General Petroleum Building
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The General Petroleum Building, also known as the
Mobil Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999. ...
Oil Building and the Pegasus Apartments, is a highrise building in the
Modern architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...
style located in
Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...
.


Design and construction

Walter Wurdeman Welton David Becket (August 8, 1902 – January 16, 1969) was an American modern architect who designed many buildings in Los Angeles, California. Biography Becket was born in Seattle, Washington and graduated from the University of Washingt ...
&
Welton Becket Welton David Becket (August 8, 1902 – January 16, 1969) was an American modern architect who designed many buildings in Los Angeles, California. Biography Becket was born in Seattle, Washington and graduated from the University of Washingt ...
were the building's architects. P.J. Walker Co. was the general contractor, and Carl Larsen was the construction superintendent. Groundbreaking on the 13-story building was on July 11, 1947, and the steel structure was virtually complete by December 1947. On February 27, 1948, a 31-year-old rigger, Laurence Leslie, slipped and fell to his death from scaffolding on the fourth floor. In March 1948, while still under construction, the building was sold to the New York Life Insurance Co. with a lease back to General Petroleum Corp. The purchase price was later disclosed to have been $11,750,000. The first offices were occupied in February 1949, and the building was dedicated on April 1, 1949 in a ceremony attended by Governor
Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The Warren Court presided over a major shift in American constitution ...
, Mayor
Fletcher Bowron Fletcher Bowron (August 13, 1887 – September 11, 1968) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. He was the 35th mayor of Los Angeles, California, from September 26, 1938, until June 30, 1953. He was at the time the city's longest-serving ...
, and other dignitaries. At the time of its dedication, it had 504,000 square feet and was the largest office building in Southern California. Upon completion, the " Mobiloil" and "Mobilgas" names and flying red horse logo were displayed from the top of the building. The development also included a six-story rectangular parking garage, also designed by Wurdeman & Becket, built two blocks south on the corner of 8th and Flower, with space for 446 cars and a spiral interior path allowing cars to drive from the first level to the higher levels. At the time, the spiral design allowing for self parking was described the ''Los Angeles Times'' as "the only one of its kind in the nation."


Later use and designation

The building was vacated in 1994 and converted into 322 apartments in 2003 by developers Kennedy Wilson and the KOR Realty Group. The apartment building was, and remains, operated under the name Pegasus in tribute to the flying red horse that was displayed for decades atop the structure. On June 22, 2004, the building was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
based on architectural criteria.


See also

*
List of Registered Historic Places in Los Angeles This is a List of the National Register of Historic Places in the city of Los Angeles. (For those in the rest of Los Angeles County, go here.) Current listings :' ...


References

{{Clear Skyscraper office buildings in Los Angeles Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles Commercial buildings completed in 1949 ExxonMobil buildings and structures 1949 establishments in California 1940s architecture in the United States Modernist architecture in California