In 1927, the city of Beverly Hills opened its Water Treatment Plant No. 1 building at 333 S. La Cienega Blvd. And being Beverly Hills they didn’t just throw up some plain, utilitarian heap. Heaven forbid! No, they put up a beautiful structure with arches and tiles, and soaring tower like something out of Medici-era Italy! But being a water treatment plant, the striking tower also had a practical function: I read somewhere it was built so the smell of hydrogen sulfide would be released high above the locals. Meanwhile inside the main building machinery was tapping water from Beverly Hills wells thus enabling the city to separate its water supply from Los Angeles. From the look of the 1941 Buick parked out front, I’m going to date this photo as circa early 1940s
The building served as a water plant until 1976, and is still around. Today it belongs to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and is known as the Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study. This image is from December 2022.
It’s always a lovely spot to look at when you’re riding by that location. Those that worked in it as a water treatment plant, and since, got to see a grand building every day! I’m glad AMPAS acquired it and made good use of it!
Me again……. I was born on Stanley Drive in BH (1928)……a couple of blocks from the water works.
In grammar school, our classes were taken to see the inside of the Water Works…..and I still remember walking on narrow paths with side rails in between big vats of water. Thanks for the memory!