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HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION
LANDMARK DESIGNATION
STAFF REPORT
Riviera Park – Quadrangle Building
2030 Alameda Padre Serra
APN 019-163-004
Background:
The Riviera Park Research and Communications Center (former Riviera
Campus) has been on the Historical Landmarks Commission Potential List for
designation since 1991 because of the significance of both its history and its
architecture. The Environmental Impact Report Specific Plan, July 2003,
identifies the Quadrangle Building at 2030 Alameda Padre Serra as historically
significant on local, State, and National levels. On February 4, 2004, the Historic
Landmarks Commission received a letter from Michael Towbes, property owner,
requesting that the Quadrangle Building be designated a City of Santa Barbara
Landmark.
Historical Resource Setting:
The Riviera Research and Communications Park is located on the crest of a hill
overlooking Santa Barbara, and is bounded by Mission Ridge Road on the north,
Alvarado Place on the east, Alameda Padre Serra and Lasuen Road on the
south, and the property line between Riviera Park and the Casa Riviera
residential condominium complex on the west.
Land uses that have been established on the project site include research and
development facilities, art related uses, storage, administrative offices, a movie
theater, professional offices, and warehousing. Surrounding land uses include
residences to the north and south, the El Encanto Hotel and Restaurant, and
Orpet Park to the east, and the Casa Riviera residential condominiums to the
west.
The campus site is not historically or architecturally pristine. The following
original campus structures on the west side of the complex have been
demolished: Oak Hall, built in 1924; South Hall and West Hall, both built in 1926;
Elm Hall, built in 1927; the Women’s Gymnasium, built in 1936; and Ridge Hall,
built in 1938. These buildings were removed after 1963 when former Riviera
Park owner Roy Lewis built condominiums on the west side of the campus.
Additionally, the extant structures have been altered both on the interior and
exterior. All have had alterations to windows and doors, and several have had
additions.
Historic Context:
The seven extant historic buildings within the complex were constructed between
1913 and 1935, and represent part of the former Santa Barbara Normal School
campus. Construction of permanent buildings did not begin at the site that would
become Riviera Park until 1911. That year, locally noted educator Ednah Anne
Rich obtained funds from the state legislature to build a Santa Barbara State
Normal School of Manual Arts and Home Economics along the 2000 block of
Alameda Padre Serra. Rich was an advocate and practitioner of the Sloyd
School of education, a Swedish manual training process. Santa Barbara’s Sloyd
School was built as an ornate Victorian-era structure (nonextant) at the northeast
corner of De la Guerra and Santa Barbara Streets in 1891 by founder Anna
Sophia Cabot Blake of Boston, Massachusetts. Blake hired Rich as her assistant
and, upon Blake’s death, Rich took over as the Sloyd School principal. Rich was
part of the national interest in Progressive Era reforms during the turn-of-thecentury, which urged, among other social issues, improved teacher training. This
political movement culminated in California with the passage of Assembly Bill
1234 in 1909, which funded the founding of several State Normal Schools.
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A "normal school" was the term used from approximately 1850 through 1920 for
a school dedicated to training public elementary school teachers. These schools
were modeled after the European "Ecole Normale" or "model school." Noted
American educator Horace Mann (1796 - 1859) founded the first publicly-funded
school for training teachers in Lexington, Massachusetts in 1839. His efforts
were influential in encouraging taxpayer-funded educational opportunities for all
children. Most states followed Massachusetts’ lead and established their own
state funded normal schools during the second half of the nineteenth century.
Many state university campuses have retained some original buildings from this
era. Some of these buildings have been severely altered to accommodate
modern educational uses, but some have been treasured as locally designated
community landmarks.
In 1921, the California Assembly recreated all the State normal schools as State
Teachers Colleges, and in 1923 the Teachers Colleges were authorized to grant
bachelor’s degrees in education. By 1935, the State Teachers Colleges became
State Colleges and eventually evolved into the first campuses of the California
State University system. The exceptions to this campus conversion process
were UCLA and UCSB whose original normal school campuses became part of
the University of California system.
The University of California continued to own the Riviera campus until it was
transferred to the Santa Barbara School District in January 1962. In 1963 it was
sold to Roy Lewis. Brooks Institute of Photography bought an interest in the
property, and moved some of its classes to the Riviera campus. Lewis built
condominiums on the land to the west of the campus, removing some of the
former campus buildings. In 1973 Michael Towbes purchased the property as a
partnership and in 1996 became the sole owner.
Construction History and Building Description:
Begun in 1912 and finished in 1913, this first Riviera campus building, known as
“the Quad,” had classrooms and laboratories for Home Economics and Manual
Arts as well as administrative offices for the president, deans, registrar, and
financial secretary. The U-shaped structure had a central courtyard and
reflecting pool. Eucalyptus trees were left standing in the courtyard to provide
shadow and reflective interest. The second floor on the north side contained the
design, weaving, and pottery classrooms. The Domestic Science, Domestic Art,
and Chemistry departments were on the north and west sides and the Library
and Industrial Arts classrooms were on the north and east sides. Cloakrooms,
clubrooms for men and women, a storeroom, and the heating plant were located
in the basement of the wings and were approached by concrete ramps. The
courtyard and cloister were used for commencement ceremonies, theater
productions, dance recitals and other social events (Ellison n.d.: 80-82; O’Reilly
1928:18-19).
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Architect/Builder:
Under Ednah Rich’s administration, the Santa Barbara Normal School became a
valued feature of the City’s built environment. She united her educational vision,
political savvy, and architectural concepts to secure the site and construct the
buildings. The original 7.9-acre tract of land along Mission Ridge had been part
of the Edwards, White, Sheffield, and Hawley estates called Arlington Heights.
With the help of the Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce, the City constructed
a road with switch-backs up the hill from the Santa Barbara Mission called
Alameda Padre Serra. The switch-backs were built along the steep incline to
allow the City’s electric trolley system to climb the hill from the Mission so that
both students and faculty could easily access the campus from downtown Santa
Barbara. The original trolley stop has been restored and now functions as a bus
stop and was designated a City of Santa Barbara Landmark in 1999 (City Council
Resolution 99-021).
Rich designed the Quadrangle with the assistance of State Architect George
McDougall, State Engineer W.F. McClure, and in all probability, local architects J.
Corbley Pool and Francis Underhill. However, credit to Pool and Underhill is
unconfirmed by existing documentation for the property. They nevertheless are
acknowledged for the project plans due to the local prominence of both men at
that time, and the buildings’ designs which display these architects’ preferences
and proclivities. Underhill is locally noted for his designs of private residences at
333 Junipero Plaza, 256 Eucalyptus Hill Drive, and La Chiquita, now part of the
Santa Barbara Biltmore Hotel complex. Pool is locally noted for his design of the
Flying A Film Studio (substantially nonextant) at Mission and State Streets, and
for the Carrillo Recreation Center at 100 E. Carrillo Street, among other
buildings. The City of Santa Barbara has previously honored the designs of
Underhill and Pool with historic designations.
Rich used the classical California hacienda U-shape and the Alhambra Court in
Grenada, Spain, as her guide for the Santa Barbara State Normal School’s
Quadrangle design concept. The front elevation of the Quadrangle faced north
toward Mission Ridge Road. The rear elevation faced the shallow pool and was
flanked with cloisters. Along the southern opening of the U-shape, a pergola
overlooked a sweeping vista of the City of Santa Barbara. The school’s faculty
members provided input on the size and number of classrooms and laboratories
needed.
Significance:
The City of Santa Barbara establishes historic significance as provided by the
Municipal Code, Section 22.22.040. Any historic building that meets one or more
of the eleven criteria (Criteria A through K) established for a City Landmark or a
City Structure of Merit is considered significant. In addition to determining
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significance, there are essential physical features that must be considered to
evaluate the integrity of a significant building. The seven aspects of integrity
include location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and
association. Despite alterations and additions, the Quadrangle Building retains
integrity of location, setting, feeling, and association (Preservation Planning
Associates 1999:22).
The Quadrangle Building is significant under Criteria A, its character, interest, or
value as a significant part of the heritage of the City, the State, or the Nation;
Criteria C, its identification with a person or persons who significantly contributed
to the culture and development of the City, the State, or the Nation; and Criteria
D, its exemplification of a particular architectural style or way of life important to
the City, the State, or the Nation.
One of the most historically and architecturally significant buildings at Riviera
Park, this building is eligible for City Landmark designation individually and as
part of a group designation comprising the remainder of the Riviera Park
buildings. The building is also eligible for listing on the California Historic
Register and on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the remaining
group of Riviera Park buildings and landscaping. The Quadrangle Building,
Furse Hall, and Ebbets Hall have the most historic integrity and architectural
character, so each building in the group has a primary significance association
with these and a secondary association with the others. The Quadrangle
Building shares a commonality with the six other buildings that comprise the
former State Normal School Campus; despite alterations and additions, “all the
buildings retain integrity of location, setting, feeling, and association”
(Preservation Planning Associates 1999:22).
Recommendation:
Staff Recommends that the HLC pass a resolution to designate the Quadrangle
Building at Riviera Park, 2030 Alameda Padre Serra, as a City Landmark and
forward it to City Council for consideration.
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Bibliography:
Architectural Research Consultants, Phase I Historical Resources Report,
Brooks Hall (Men’s Gymnasium), July 24, 1997.
O’Reilly, Edmund, A History of Santa Barbara State Teachers’ College, UCSanta Barbara Davidson Library, Special Collections, 1928.
Preservation Planning Associates, Alexandra Cole, Phase I Historic Resources
Study, Riviera Park Research and Communications Center, June 1999.
Rodriguez Consulting, Inc., Proposed Final Environmental Impact Report,
Riviera Park Research and Communications Center, Specific Plan No. 7, July
2003.
Attachments:
Attachment 1
Campus Map
F:\USERS\PLAN\Historian\Landmark Designations\Riviera Park - Quadrangle Building\HLC Designation Staff Report.doc
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