Historic Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial

• TEAM

  ARCHITECTURAL TEAM | John Sparano, Anne Mooney, Ludwing Juarez, Jorge Beltran

  CONTRACTOR | MTM Construction Inc.

  AQUATIC | Rowley International Inc. (Terracon Consultants Inc.)

  CIVIL | raSmith

  ELECTRICAL | Silver, Roth & Associates Inc.

  MECHANICAL | Maroko & Shwe Inc.

  PLUMBING | Maroko & Shwe Inc.

  STRUCTURAL | Wright Engineers

• RECOGNITION

  2017 | “After Four Decades, the Drought is about to End for Downtown L.A.'s Ft. Moore Hill Monument", by Doug Smith, The L.A. Times, January 2017

The Historic Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial is a commemorative war monument located in downtown Los Angeles. Fort Moore was one of the area's two US military forts during the Mexican-American War and stood on a hill to protect the area during conflict. This monument was constructed in the 1950s to memorialize the day the American flag was raised over Los Angeles in 1847. It is one of the largest bas relief memorials in the United States and its design includes visuals such as the flag raising event, pioneer expansion, transportation infrastructure and modernizing technologies of water and power in the region.

During the 1970s, the monument’s waterfall was turned off due to state-wide drought and water usage concerns. This shutdown slowly led to years of inattention and neglect, ultimately resulting in defacement of the monument and vandalism to the surrounding environmental conditions. After nearly 40 years of disrepair, the memorial was in need of careful attention to bring it back to a state of beauty, prestige and respect. Our team was tasked with repairing and restoring the memorial and its historic elements, including the terra cotta mural wall, the brick veneer wall, the memorial pylon and platform and the waterfall fountain feature. These repairs were completed in accordance with Historical Preservation Standards to ensure the historic integrity of the monument remained intact. Our team also introduced new construction elements to the site, including upgrades to the facility's main electrical service, site feature lighting, security fencing and ADA accessibility components. The waterfall was turned back on in December of 2018, and flowed for the first time since 1977.