| Address |
| 1020 El Centro St, South Pasadena, CA 91030, USA (South Pasadena, California)
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| Information |
South Pasadena Unified School District Administration Building
This building may serve as the central administration building for the South Pasadena, California School District, but in 2007 it doubled as the elementary school of the fictional city of Haddonfield, Illinois in 2007's Halloween. The building itself dates back to 1928 when it served as the El Centro Elementary School. Initially, a much smaller schoolhouse stood on the same spot that was built in 1885. At the time, the school was known as Center Street School, but the school and the bordering street were renamed El Centro some years later to avoid confusion with another Center Street School in nearby Pasadena. That structure was torn down and the much larger building seen today was erected in 1928.
The 1928 building was designed by the architectural firm Marsh, Smith, and Powell and in many ways still looks the same as it did then. The major omission is a large bell tower that initially stood just behind the main entrance. In 1948, the tower was dismantled due to earthquake concerns, but the original quarter-ton school bell, which dates back to 1889, was mounted on the front lawn of the building in 1952 and can still be seen there today. By 1979, the school was closed down and the School District's administration offices were relocated to the site. Today, the building is known as the South Pasadena Unified School District Administration Building and it continues to serve in its official capacity. For a brief period in 2007, the building reverted back to its former elementary school role - at least in the world of movies.
Halloween (2007)
After eight installments of the very successful Halloween series, Dimension Films announced that the ninth entry would not be a continuation of the series, but rather a remake of the original 1978 horror classic. Co-owner, Bob Weinstein, approached filmmaker and musician, Rob Zombie, to take on the new project - an offer he readily accepted because he was a fan of the series. The resulting 2007 remake of Halloween revisited the ground covered in the first film, but also expanded the storyline to include more of Michael Myers's childhood and subsequent incarceration in Smith Grove's Sanitarium.
Just like the original 1978 Halloween, the 2007 remake utilized various locations throughout South Pasadena to represent the fictional city of Haddonfield, Illinois. Among them was this building, which served as the exteriors of Myers's (Daeg Faerch) elementary school. The interiors, meanwhile, were shot over at the Eliot Middle School in nearby Altadena, which also was used for the interior sequences of Haddonfield High School. The exteriors of Haddonfield High were oddly enough shot directly across the street from this administration building at the South Pasadena Public Library (see South Pasadena Public Library, South Pasadena, CA). Just behind the library is the house that appeared in the John Carpenter version as the home of Laurie Strode (see Halloween (1978): The Strode House) and only a few blocks away from all of these is the house that served as the original Myers place (see Halloween (1978): The Myers House).
The building is featured in some of the earlier sequences that explore Myers's childhood that were added for the remake of Halloween. It is seen as an establishing shot for when Myers is in school and again when the school bully, Wesley (Daryl Sabara), leaves the school unaware that Myers is stalking him. The action then cuts over to Griffith Park, where Wesley meets his maker at the hands of Myers.
The elementary school seen in the original 1978 Halloween is actually the Garfield Elementary School located in Alhambra to the south. That particular school was never established to be the same school that Myers attended in the original film, but rather where the character of Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) picks up Tommy Doyle (Brian Andrews) after school. Interestingly, Tommy's school is not shown in the remake.
The Building Today
The structure still continues to serve as the South Pasadena Unified School District Administration Building to this day and, as such, is closed off to fans of the movie. However, tourists can get an excellent view of the entrance seen in the film from El Centro Street and also get a view of the "high school" directly across the street. However, those that plan to visit need to be respectful of the building's official capacity and not trespass on the administration office's grounds. |
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| Related Sites |
HalloweenMovies.com
The official Web site of the popular Halloween series, including information on all of the sequels, as well as the recent Rob Zombie remake. |
Seeing Stars
This Web site includes a great deal of information, including sites of celebrity deaths and graves, as well as countless movie locations around the California area and more. |
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| Similar Destinations |
| South Pasadena Public Library, South Pasadena, CA |
| Halloween (2007): The Strode House |
| Halloween (2007): The Rabbit in Red Lounge |
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| See Also on TheCabinet.com |
| There are no other pages on this site associated with this location. |
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| Available from Amazon.com |
Halloween (Three-Disc Unrated Collector's Edition) |
Halloween - Unrated Director's Cut (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition) |
Halloween (2-Disc Unrated Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray] |
Halloween |
Halloween (Standing with Skull) Movie Poster Print - 24" X 36" |
Halloween Entertainment Poster Print, 24x36 |
Rob Zombie's Halloween: Michael Myers Action Figure |
Rob Zombie's Halloween Michael Myers 18" Action Figure w/ Sound |
Michael Myers Rob Zombie Halloween Mask |
Adult Rob Zombie Michael Myers Halloween Latex Mask |
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