GLASSELL PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Description:
Glassell Park Elementary School was constructed in 1924 in the Spanish Colonial Revival style and was renovated in 1935 in the Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) Moderne style. The building was listed at the local level of significance under Criterion A for its association with the Reconstruction Program of the Los Angeles city schools that occurred between 1933 and 1935. The school was also listed under Criterion C as a good example of a new building style created by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) during the 1930s, and as the work of a prominent local master architect Edward Cray Taylor. Glassell Park Elementary School was designed as a two-story brick Spanish Colonial Revival schoolhouse in 1924 to serve as the primary elementary school for the Glassell Park neighborhood in northeast Los Angeles. After the Long Beach earthquake in 1933 the LAUSD planned a phased school building reconstruction program using funding from the P. W. A. The LAUSD rehired Taylor to design the school in the P.W.A.’s style for public buildings which was very popular at the time. It was a combination of Art Deco, which emphasized straight lines, zigzags and vertical accents, and the Streamline Moderne style, which emphasized round shapes and horizontal accents. The LAUSD encouraged the architects to adhere to this new style when altering school buildings to comply with new state and local earthquake safety laws, and thus creating a new building style for Los Angeles schools. Glassell Park Elementary has remained intact since Taylor completed his work in 1935 and has undergone minor alterations.

Registration Date: 4/13/2007

Location:
City: Loa Angeles
County: Los Angeles

Directions:
2211 West Avenue 30

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