Los Angeles

36-Foot Mural Removed From LAPD's Former Headquarters

June 16, 2018 / 12:19 PM PDT / KCAL News

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DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – A large mural which has lived in the lobby of Los Angeles Police Department's former headquarters for more than six decades was removed Saturday.

The 36-foot long-by-6-foot tall "Theme Mural of Los Angeles" was transported out of the Parker Center in one piece in a complex process which involved removing a portion of the building's glass entrance, according to a news release from a public relations firm representing the family of its creator, the late artist Joseph Young.

The L.A. Department of Public Works-Bureau of Engineering and the L.A. Department of Cultural Affairs coordinated the removal. The 150 block of North L.A. Street was expected to be closed during the process.

The mural was placed on an 18-wheel semi-truck and then transferred to a conservation facility in downtown L.A. where it will undergo any needed restoration work. It's unclear where its final home will be, Young's family said.

The mural was created the same year that the Parker Center was built, 1955. The Parker Center served as LAPD's headquarters until 2009, when the agency moved into its new headquarters about a block away.

The mural is meant to depict L.A. life in the 1950s, and includes elements such as Griffith Park and Grauman's Chinese Theater. Young created several pieces of public art across L.A., including the famous Triforium sculpture at the Civic Center. He passed away in 2007 at the age of 87.

Since the closure of the Parker Center, there has been controversy over what to do with the building.

In 2015, the L.A. Cultural Heritage Commission recommended that the Parker Center be given historic-cultural status in an effort to delay plans to demolish the building.

According to a report last month from the City Administrative Officer, however, demolition is expected to begin in the fall of 2018 and be complete by the end of 2019. Once complete, the city intends to replace it with a new municipal building. The demolition is expected to cost about $32 million.

Preserving and rehabilitating Parker Center while building around it would cost $621 million, versus $514 million for tearing it down and building a new structure on the site, a 2015 report from the Bureau of Engineering found.

The building was originally known as the Police Facilities Building. In 1969, it was named after former Chief William H. Parker, who served in the LAPD from 1950 until his death in 1966. Allegations of racial discrimination by police are part of Parker's legacy, which included the 1965 Watts Riots when officers were accused of harassment and abuse against the black community.