1920-1930 Lunsford

James W. Lunsford The Ocean and the Sunset, The Hills and the Clouds: Looking at Santa Monica, illustrated by Alice N. Lunsford, 1983, 1917

Civic Center-High School

     "Santa Monica's Civic Center, including the City Hall, County Building, School District Offices, Civic Auditorium, and Rand Corporation, is located directly south of the downtown district in an area long inaccessible because of the deep arroyo now occupied by the Santa Monica Freeway. Finally opened to development in the mid-'20s by completion of the Main Street Bridge, the area was considered a prime location for some type of public use and was eventually selected as the site for a new Civic Center.

     "The Civic Center today includes a number of historical and noteworthy features, among them the following:

     "1. Main Street Bridge. An open spandrel arch bridge completed in the mid-'20s. Remarkably similar plans for such a bridge were originally proposed in 1917 by Erminci Gamberi, a merchant on Second Street, to provide a better connection between Ocean Park and Santa Monica."

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 Kelyn Roberts 2017