Arthur Froehlich
{{short description|American architect}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox architect
| name = Arthur Froehlich
| image = Arthur_Froehlich_American_architect.png
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Froehlich, circa 1959
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1909|05|17}}
| birth_place = Los Angeles, California
| death_date = {{death date and age|1985|10|3|1909|05|17}}
| death_place = Malibu, California
| nationality = American
| spouse = Dorothy Froehlich
| partner =
| children = Two
| significant_buildings = {{ubl|Hollywood Park Racetrack|Keeneland|Aqueduct Racetrack}}
}}
Arthur Froehlich (May 17, 1909 – October 3, 1985), was an American architect in Beverly Hills, California. His firm, Arthur Froehlich & Associates, is known for their mid-century commercial building designs, and thoroughbred horse racetracks.
Biography
Froehlich was born in Los Angeles to a cattle and dairy farmer. He attended Polytechnic High School in Los Angeles and studied at UCLA. One of his first jobs was drafting plans for Santa Anita racetrack, which opened in 1934. He began his own firm in 1938, and became well known for his design of Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California.
Buildings credited to Arthur Froehlich & Associates
Froehlich's firm designed Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California; Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky; and Aqueduct Racetrack{{cite magazine|last = Ryall|first = G. F. T. |date = 1959-09-12|magazine = The New Yorker|title=The Race Track | pages = 120 | url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1959/09/12/1959_09_12_120_TNY_CARDS_000261096}} and Belmont Park, both in New York. He also designed tracks in Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Panama, France and Trinidad.{{cite web| last1=Christine| first1=Bill| title=Hollywood Park Architect Arthur Froehlich Is Dead| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-10-05-sp-1206-story.html| website=Los Angeles Times| location=Los Angeles| date=5 October 1985}} His firm also designed Roosevelt Raceway in Roosevelt Field, New York,{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1955/10/08/1955_10_08_038_TNY_CARDS_000246559|title=Happy Crowds|first=Brendan|last=Gill|date=1955-10-08|pages=38|magazine=The New Yorker}} Garden State Park in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, the Jack Rose Building in Ventura, California,{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Stan |title=Architect's Drawing of Proposed Jack Rose Store |url=https://calisphere.org/item/ff6f20cb2c4c97257077f49d327993e3/ |website=University of California |publisher=Museum of Ventura County |date=1945}} the Center 3 Theater in San Diego, California,{{cite web |last1=Neeb |first1=Gabriel A. |title=Center 3 Cinemas in San Diego, CA |url=https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/18221 |website=Cinema Treasures |date=2008}} and the Wagon Wheel Bowling Alley in Wagon Wheel Junction, Oxnard, California.{{cite news |last1=Chawkins |first1=Steve |title=Trying to keep Oxnard's Wagon Wheel in place |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-apr-10-me-outthere10-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=10 April 2009}}
One of his most lavish designs was for Hipódromo Nacional at Caracas, Venezuela (A.K.A. La Rinconada Hippodrome) in 1959. Sports Illustrated wrote that year that his creations were as "bright and gay as a state fair." The magazine described them as colorful, spacious, and glamorous. The tracks were filled with art and lush landscaping and provided a comfortable and relaxing environment in which to gamble. Froehlich noted that a good racetrack design has to be "as efficient as a bank, as careful in its community relations as a department store and as comfortable as a public park."{{cite magazine| last1=Murray| first1=James| title=Dreamland for the $2 Bettor| url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1959/08/10/dreamland-for-the-2-bettor| magazine=Sports Illustrated| location=Los Angeles| date=10 August 1959}}
The output of Froehlich's firm ranged from the mundane (a parking structure at UCLA), to the fantastic: the animation studio for Hanna-Barbera in Hollywood. In between, the firm designed White Memorial Medical Center,{{cite web| last1=Christine| first1=Bill| title=Hollywood Park Architect Arthur Froehlich Is Dead| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-10-05-sp-1206-story.html| website=Los Angeles Times| location=Los Angeles| date=5 October 1985}} the headquarters building for Merle Norman Cosmetics, in Westchester,{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-investment/137530828/ | title=Investment in New Plant Here Exceeds $1,000,000| work=Los Angeles Times| location=Los Angeles| date=10 June 1951}} The Screen Directors Guild in Hollywood,{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-screen-directors/137531002/ | title=Screen Directors' Guild to Have New Headquarters| work=Los Angeles Times| location=Los Angeles| date=27 June 1954}} Francisco Sepulveda Middle School in North Hills.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-junior-high/137531043/ | title=New Junior High School Honors Pioneer Family| work=Los Angeles Times| location=Los Angeles| date=28 February 1960}}
Froehlich renamed his firm Froehlich & Kow in 1978, after appointing architect Morio Kow as a partner and Gordon Gong as associate in charge of special projects.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-revamps/137531083/ | title=Froehlich Revamps Design Firm, Appoints Partner| work=Los Angeles Times| location=Los Angeles| date=5 February 1978}}
Ncl9e11l2-1-.jpg|La Rinconada Racetrack, Caracas, Venezuela
HannaBarbera.JPG|The Hanna Barbera Studio, Los Angeles, California
See also
{{Portal bar|Architecture|Arts|Biography|California|Engineering}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-westside/137532178/ | date = 1960-05-01|work = Los Angeles Times|title=New Westside Center Started | page = M13}}
- {{cite web |url=https://aiahistoricaldirectory.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/AHDAA/overview |title=American Architects Directory |date=1956 |editor=George S. Koyl |publisher=R.R.Bowker }}
- {{cite book|title=Crown Jewels of Thoroughbred Racing: Original Paintings|author=Richard Stone Reeves|publisher=Eclipse Press|year=1997|isbn=0-939049-90-2|page=28|url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Crown_Jewels_of_Thoroughbred_Racing.html?id=taIfkYgVCWIC}}
External links
- [https://pcad.lib.washington.edu/person/2039/ Arthur Froehlich] at Pacific Coast Architecture Database
- [https://archive.architecturaldigest.com/article/1961/03/01/residence-of-mr-and-mrs-arthur-a-froehlich---los-angeles-california Residence of Arthur Froehlich — Los Angeles, California] at Architectural Digest
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