Saturday, May 22, 2010

Pasadena PIO's tour of city hall, part 2!!!

Going to a Pasadena City Council meeting??? You'll have to pass through one of these fabulous doors...

One of the most impressive aspects of the retrofit/renovation is the attention that was paid to the details through out the interior of city hall...

Floor's eye view of the gallery...

If you're attending a council meeting to speak or just paying attention to the going's on in the city, you'll be sitting here...

One of the fascinating stories Ann told was of the re-creation of the stenciling on the ceiling of the chamber. She told us that in researching the stenciling, they went all the way to Finland
and actually found the original stencils! (I'm pretty sure it was Finland...darn...I didn't write it down!!!)

How's this for hallway art!!!

Now, if you look closely at the crest above, you'll see a crown with a key directly below it. The founding fathers were from Indiana, and Pasadena was founded as an Indiana colony. Now how might these two facts be related, you might ask? The name Pasadena is a Chippewa word...now there are no, and never have been, any Chippewa Indians in the San Gabriel Valley...yep...they're from Indiana....Now there was great debate as to the meaning of Pasadena, did it mean Crown of the Valley or Key to the Valley? ("Ah ha" you say, now you're getting the picture!) The town fathers debated this in city council (it's in the minutes!!!), brought in linguists from Indiana, but still couldn't come up with a definitive answer....and so, they finally agreed to include both on the crest!!! Well done!!!

A day shot of one of my previous night shots, from a different angle!!!

Wouldn't you much rather get stuck in this charming elevator than any of those sleek metal ones in most all of the buildings of today!!!

Even the pipes look new and fresh!!!


After a delightful and informative tour, we bloggers gathered at the local blog eatery...California Pizza Kitchen...

Good food, fun people



A lovely afternoon!!! Thanks to Ann Erdman, Pasadena Public Information Officer!!!

7 comments:

  1. Sneaky, when did you put this post up? That elevator is so romantic.

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  2. It was a very fun time. I especially like your photo looking down through the large entrance atrium.

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  3. We had a great time. I'm happy you were able to be part of it!

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  4. I agree with de hiker from altadena.
    I love those pipes! what ship are those from?

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  5. Hiker...the Hubman wanted me to respond to your description of the romantic elevator...he said you've got a dirty mind!!! And he didn't even read your last blog posting!!!

    I agree Ben and PPIO, it was a fun time!!! And thank you again Ann for arranging this wonderful day!!!

    Cafe, I think you're one romantic dog...and them's city hall pipes if ya don't mind!!!

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  6. I spy Ann and Earl. Next visit can we persuade her to do a special tour just for our rowdy bunch? What A GORGEOUS PLACE~ Well photographed my friend.
    V

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  7. It was a great time, hope meet together sometimes to take more pictures.

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