"Pasadena City Hall" Architecture / Gardens Tip by coolpanda87

Built in 1927, this landmark exhibits strong Spanish & Italian Renaissance influences, with its red tile roof, lush gardens & the ornate fountain. It was built to inspire the community with boldness, beauty & vision. Architectual design for Pasadena City Hall was completed by Bakewell and Brown of San Francisco. The building is based on the designs of 16th century Italian architect Andrea Palladio, who represented the serene, classical style of the Renaissance period.

Pasadena City Hall is a rectangular office outlining a spacious court. 235 rooms and passageways cover over 170,000 square feet of space. The massive circular tower is six stories high. The dome on top is 26 feet high and 54 feet across. On top of the dome is the lantern(column-supported cupola), which is 41 feet high. The stairways are made of Alaskian marble, the roof is red Cordova red-tile & the dome is covered in fish scale tiles.

The highlight within the Spanish Colonial style courtyard is a cast stone Baroque Fountain.

Pasadena City Hall is the dominant building in the Pasadena Civic Centre, with the Pasadena Public Library to the north of it and the Pasadena Civic Auditorium to the south. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A recent study showed that the building could not stand a 7.0 earthquake & that this quake is predicted by CalTECH scientists to happen within 30 years. So council has decided to renovate the building & retrofit it to stand seismic shocks. The building will close down from June 2004 to June 2007.

Though the building may be closed down, I think that it's still worth it to stand outside & admire the building from the courtyards.

Address: 100 N. Garfield Avenue, Pasadena
Directions: Click here to see a map & directions to Pasadena City Hall.

Garfield Street can be accessed from E Colorado Blvd, Walnut Street & Union Street.
Phone: (626) 744-4000
Website: http://www.ci.pasadena.ca.us/