The Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts -- Memorial Park, Old Pasadena

The Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts in Memorial Park sits in the hub of Pasadena, truly in the center of the City of Pasadena’s diverse neighborhoods and cultures. The Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts draws concert attendees from all over Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley along with the outlying areas of Los Angeles, Glendale and La Canada.

Memorial Park had lofty beginnings. Once the home of the Pasadena Public Library, Memorial Park was one of the first two properties purchased by the City for public open space. Beautiful mature trees, the Gold Shell and the Library Memorial serve to remind residents of earlier times when citizens could visit the park for a day of learning, strolling through gardens, and listening to music.

The six acre park sits on what was the Charles Legee tract, which in the nineteenth century featured an orange grove and palm allee leading up to a promontory. The property was sold to the City of Pasadena for the public library, which opened in 1890. During this era many of the park’s memorials were installed, notably the Civil War statue, “Defenders of the Union,” by sculptress Theo Kitson Ruggles.

With the relocation of the Library to its current home on Walnut, Library Park was renamed Memorial Park in 1927. One of the acclaimed park activities during that time was the Sunday afternoon concert series. As attendance for the concerts grew, the Gold Shell was built in 1930. This Gold Shell was designed by Edward Mussa, who won the competition juried by the renowned designers Batchelder, Hunt and Maybury.

The passage of time did not bode well for Memorial Park. As early as the 1950’s newspaper articles reported that the park had been all but abandoned. As the surrounding commercial area declined, the trolly car service was discontinued, redevelopment and the freeway replaced the residential neighborhood, and park users disappeared.

The development of the Senior Center in the park in 1959 was one of the first positive steps toward renewal of the area and the park. In recent years, revitalization of Old Pasadena, the Civic Center, and the introduction of new influences such as the Armory Center for the Arts and the Civic Center West (Holly Street Village Apartments) residential project have given Memorial Park new life.

In 2003, the City of Pasadena approved a partnership with The Friends of the Levitt Pavilion, which included a donation from the Mortimer Levitt Foundation of $250,000 to refurbish the Gold Shell and $500,000 over a 5-year period for performances at the newly refurbished venue. In the summer of 2003, The Friends of the Levitt Pavilion-Pasadena produced its first summer concert series, under the stars, in the beautifully restored Memorial Park, for a return to strolling through gardens, picnicking, and listening to music.