Milford Wayne Donaldson will give a presentation on famed architect Irving Gill on Saturday, August 18 at 10:30 a.m. in the Civic Center Library Community Rooms, 330 North Coast Highway. Oceanside has four buildings designed by Gill: The Americanization School, Fire Station No. 1, The Blade Tribune building and the original City Hall building. The fifth building, the Nevada Street School, was demolished.
Gill was born in New York in 1871. He came to San Diego in 1893 where he practiced his field. He designed homes and buildings in San Diego as well as Los Angeles, where he later relocated. Gill’s architectural style evolved to eliminate ornamentation, with a decidedly modern style. In fact, he was considered “one of the first of the moderns” and combined modern with Spanish architecture. Gill biographer Thomas S. Hines wrote:
“In his own lifetime, Gill saw himself and was seen by others as a maverick, an innovator, and a modernist.”
Donaldson presently serves as the Chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP). He was originally appointed to the position in 2010, and President Obama reappointed him in August 2013 for another four-year term. Formerly the State Historic Preservation Officer of California, Donaldson has been practicing preservation architecture as a profession for more than 40 years.
The event is sponsored by the Oceanside Public Library and the Oceanside Historical Society, with funding from the Friends of the Oceanside Public Library. For more information about Library services and programs, visit www.oceansidepubliclibrary.org or call (760) 435-5600.
