Downtown Santa Ana Historic Districts

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Downtown Santa Ana Historic Districts (North, Government/Institutional and South, Retail)
File:Old OC Courthouse 02.jpg
Old Orange County Courthouse
Downtown Santa Ana Historic Districts is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Downtown Santa Ana Historic Districts
Location Roughly bounded by Civic Center Dr., First, Ross, and Spurgeon Sts., Santa Ana, California
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Area 24.5 acres (9.9 ha)
Built 1877
Architect multiple
Architectural style Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals, Moderne, Mission/Spanish Revival
NRHP Reference # 84000438[1]
Added to NRHP December 19, 1984

The Downtown Santa Ana Historic Districts is a combination of local historic districts that have been listed as one entry in the National Register of Historic Places since 1984. It is a 24.5-acre (9.9 ha) area. Also known as Historic Downtown District in Santa Ana it is roughly bounded by Ross to French streets and First to Civic Center streets. The district is characterized by a number of buildings in the Art Deco style as well as three old movie houses (The West End, Fox West Coast, and the Yost). Orange County's first Courthouse, now a museum, is also located here on Civic Center and Broadway streets. The Dr. Willella Howe-Waffle House and Medical Museum is also in this area and it is now home to the Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society. The County's first theater, Walker's Theater, was built in 1909 on Main & Second streets adjacent to the old City Hall. Today, the Main Street Studio Lofts now stand where the county's first movie house used to be.

The Roughly Bounded Tag

The National Register of Historic Places states that the Santa Ana Historical Downtown District is 'roughly bounded' by Civic Center Drive, 1st Street, Ross, & Spurgeon streets which means is that nearby buildings can be considered part of the Historical Downtown. For instance, the blocks from Spurgeon to French streets are not listed in the National Register of Historic Places but do have a number of buildings which date back to the 1920s and have Art Deco features. The Yost Theater is beyond the Spurgeon street boundary on the block in between Spurgeon and French streets and it is officially listed as a historic building. This area is now marked as Fiesta Marketplace. Other examples are the buildings in Civic Center Plaza.

History

The City of Santa Ana was established in 1869 by William Spurgeon on 74.27 acres (300,600 m2) of land purchased from the old Spanish land grant, Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. The County of Orange was formed in 1889 by William Spurgeon and James McFadden and Santa Ana was chosen as the county seat of government because of its larger growth as a town over surrounding towns namely Orange. The Old Orange County Courthouse was built in 1901 and thus the town blossomed into the county's main economic and political center. The surrounding old town buildings then became what is now Santa Ana's Historical Downtown.

Downtown Santa Ana Today

The Historical Downtown can be thought of as being characterized by a northern Institutional region bounded by artist colonies, 'La Cuatro' retail, as well as restaurants filling in the adjacent sections.

The Institutional area contains the Santa Ana Civic Center, which includes the Old Orange County Courthouse, the Ronald Reagan Federal Building, the United States Courthouse, the California Court of Appeal, and various city, county, state and federal facilities.

The restaurant and retail sections have three distinct business districts namely the Artists Village, Calle Cuatro Marketplace and the East End.

In recent years, efforts have been made to revitalize and beautify the Downtown's retail section by continuing to attract new businesses, entrepreneurs, and the creative class looking for a true Southern California urban destination.

With an exploding food scene, unique retail developments, as well as a growing entertainment hub, Downtown Santa Ana is poised to become one of America’s Coolest Cities.[2]

The major sections/corridors within the Downtown Santa Ana Historic Districts include:

  • The Artists Village
  • Historic 4th Street
  • Calle Cuatro Marketplace
  • East End
  • The West End
  • The Civic Center/Courthouse District

Artists Village

The Artists Village is a thriving area of art galleries, studios, creative offices, as well as home to several popular restaurants. Located on Second Street at Broadway, in the heart of historic downtown Santa Ana. The village extends from First Street to Fourth Street, and Bush Street to Birch, surrounding the Second Street Mall between Broadway and Sycamore Street.

Originally proposed in the mid-1980s, the village was meant to revitalize one of Orange County's oldest cities and bring back part of a once-thriving downtown, with dozens of historical buildings, most vacant for years.

Santa Ana City Council with the help of community activist and visionary Don Cribb and Cal State Fullerton Gallery Director Mike McGee originally conceived the Grand Central Art Center in 1994 as the anchor and catalyst for a ten-square block area in the heart of downtown designated as the Artists Village. The subsequent success of the Artists Village has helped spawn a cultural and economic renewal.

In the early 2000s, several live-work loft developments came to the downtown including Main Street Studio Lofts, East Village as well as Artists Village lofts. These artist-centric developments allowed homeowners to experience downtown living while providing them an opportunity to help the flourishing art movement continue to move forward.

Today, the Artists Village is the home to various restaurants, shops, artist galleries, as well as art institutions, including Cal State Fullerton Grand Central Art Center and the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art.

Historic 4th Street and East End

East 4th Street (Calle Quatro) (bounded by French Street and Broadway) is a .3 mile corridor lined with a variety of boutique shops, restaurants, as well as various other retail shops and services that cater to a wide audience and multiple demographics

The centerpiece of Historic 4th Street is the East End (formerly known as The Fiesta Marketplace). The East End is a pedestrian-friendly outdoor mall that markets to both the local community and a wider socioeconomic demographic in an effort to retain and attract an audience looking for an alternative to indoor malls and chain restaurants. With destination restaurants such as The Playground (started by former Great Food Truck Race winner Chef Jason Quinn) as well as the refurbished Yost Theater leading the charge, many retailers and restaurateurs have followed suit and have helped this area compete with neighboring destinations including downtown Anaheim and Costa Mesa. The newest refurbished amenity is The Frida Cinema; a two-screen theater converted to an art-house theater showcasing independent film and film related progrmaming, community-building, and education. Special events at the Frida Cinema Include, but are not limited to: student films, foreign films, film festivals, and cult classics such as Rocky Horror Picture Show.

In February 2015, The 4th Street Market opened, introducing an indoor food market to compliment the expanding food scene. Similar to the Grand Central Market in Downtown Los Angeles or the Boston Public Market, the 4th Street Market includes a variety of tenants including Portola Coffee, Electric City Butcher, as well as host an incubator/accelerator kitchen where up-and-coming food producers can utilize the Market's facilities to prepare, package, and sell their goods. The facility also is partnered with Food Centricity, which offers culinary education, acceleration and consulting services.

The West End (Civic Center and Courthouse District)

The West End (located between Ross Street and Broadway and West 4th Street) is a unique corridor home to many historic buildings and is located directly across the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and United States Courthouse.

Over the past years, this section of the downtown has successfully blossomed into a cultural and entertainment hub for Orange County's LGBT population, with notable LGBT-friendly destinations including Theater Out, VLVT Lounge, as well as the West 4th Street corridor playing host to the annual Orange County Pride Festival.

Located less than a quarter mile away on Civic Center Drive is the Santa Ana Civic Center, home to several institutional City and County buildings including:

  • Santa Ana City Hall (Civic Center Plaza)
  • Santa Ana Civic Center Plaza (Ross, Civic Center, Santa Ana Blvd, Flower)
  • Santa Ana Public Library (Civic Center Dr. & Ross)
  • Santa Ana Transit Terminal - OCTA (Santa Ana Blvd & Ross)
  • Old Orange County Courthouse (Civic Center, Broadway, Sycamore, Santa Ana Blvd.)
  • Orange County Courthouse (Civic Center Plaza)
  • Orange County Public Law Library (Civic Center Plaza)
  • Ronald Reagan Federal Building and United States Courthouse (4th & Broadway)
  • Fourth District Court of Appeals (Civic Center Plaza on the corner of Santa Ana Blvd & Ross)
  • Office of the District Attorney (Near the corner of Ross & Civic Center)
  • Mexican Consulate (Near Civic Center & Broadway intersection)

Events in Downtown Santa Ana

Thanks in part to its wide diversity, spirit of entrepreneurism, as well as boasting one of the youngest populations in the country (median age of 26.5), Downtown Santa Ana is host to several weekly, monthly and annual events. Some of these events include:

  • 1st Saturday Downtown Art Walk
  • Cinco de Mayo Festival (Annually, on the weekend closest to May 5)
  • Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead (Weekend following Halloween)
  • DTSA Farmers' Market (Thursday afternoon/evenings)
  • Fiesta Patrias
  • OC Pride Festival
  • Patchwork Craft Fair
  • Santiago Art Walk
  • Sound Downtown
  • The Blading Cup (Every November)

Downtown Santa Ana in the Coming Years

Officials with The City of Santa Ana have stated that in the coming years they will continue to expand its growth in an effort to compete with adjacent cities looking to capture an audience looking to live in a true downtown setting. Some of these goals include:

  • Attracting High-End/Boutique Hotels to the Downtown
  • Continue to convert old office buildings (Adaptive Reuse) to upscale housing and creative office space
  • Convert parking lots and underutilized properties into ground up residential projects
  • Redevelop the 3rd/Broadway parking structure into a mixed use development (Housing or Hotel)
  • Implement a Street Car connecting the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center (SARTC) to the Downtown (approved by OCTA and planned to open 2019)
  • One-Broadway Plaza
  • Continue to attract the "Creative Class" as well as more influential players within the tech-industry

Images

  • Yost Theater in Santa Ana.jpg

    The Yost Theater in its current state

  • Old Santa Ana City Hall.JPG

    The Old Santa Ana City Hall, an Art Deco structure

  • Main Street Studios.JPG

    Main Street Studios. Designed in a complementary Art Deco style

  • Howe-Waffle House 01.jpg

    Dr. Willella Howe-Waffle House

  • Minter House 01.jpg

    Minter House

  • Old OC Courthouse 01.jpg

    Old Orange County Courthouse

  • Old OC Courthouse 02.jpg

    Old Orange County Courthouse

  • First Presbyterian Church 01.jpg

    First Presbyterian Church

  • SAPAEC 01.jpg

    The Santa Ana Performing Arts and Event Center

  • SAPAEC 02.jpg

    Masonic Symbol on The Santa Ana Performing Arts and Event Center

  • Spurgeon Building Clock Tower 01.jpg

    Clock Tower atop W. H. Spurgeon Building (as seen from 4th street, between Broadway and Sycamore Streets)

  • Broadway at Night.jpg

    Broadway Street (seen as south from 3rd street) at Night

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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