USC MASTER PLAN

The Threat
How You Can Help
About the Campus

The Threat

University Religious Center (Killingsworth, Brady & Associates, 1964). Photo by LAC staff.

In May 2010, the University of Southern California (USC) released the draft environmental impact report (EIR) for a master plan to guide development on and around the University Park campus over the next twenty years.

The proposed master plan encompasses the University Park campus, as well as USC-owned land in an industrial area just east of the 110 Freeway and the University Village area north of campus.

The Draft EIR identifies about two dozen potential development sites that affect roughly thirty buildings and several vacant sites on the main campus.

The university has stated that it doesn’t anticipate developing all of these areas and has not identified any specific replacement projects. Yet the Draft EIR states that the university can’t reuse the historic resources targeted as development sites, despite the lack of any analysis to support this claim or preservation alternatives for any of the historic buildings.

The potential development sites include four buildings that have been identified as eligible for individual listing in the California Register of Historical Resources and contributing structures in a California Register District:

• University Club (Faculty Center) (A. Quincy Jones & Frederick Emmons, 1960)
• Olin Hall of Engineering (William L. Pereira & Associates, 1963)
• Registration Building (Ladd & Kelsey, 1963)
• University Religious Center (Killingsworth, Brady & Associates, 1964)

Olin Hall of Engineering (William L. Pereira & Associates, 1963). Photo by LAC staff.

These buildings were designed by major Southern California architects who were also faculty and/or alumni of USC’s renowned School of Architecture.

William Pereira in particular played a crucial role in the development of USC over the years, designing a number of buildings and the 1960s master plans.

The fifth California Register-eligible building targeted as a potential development site is not on the main campus, but on USC-owned land just east of the 110 Freeway.

This 1927 Art Deco industrial building, called the Downtown Shopping News Factory/National Guard Building, was designed by the renowned local architecture firm Morgan, Walls & Clements. It is one of the few remaining resources reflecting the area’s industrial history and is currently used for storage.

The potential development sites also include six buildings that contribute to a California Register-eligible historic district on the main campus:

• Stonier Hall (William H. Mead, 1927)
• Ahmanson Center for Biological Research (William L. Pereira & Associates, 1964)
• Booth Ferris Memorial Hall (William L. Pereira & Associates, 1964)
• Charles Lee Powell Hall (William L. Pereira & Associates, 1973)
• Stauffer Hall of Science (William L. Pereira & Associates, 1965)
• Hazel and Stanley Hall Building (Samuel E. Lunden & Joseph L. Johnson, 1976)

The Conservancy commented on the Draft EIR in July 2010, urging USC to eliminate or reduce the number of historic resources targeted as potential development sites.

At the very least, the university should evaluate the feasibility of reuse through additional environmental review when a replacement project is proposed for any of these sites. The full EIR is available online below.

Draft Environmental Impact Report on the USC master plan

How You Can Help

Detail of the Ahmanson Center for Biological Research (William L. Pereira & Associates, 1964). Photo by LAC staff.

If you feel that USC should keep these important buildings as part of the university’s rich legacy – particularly its architectural legacy – you can write the university to share your opinion.

Hearing from long-time USC supporters could encourage the university to focus new development on sites without historic resources. Please write to:

C. L. Max Nikias, President
E-mail: president@usc.edu

If you write to the university to support the preservation of these important buildings, we’d appreciate receiving a copy of your letter by:

E-mail: info@laconservancy.org
Fax: (213) 623-3909
Mail: Los Angeles Conservancy, Attn: Flora Chou,
523 W. 6 th St., Suite 826, Los Angeles, CA 90014

For timely updates on this issue, you can also join our Preservation Action Alert e-mail list (check the box next to “Preservation Action Alerts”)

Thank you for your support!

About the Campus

Registration Building (Ladd & Kelsey, 1963). Photo by LAC staff.

Founded in 1880 on what was then the outskirts of Los Angeles, USC is the city’s second oldest college. Three main periods of development are visible on today’s campus:

• The Beaux Arts tradition of a 1919 plan by legendary architect John Parkinson
• A 1946 plan by Arthur Gallion that introduces the influences of modernism
• 1960s master plans by renowned Southern California architect William Pereira

While many people most closely associate USC with the grand, Romanesque Revival buildings from the Parkinson era, the campus’ most significant growth occurred after World War II.

As a result, the campus boasts a wide assortment of mid-century modern resources by noted architects, with designs ranging from the International Style to New Formalism that adhere to the school’s brick-and-concrete palette.

In 1994, a National Register-eligible historic district was identified within the core campus, focusing primarily on buildings from the Parkinson era and ranging from 1880 to 1944. The California Register-eligible district identified in the Draft EIR expands the boundaries and timeframe of the NR-eligible district to encompass all three main periods of campus development.