§ 16.52.050. Scottish Rite Cathedral.

Pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 2.63, and with the recommendation of the Planning Commission, the City Council designates the following building as an historic landmark in the City:

Scottish Rite Cathedral.

A.

Location, Description and Reasons for Designation. Location: 855 Elm Avenue. In 1924 Aubrey Rivers Parks announced his dream and plan for the Scottish Rite Temple. The Scottish Rite Bodies were to have their own home at the northwestern corner of Ninth Street and Elm Avenue.

The building was completed in August 1926 at the cost of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00), including original furnishings and equipment. The fully air conditioned Long Beach Scottish Rite Cathedral contains forty thousand eight hundred (40,800) square feet of floor space, a new fifty thousand dollar ($50,000.00) pipe organ and portable console, twenty-seven (27) stage sets and ninety-seven (97) drops valued at three hundred fifty thousand dollars ($350,000.00), stage lighting, closed circuit television and sound system in the Sanctuary. This landmark is a place for higher Masonic learning and attracts many instructors.

2.

General Guidelines and Standards for any Changes. The "Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings" prepared by the Secretary of the Interior (Feb. 1978) are incorporated by reference.

The following guidelines and standards recommended by the Cultural Heritage Committee are adopted:

Exterior. The Elm Avenue facade is the special architectural statement of this building and therefore should be preserved. Normal maintenance of the facade for purposes of preservation shall receive a certificate of appropriateness. Any proposed alterations, remodeling or modernization of the Elm Avenue facade, however, shall be granted a certificate of appropriateness only for public safety reasons after adequate investigation has been made of alternate methods of correcting the safety hazards.

Proposed changes to the other three (3) elevations of this structure shall be granted a certificate of appropriateness only if the changes would be in keeping with the architectural style and design and color motifs of the building.

Interior. Two (2) interior spaces have extraordinary design importance and contribute significantly to the building as a cultural resource. The spaces are the entrance lobby and the main auditorium. These are richly decorated with hand-painted wall and ceiling designs which should be preserved. Certificates of appropriateness should be issued for normal maintenance of these spaces, including the wall and ceiling decorations, for the purposes of preservation in their present form.

Proposals for renovation, remodeling, or otherwise changing these spaces, including painting over the wall and ceiling decorations, shall not be granted a certificate of appropriateness except for public safety reasons.

(Ord. C-5648 § 1, 1980)