Beverly Hills Sites

While the main buildings of Beverly Hills High School date to 1927, the unique "Swim Gym" was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1939. Designed by Stiles O. Clements, the gym features a basketball court that can be opened to access a 25-yard swimming pool below. It has appeared in films such as It's a Wonderful Life and Clueless.  

In 1937, artist P. G. Napolitano painted a fresco panel for Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, CA. The fresco, located in the school's music room, was funded by the Federal Art Project (FAP). “Mr. Napolitano’s main interest has always been in murals, which he executes in tempra (egg white), in frescoes, and in Sgraffito which he introduced here in creative work. Much of his work is marked by the omission of pretty detail and mere decorativeness until only the essential stand out; economy of line, rhythm, and strength are the three uppermost qualities” (Wells, p. 22). Napolitano's other FAP...

Hugo Ballin painted a mural, "Rudimentary Education," at El Rodeo Elementary School in Beverly Hills, CA. Completed in 1934, the mural was funded by the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) and—upon termination of the PWAP—the Federal and State Emergency Relief Administrations (FERA/SERA). The mural is oil on plaster and approximately 1500 square feet. "Ballin traced his design on to the wall for assistants to complete and included several symbolic references. Towards the top was the Egyptian figure of Set, inventor of numbers, and below him, Tubal-Cain, the ancient metal worker. In the center was a scene of a teacher...

In 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a lengthy ~0.3-mile wall along part of the road which surrounds the Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir in Franklin Canyon Park, Beverly Hills, CA. When driving north along the east side of the reservoir, the wall is to your left. Plaques at the north and south ends of the wall read "Built by United States Work Projects Administration 1940."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) rebuilt Hawthorne Elementary School in Beverly Hills, CA, following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. In addition to razing a condemned structure, the WPA regraded the grounds, constructed a new stucco classroom building, and upgraded the sewer system.

One of the few municipal projects to be funded through the Hoover Administration's 1931 general appropriations bill (Pub. L. No. 869, 46 Stat. 1552, 1587), the former Post Office in Beverly Hills, CA, was completed by the Treasury Department in 1933. "The prominent and prolific Architect Ralph C. Flewelling, designer of buildings at UCLA and USC, in concert with Alison & Alison Architects, received the commission for the Italian Renaissance Revival style building. The Post Office officially opened in 1934 and was dedicated in 1936 under the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration" (see "Building History"). Of the post office, architect Flewelling said:...

In 1936, Charles Kassler painted a series of eight lunette murals for the former Beverly Hills Post Office (today's Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts). Located at either end of the Grand Hall's interior, the lunettes "Post Rider" and "Air Mail" were funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA) and depict the past and future of the mail service. The remaining six lunettes, collectively titled "Construction–PWA", were funded by the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP).