The Mariners Medical Arts building (Newport Beach, California)

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An architecturally revered medical office building, which came into a bulldozer's crosshairs last year, has been declared a "historic resource" and will be saved, city officials announced Monday. Aiming to build a larger structure, a firm last year sought to raze the Mariner's Medical Arts center, a group of doctors' and dentists' offices on Westcliff Drive in Newport Beach.

The plan roiled architecture aficionados and history lovers, who called the Richard Neutra-designed center a culturally priceless work that couldn't fall victim to business prerogatives of squeezing the most possible value out of land. A 120-page city-commissioned report agreed. In an announcement Monday, officials said the center's sharp and sleek lines – indicative of mid-century modernism – make it "one of the best and few remaining examples" of medical buildings designed by Neutra, a titan of 20th century architecture who designed the famed Lovell House in Los Angeles and helped design the Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana.

Dion Neutra, son of the late architect, said by phone that he is "very thrilled" with the news and hopes to assist the property owner in upgrading cracked pipes and a degraded foundation, also reasons cited for the initial plan to demolish the structure.

www.archpaper.com/2023/11/burnham-ward-properties-siegl...