San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation Building, Fresno

The San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation Building stands as an impressive 11-story, 173-foot high-rise, completed in 1923. Initially constructed for the San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation, which later became part of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, the building was designed by chief architect Raymond R. Shaw of the R.F. Felchlin Company. It ranks as the fourth tallest building in Fresno and is renowned for its Italian Renaissance Revival architectural style.

The building's main facades face northeast onto Fulton Street and southeast onto Tuolumne Street, showcasing ornate terra cotta features that adorn the exterior walls from the eighth to the tenth floors. Notable architectural elements include a Corinthian order engaged colonnade on the eighth and ninth floors, with the Tuolumne Street elevation featuring sixteen columns and the Fulton Street elevation featuring six.

At the tenth floor, there is a unique auditorium, now known as the ballroom, which features a stage with an elliptical arch at one end and motion picture booth openings near the ceiling at the opposite end. The room is distinguished by its hardwood floors, cast stone block walls, and an impressive elliptical barrel-vaulted ceiling that spans its entire length. Decorative plasterwork above the spring level of the barrel vault adds to the room's architectural grandeur.