California Quadrangle
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California Quadrangle
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California Quadrangle in 1915, with Cabrillo Bridge in the foreground, Administration Building (with red awnings), California Building (with dome and tower), Fine Arts Building (with yellow roof), St. Francis Chapel (far right)
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| Location | 1350 El Prado, San Diego, California |
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| Coordinates | 32°43′53.5044″N 117°09′8.481″W / 32.731529000°N 117.15235583°WCoordinates: 32°43′53.5044″N 117°09′8.481″W / 32.731529000°N 117.15235583°W |
| Built | 1911–1915 |
| Architect | Bertram G. Goodhue, Carleton Winslow, Irving Gill |
| Architectural style | Spanish-Colonial Revival |
| Part of | Balboa Park (#77000331) |
| NRHP Reference # | 74000548 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | May 17, 1974 |
| Designated NHLDCP | December 22, 1977 |
The California Quadrangle, California Building, and California Tower are historic structures located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. They were built for the 1915–16 Panama-California Exposition and served as the grand entry to the Expo. The buildings and courtyard were designed by noted architect Bertram Goodhue. They were added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 17, 1974. They now house the San Diego Museum of Man.
The Quadrangle includes the California Building and Tower on the north side, and Evernham Hall and the St. Francis Chapel on the south side. Between them is an open space linked by arcaded passageways and massive arched gateways to form the Plaza de California. The original Balboa Park Administration Building (now the Gill Administration Building) lies just outside the Quadrangle, adjacent to and west of the California Building. Unlike most of the exhibits at the Expo, the Quadrangle buildings were intended to be permanent.
The Plaza de California is the main entryway to Balboa Park, approached over the Cabrillo Bridge. That entry is currently a two-lane road providing vehicle access to the park. The city approved plans to divert vehicle traffic away from the Plaza de California and restore it as a pedestrian-only promenade, hoping to complete the project in time to celebrate the 2015 centennial of the Exposition. However, the plan was challenged in court and was overturned by a judge on February 4, 2013, on the grounds that the city had not followed its own Municipal Code requirements in approving it.
The California Building with its ornate facade and blue-and-gold dome, together with the adjoining California Tower, are among the most recognizable landmarks in San Diego. They house the San Diego Museum of Man. The design and ornamentation combine many style elements including Gothic, Plateresque, Baroque, Churrigueresque, and Rococo to create the impression of a Spanish Colonial church. The dome's design looked to the dome at the Church of Santa Prisca and San Sebastián in Taxco, Mexico. The great central dome is encircled with the inscription "Terram Frumenti Hordei, ac Vinarum, in qua Ficus et Malogranata et Oliveta Nascuntur, Terram Olei ac Mellis", (A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey), (Deuteronomy 8:8 taken from the Vulgate of St. Jerome), as well as the California motto, "Eureka".
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