Municipal building in top 10

In an unofficial poll of Los Angeles Conservancy members and their favorite examples of 1960s architecture, Glendale’s own Municipal Services Building at City Hall ranked in the top 10.

Glendale came in 10th, with 68 votes, while the iconic futuristic Los Angeles International Airport theme building won in a landslide with 236 votes, according to the conservancy’s website.

Other favorites included Pasadena’s Norton Simon Museum and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s downtown building.

Known for its stilt-like, top-heavy stance that looms over Broadway and Glendale Avenue, the Municipal Services Building houses various city departments and recently went through a multimillion-dollar seismic retrofit. The seismic upgrade got an unexpected test last summer when it sailed through a magnitude 5.4 earthquake centered in Chino Hills.

In a city known for its quiet, prim suburbs, city officials said the recognition was a welcome surprise.

“A lot of people don’t realize that Glendale has a great collection of modern architecture,” said Jay Platt, the city’s historic preservation planner.

“[The Municipal Services Building] is definitely one of our best, and it’s great to be recognized by getting voted into the top 10 civic buildings in the entire county. Hopefully this will encourage people to look a little deeper to discover some of our more hidden modern gems.”

The poll was a part of the Los Angeles Conservancy’s “The Sixties turn 50” celebration, which celebrates examples of the decade’s architecture throughout the Los Angeles area.