In each Transitions section of Preservation magazine, we highlight places of local and national importance that have recently been restored, are currently threatened, have been saved from demolition or neglect, or have been lost. Here are five from Spring 2020.

Threatened: Bank of California Building

The former Bank of California building in San Jose, California—believed to be architect César Pelli’s only work in the city—could soon be torn down. Pelli designed the Brutalist structure while working for the architecture firm Gruen Associates, and it was completed in the early 1970s. After closing as a bank, the building was utilized as a family court until the city relocated its services in 2016. Two years later, developer Jay Paul Company purchased the building and seven others that compose much of the City View Plaza complex. The San Francisco–based company announced plans to raze the complex, making way for more than 3 million square feet of new office and commercial space, and began moving tenants out of active buildings by the fall of 2019. In response, the nonprofit Preservation Action Council of San Jose urged the city’s Historic Landmarks Commission to recommend designation of the bank as a City Landmark, citing its architectural significance and role in San Jose’s downtown revitalization. The council is currently drafting an environmental impact report in hopes of convincing the developer to examine alternatives to demolition.

Lost: Columbus Square Pavilion

Since 1960, a Midcentury Modern pavilion designed by architects Roth & Fleisher had stood in Philadelphia’s Columbus Square. It was one of the last extant structures connected to Elizabeth Hirsh Fleisher, the firm’s co-founder and the city’s first female licensed architect. Built as a senior center, the circular pavilion featured a crown-shaped roof that made it a neighborhood landmark. It later hosted classes and weightlifting events before falling into disuse. In 2013, the Columbus Square Advisory Council and the nonprofit Community Design Collaborative began working on a plan to renovate the park. They ultimately landed on a design, approved by a community task force made up of neighborhood residents, that would involve demolishing the pavilion. However, many locals felt they had been excluded from the decision-making process, observing that the pavilion’s good condition and small footprint made preservation a viable alternative. They circulated a petition to save the building in September of 2019 and garnered more than 2,700 signatures, while advocacy group DocomomoPHL sent letters of support to Philadelphia’s parks and recreation department. The department ultimately allowed the demolition, and the structure was razed in December of 2019.

Restored: Watson, Newell & Company Factory

Located in Attleboro, Massachusetts—once known as the “Jewelry Capital of the World”—the Watson, Newell & Company silversmithing factory has found new life as Sterling Lofts, mixed-income housing for residents aged 55 and older. The existing complex was itself an adaptive reuse project, constructed between roughly 1889 and 1947 from the 1811 remnants of the city’s first cotton mill. WinnDevelopment purchased the property in 2017 after it had been largely vacant for about 15 years, with the help of $7.6 million in federal and state historic tax credits.