55 Union St. Pasadena, CA 91103 | map |
Opened: Sometime around 1900 on the northwest corner of Raymond Ave. and Union St. The theatre was upstairs with an entrance at 55 Union. There was retail on the first floor. The building is now sometimes given an address of 65 N. Raymond. A three story retail and office wing that's seen to the right in the photo below was added later.
Architect: Seymour Locke
This c.1905 image from the Pasadena Daily News was included in a post on the Pasadena Public Library Facebook page. It's from their collection and makes an appearance on the Pasadena Digital History Collaboration website. On the left we're looking west down Union St. At the time of the photo the corner space housed the clothing store T.W. Mather Co. The Library notes:
"Originally called the Auditorium Building, the B.O. Kendall Building was designed by Seymour Locke and built in 1886 [?] as an auditorium with its distinguishing Palladian windows on the second floor that allowed ample natural light into the room. This undated photo was probably taken in the early 1900s based on the two automobiles shown. They appear to be Model T cars."
It's shown as the Y.M.C.A. Building in this detail from page 27 of the 1903 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map for Pasadena from the Library of Congress collection. On their site it's image 30. That's Union St. along the bottom and Raymond up the right side. At the time of this map they were going to put a gym on the 1st floor.
The building does not appear on the 1894 Sanborn Map. See sheet 8. Nor is it on the 1890 Sanborn Map. See sheet 2 of the 1890 map.
Regarding later use the Library notes:
"It was later purchased by Bela Otis Kendall, who was a successful and well-known businessman who built a thriving real estate business in Pasadena. The building has had many uses in its long history. In 1918, the Pasadena Public Library’s Juvenile Department temporarily moved to a room in the B.O. Kendall Building to provide more space for its young patrons. The Children’s Annex, as it was called, was located on the second floor. In the mid-1920s, it was home to a Business College and a Secretarial School, and a drug store."
Status: The building survives with various restaurant, retail and office tenants.
More exterior views:
A 2019 Google Maps view. On the right we're looking north on Raymond Ave.
More information: There isn't any. Yet.
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