Los Angeles Athletic Club
LAAC Building, on 7th Street in Downtown Los Angeles.
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|
| Genre |
athletic club social club |
|---|---|
| Founded | September 8, 1880 |
| Headquarters |
431 West Seventh Street |
| Website | |
| Designated | September 16, 1970 |
431 West Seventh Street
Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) is a privately-owned athletic club and social club in Los Angeles, California, USA. Established in 1880, the club is today best known for its John R. Wooden Award presented to the outstanding men's and women's college basketball player of each year.
The Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) was founded on September 8, 1880. By the end of its first month of existence the fledgling club counted 60 enlisted members and was able to rent its first facility, two halls located in Stearns Hall on Los Angeles Street in downtown Los Angeles. A 19th Century history indicates that the club had the dual purposes of "providing its members with the means of physical development" along with "the advantages of a gentlemen's club.
The club relocated for the first time in 1881, moving to more commodious accommodations in the Downey block, before moving again a few years later to a still-larger home in the Stowell Building. Membership in this latter location soon topped the 400 mark, prompting the construction of the club's own permanent building, a four story structure with a cavernous gymnasium located on an enlarged third floor.
The club provided a venue for gymnastics, athletic training, and team sports, including organization of a civic football team which played the inaugural intercity match with San Francisco in January 1892. During its first two decades of existence the club also established an outdoors athletic park, which included a running track and path for bicycling, a baseball diamond, tennis courts, and facilities for croquet. It also provided rooms designed for socialization, including an expansive reading room, as well as designated areas for billiards and cards.
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