Marina District in San Francisco City and County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
Save the Palace
Campaigns and Close Calls
"Therefore, let us preserve our Palace of Fine Arts as long as possible, six months, six years, or any length of time — maybe someday it can be made permanent…”
Willis Polk, 1915
It is difficult to contemplate San Francisco without the Palace of Fine Arts, one of the city's most beloved landmarks. Bernard Maybeck's masterpiece, part of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915, had an auspicious start as one of the favorite buildings of the fair. Its fate, however, was not always certain.
Before the PPIE closed, Phoebe Apperson Hearst had already launched a campaign to preserve the Palace. Although San Franciscans eagerly took up the cause, the site managed to escape destruction because of its location on U.S. Army land.
Over the following decades the Palace, built only to last a year, fell into ruin. Its former fine arts galleries were repurposed for such diverse uses as indoor tennis courts, a World War II Army motor pool, telephone book distribution center, and fire department headquarters.
By the 1950s, the site had deteriorated dramatically. In 1959, philanthropist Walter Johnson spearheaded an effort to raise preservation funds and donated $4 million. In 1964, the buildings were stripped to their foundations and a permanent version of Maybeck's design was reconstructed in steel and cement with details cast from the original.
However, by the end of the 20th century, the Palace of Fine Arts needed further restoration. The "Light Up the Palace" campaign in the late 1980s funded improvements to exterior lighting for the rotunda and colonnades. In 2003, the Maybeck Foundation partnered with the City of San Francisco to raise $21 million for significant seismic upgrades, conservation of the dome, colonnade and rotunda, and improvements to the landscape and lagoon. Once again San Francisco rallied to save its Palace for the enjoyment of future generations.
(marker photo captions)
• In 2007, the dome exterior was waterproofed and painted orange, similar to its color in 1915. Most of the recent restoration work is not publicly visible, such as the seismic upgrades inside the structure. Photographer: Charles Duncan.
• Walter Johnson (left) and California Assemblyman Caspar Weinberger (right) inspected the crumbling ruin in 1956. Both were instrumental in the 1960s campaign to save the Palace. Courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.
• Phoebe Apperson Hearst. Courtesy of the California Historical Society FN-32539.
• In 1915, Maybeck incorporated the exposition's color scheme and ice plant walls into the Palace's design. Courtesy of the Maybeck Foundation.
• The original wood and plaster dome of the Palace of Fine Arts was demolished in 1964. Courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.
Erected by Shreve & Co.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Arts, Letters, Music • Parks & Recreational Areas. A significant historical year for this entry is 1915.
Location. 37° 48.207′ N, 122° 26.834′ W. Marker is in San Francisco, California, in San Francisco City and County. It is in the Marina District. Marker can be reached from Baker Street north of Beach Street, on the right when traveling south. Marker is located along the Fine Arts Palace lagoon walkway, overlooking the lagoon. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: San Francisco CA 94123, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Bernard Maybeck (1862-1957) (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); The PPIE Experience (about 500 feet away); A City Undaunted (about 600 feet away); The Palace Lagoon (about 600 feet away); Lincoln Beachey (approx. ¼ mile away); Building a Historic Landscape (approx. 0.3 miles away); Old and New on O'Reilly Avenue (approx. 0.3 miles away); Homeland of the Yelamu (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in San Francisco.
Also see . . . Everything You Never Knew About San Francisco’s Palace Of Fine Arts. Secret San Francisco website entry (Submitted on October 11, 2022, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)
Credits. This page was last revised on March 4, 2024. It was originally submitted on March 15, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 353 times since then and 31 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on March 16, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 6. submitted on March 2, 2024, by Adam Margolis of Mission Viejo, California.