Pasadena City Hall (Pasadena, California)

USA / California / Pasadena / Pasadena, California / Garfield Avenue
 administrative building, interesting place, town hall, movie / film / TV location, 1927_construction

The Pasadena City Hall was designed c. 1927 by Bakewell & Brown and constructed by the Orndorff Construction Co. If the Pasadena City Hall looks familiar, it's because it has been used in a number of films and on television. Most recently, the ornate building appeared as the fictional Pawnee, Indiana City Hall on the television show "Parks and Recreation". In 1995, it featured in the wine country romance, "A Walk In The Clouds," starring Keanu Reeves. The same Pasadena City Hall was used some 55 years earlier by Charlie Chaplin, in his 1940 classic satire "The Great Dictator." The building played the role of Hitler's ("Hynkel's") palace. In 1960, the building appeared once again in the drama "Butterfield 8"; Elizabeth Taylor won an Oscar for this one.

A restoration project was approved in 2003, commenced in 2004, and was completed in 2007.

usmodernist.org/AF/AF-1928-01-1.PDF
archive.org/details/architectenginee9328sanf/page/n198/...
archive.org/details/architectenginee9328sanf/page/n230/...

Garfield Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91101
(626) 744-7311
www.cityofpasadena.net/contact/
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   34°8'51"N   118°8'36"W

Comments

  • Recently completed (2007) a major renovation and strengthening against seismic hazards, at a cost of $117.5M. The results are beautiful I think, and both by day and by night the structure is very impressive.
This article was last modified 3 years ago