Parker Center was the headquarters for the Los Angeles Police Department from 1954 until October 2009 and is located in Downtown LA. The building was named for former LAPD chief William H. Parker. Originally called the Police Administration Building (PAB), groundbreaking for the center began on December 30, 1952, and construction was completed in 1955. The architect was Welton Becket. The building combined police facilities that had been located throughout the Civic Center area. The location was previously home to the Olympic Hotel.
On July 16, 1966, Chief Parker had a fatal heart attack. Soon afterwards, the Los Angeles City Council renamed the building "Parker Center." The building was one of the sites of unrest during the 1992 Los Angeles riots following a not-guilty verdict for the four police officers in the Rodney King matter.
Read more about Parker Center: New Headquarters, In Entertainment
Famous quotes containing the words parker and/or center:
“This play holds the season’s record [for early closing], thus far, with a run of four evening performances and one matinee. By an odd coincidence it ran just five performances too many.”
—Dorothy Parker (1893–1967)
“The greatest part of each day, each year, each lifetime is made up of small, seemingly insignificant moments. Those moments may be cooking dinner...relaxing on the porch with your own thoughts after the kids are in bed, playing catch with a child before dinner, speaking out against a distasteful joke, driving to the recycling center with a week’s newspapers. But they are not insignificant, especially when these moments are models for kids.”
—Barbara Coloroso (20th century)