some thought parts of the building could be saved, while other sections could be removed.
In August 2015, discussions grew bigger. They weren't just about Parker Center, but also about what to do with the areas around it. This meant there might be another place for the new office buildings. Three main ideas were considered for Parker Center:
- Updating the building with improvements like earthquake safety upgrades. This would also add more parking spaces.
- Fixing up some parts of the building while tearing down the old jail section. This would create more usable space.
- Tearing down the entire building and replacing it with one or two new office buildings. These new buildings would have much more office space and parking.
Demolition of Parker Center
In August 2016, the Parker Center building was again at risk of being torn down. A report suggested building a new city office building on the same spot. Because of this, the Cultural Heritage Commission quickly tried again in September to give Parker Center landmark status. They had missed the deadline the year before.
However, in December 2016, city engineers again recommended tearing down the building. They said building a new high-rise would cost about $514 million. They claimed that preserving the old building and adding a smaller new one would cost more, around $621 million. The city planned to get approvals by February 2017.
On March 24, 2017, the Los Angeles City Council voted to approve the plan to demolish Parker Center. They decided to replace it with an office tower. This new tower would bring many city employee offices together in one place. The above-ground demolition of Parker Center was finished on July 15, 2019.
