Restoring memories of Parkinson and his buildings.

One of L.A.'s signature architectural statements -- the Bullock's Wilshire building -- reclaimed the limelight recently when RH Macy & Co. announced it would close the I. Magnin store occupying the famous edifice.

But as various parties have pondered prospective preservation plans for L.A.'s first Art Deco building, credit for the Mid-Wilshire landmark's design has remained conspicuously absent from the high-profile discussion.

Consequently, millions of Angelenos remain unaware that the 1929-vintage Bullock's building is just one local landmark left by L.A.'s most prolific architect -- the man who also gave us City Hall, Union Station, the original Pacific Stock Exchange, Memorial Coliseum, USC's original campus and much of downtown L.A.'s historic financial core.

But W. Scott Field, AIA, the new owner of the firm he recently renamed Parkinson Field Associates, aims to reverse John Parkinson's long drift toward obscurity. Not coincidentally, the award-winning historic preservation architect is also aiming to reverse deterioration along the "Spring Street Corridor," which bears Parkinson's most meaningful marks.

Field's dream is not a short-term proposition.

As he sifts through thousands of original Parkinson works amid the urban decay now defining downtown's former financial center, Field is quietly but diligently trying to revive Parkinson's legacy -- along with the neighborhood's heritage. Considering downtown's real estate slump and Spring Street's multi-decade decay, however, Field realizes he'll be laboring more for love than money for the time being.

But the self-described "urban renovation pioneer" is putting his own money behind his admiration for Parkinson. In fact, he's bonding his name and his fate to the man for whom Field's respect grows daily as he catalogues "The Parkinson Archives."

Interestingly, Field had never heard of John Parkinson before principals in DWL Parkinson Architects -- the successor to the firm Parkinson founded in 1894 -- hired Field in 1990 to organize a vault full of early-1900s documents. But Field soon recognized the "architectural treasure trove" he'd uncovered.

So when DWL Parkinson's Arizona-based owners were thinking about closing down the L.A. operation, Field worked out a deal last summer giving him control of the firm and -- perhaps more significantly -- the archives. It was the career move of a lifetime for Field, who won acclaim for Texas renovation projects he designed after completing University of Houston's graduate Historic Preservation Architecture program.

"I can see 16 Parkinson buildings from here," says Field as he glances out a window in the new Parkinson Field Associates office at 6th and Spring streets. Among the 17 Parkinson-designed projects still standing within the eight-block Spring Street National Register Historic District are buildings rising from all four corners of the 5th and Spring intersection, Field explains.

Working from original drawings, tracings, sketches, specifications, artifacts and photographs -- generated from 1,500-plus Parkinson projects -- Field, associate Grant Taylor and volunteer assistants are meticulously archiving more than 50 pre-World War II Parkinson buildings still standing today.

"We have the original sketches of City Hall," Field boasts as he points out a drawing of a much shorter design -- which Parkinson's team used to "sell" the taller version -- hanging on his office wall. "A lot of architects have never even seen ink-on-linen drawings," he adds as he sidesteps cluttered boxes full of blueprints and other architectural artifacts.

Along with the "Archive Room" Field and his co-workers are filling with refined files, the PFA team is compiling a computer data base identifying current property owners, uses, etc.

As "the Parkinson name hasn't really been pushed" since succeeding principals removed it from the firm's nameplate in the mid-1950s, "we want to get his drawings out on display" at the buildings Parkinson designed, Field notes. But he also reveals much more meaningful motivations for finding and educating the owners.

Although Parkinson's works would help identify Spring Street as the "Wall Street of the West" from the 1920s into the 1960s, the district fell from its former grace as the financial core followed waves of highrise development to the west.

Now Field hopes his overtures to owners will help inspire a renaissance within the historic district -- along with renewed interest in Parkinson's contributions. By touting potential profits from historic renovation ventures, Field is "trying to bring these buildings back onto the city tax rolls as productive real estate."

Of course, Field hopes such ventures will produce profits for Parkinson Field Associates by way of the firm's architectural services -- historic renovations have always been Field's specialty -- as well as its control of the original documents.

But he also realizes that renovation projects are expensive and risky. Sponsors must conform to a building's original plans to secure tax credits -- often a costly proposition -- and downtown rents have fallen sharply amid a glut of Class A office space.

Despite the tough near-term market conditions, Field and associates plod along with the archiving because Parkinson's legacy alone is worthy of preservation. Parkinson designed downtown's first steel-framed office building, the 1896-vintage Laughlin Building, now known as Grand Central Market, at 3rd and Broadway.

His 1904 Braley Block building at 4th and Spring -- a 12-story Beaux Arts work considered L.A.'s first skyscraper -- is still standing. Braley remained the tallest downtown building until the 1925 opening of City Hall, which Parkinson and his son, Donald, designed in association with A.C. Martin and John C. Austin.

As he catalogs documents related to these and other Parkinson works, Field is "exploiting the archiving discipline as a benevolent commercial venture" by charging fees to architects, building owners, developers and others who want documents copied. Field estimated that the Parkinson archiving is about 30 percent completed.

Meanwhile, he's striving to get his first renovation of a Parkinson Spring Street building off the ground. He's helping the new owners of the former Dean Witter building, adjacent to the original Pacific Stock Exchange, apply for grants to finance the ambitious restoration project.

Field has realistically accepted that the depressed market will likely continue hindering his quest to revive Parkinson's name and buildings in the near term. But he has found an appropriate pacifier to ease his financial frustrations.

"When I get depressed, I read the autobiography Parkinson wrote just before he died in 1935," Field says. "I can at least take a little comfort in realizing he was starving for much of his first 10 years in L.A."