25C - HISTORICAL PROPERTY PRESERVATION 225 N BROADWAY

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CONSTRUCTION HISTORY: (Construction data, alterations, and date of alterations) April 18, 1936. Alterations to business room. September 1, 1943. Alterations to business bldg. January 24, 1945. Alterations to store building-stg. shelf. October 15, 1959. Remove non-bearing partition. April 30, 1969. Interior partitions. July 31, 1975. Interior (Big Johns Restaurant). June 6, 1978. Interior partitions and front alterations. January 23, 1979. Interior partitions. September 27, 1979. Install new door in rear. March 11, 1982. Seismic rehab. RELATED FEATURES: (Other important features such as barns, sheds, fences, prominent or unusual trees, or landscape) None DESCRIPTION: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, settings, and boundaries.) Located at the southeast comer of Third Street and Broadway, this is a two-story brick commercial building influenced by the Italian Renaissance Revival style. Brown colored brick faces the public elevations, with bricks of contrasting colors used for a stringcourse separating the upper and lower stories and for window surrounds. A terracotta cornice and a solid parapet, ornamented by a triangular pattern over the center of the Broadway fagade, top the building. Fenestration on the upper story consists of regularly spaced "Chicago" windows, with a pair of double-hung sash in the middle of the three-bay Broadway fagade. Glazed storefronts occupy the street level frontages. A highlight of the building is the original, Beaux Arts influenced, glass and metal entrance marquee, suspended over the sidewalk on cables attached to cast iron lion's head brackets. HISTORIC HIGHLIGHTS: The Pacific Building was constructed in 1925 by developer and contractor Roy Russell and architect Sidney J. Babcock (Thomas). Russell named his new improvement the "Pacific Building"; the first listing for the property under that name in the city directories appears in 1927 (with the address 215 North Broadway). Retail spaces were located on the ground floor and offices in the upper story. Early tenants of the building included a number of building industry-related firms, including the Builders Exchange prior to construction of their own building on Main Street. Post World War II users of the building included the Veterans Administration and military service clubs (Les). Roy Roscoe Russell (1881-1965) was a prominent builder and developer in Santa Ana, and maintained his own office in the Pacific Building. In 1937 he was joined by his son, Roy Rodney Russell, and in 1945 the two formed a partnership, Roy Russell & Son. The firm was active in the development of Victoria Drive and other residential tracts as well as numerous commercial improvements. RESOURCE ATTRIBUTES: (List attributes and codes from Appendix 4 of Instructions for Recording Historical Resources, Office of Historic Preservation.) (HP 6) 1-3 story Commercial Building cmlhistoric\templatecWroadway 223 N (Pacific Bldg) Page 2 of 4 8/23/01