Seismic Safety for Order of the Elks

The MacArthur is a 12-story building built in 1924 and designed by renowned Art Deco architect Claud Beelman. The building originally was intended to host the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, but as membership declined it changed hands and for a time operated as a hotel, first as the Park Plaza Hotel and later the MacArthur Hotel. Today it is most often serves as an event venue and backdrop for movie sets. Holmes designed the full seismic retrofit of The MacArthur to satisfy the Los Angeles Non-Ductile Concrete Ordinance. Holmes also peer reviewed the upgraded fire and life safety strategy.

For the retrofit design, Holmes utilized a Performance-Based Engineering approach to minimize impact on the many historic components and harness the existing structure’s full capacity, including a 2003 partial retrofit. The Neo Gothic structure will retain its vast ballrooms and banquet halls with original finishes. The retrofit will also preserve the dramatic ornamentation lining its unreinforced masonry-infilled walls and classic proportions. While the City of Los Angeles does not mandate strengthening of its unbraced heavy partitions, Holmes educates building owners on the associated risks and can develop strengthening solutions to brace and/or secure partition walls.

The MacArthur is designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument and is eligible to be listed on the national register.