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The Beverly Hills Water Treatment Plant #1 occupied this facility from 1927-1976. It filtered well water from within Beverly Hills until 1976; in part because it controlled its own water supply, Beverly Hills could long resist being incorporated into the City of Los Angeles and the Metropolitan Water District. Complete with an elaborate tower, it is a sophisticated essay in the Spanish Colonial Revival, a grandiose building for such a humble purpose. Engineer Arthur Taylor designed it, and the waterworks stood as a landmark and symbol of civic independence for many years. In 1988, the City of Beverly Hills wanted to sell the empty building, and developers vied with one another to obtain the property. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences needed new space at the time and offered a proposal to adaptively reuse the historic structure. The Academy spent $6 million on a renovation of the waterworks, commissioning Architect Francis Offenhauser to transform it into the Center for Motion Picture Study. the renovation took two years, the Margaret Herrick Library opening in 1991. The Center signed a 55-year lease with the City of Beverly Hills, to expire in 2043.

The Center for Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences was named for the movie star Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., who served as the Academy's first President between 1927-1929.

Remodeled and enlarged in 1988 by architect B. Frances Offenhauser to accommodate the Center for Motion Picture Study. During the renovation water settling tanks were removed, and a 10,000-square-foot addition was made. The waterworks's brawny, utilitarian structure proved effective in supporting the weight of the Margaret Herrick library's substantial collection of 18,000 books, 12,000 movies and 5 million photographs.

PCAD id: 6944