Welcome to the outstanding San Francisco City Hall.
This is without a doubt one of the country's most magnificent Beaux-Arts buildings.
The enormous city hall, occupying two blocks, plays a large part in the San Francisco cityscape.
Today, the whole San Francisco civic center is considered a National Historic Landmark
District and the City Hall is the crown jewel in the collection.
The history of this building dates back to early 20th century.
The present hall is actually a replacement for an earlier City Hall.
The original hall was completed in 1899, after 27 years of planning and construction.
This building was actually even larger than the one of today.
It also included a smaller extension which contained the city's Hall of Records.
However, the old city hall only lasted 7 years, before it was completely destroyed during
the 1906 earthquake.
The planning for a new city hall began in 1912, when a design competition for the new
building was organized.
The winner was the noted architect Arthur Brown.
Brown is the man responsible for other famous buildings in San Francisco, including the
Opera House and the Coit Tower.
He focused his design on classic elements, like a large portico and several doric columns.
The interior design is also classic in a way, featuring beautiful walls and ceilings with
marble floors and elegant lanterns.
Brown had previously attended design schools in Paris, which clearly inspired him.
The dome of this city hall is very similar to the one of Les Invalides in Paris.
The cornerstone of the city hall was laid in 1913 and the building stood completed two
years later, just in time for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exhibition.
The first meeting in City Hall chambers was held on October 9, 1916.
The size of the City Hall is impressive.
In front of the city hall is vast open space, covering more than 46.000 square-meters.
The building itself, with its towering dome, stands a mighty 93 meters tall.
This makes the dome of the San Francisco City Hall the fifth largest in the world.
It even beats the one of the US Capitol building.
Making the city hall this large was intentional as it was suppose to reflect the growing importance
of the city of San Francisco.
On October 17, 1989, an earthquake hit San Francisco and its City Hall.
The earthquake was not as devastating as the one which destroyed the old city hall in 1906.
It did however damage the structure.
It caused cracks to appear in the wall and even twisted the dome four inches.
The following restoration work did not only repair the damage caused by the earthquake,
but the whole structure was made earthquake resistant.
This involved installing more than 500 lead-rubber isolators at the base.
This made the City Hall the world's largest base-isolated building.
More than 60 million dollars were invested in the project.
Throughout history, the city hall has been more than just the seat of the San Francisco
government.
The main rotunda has also served as the location of many prominent state funerals.
The graves of the war hero, General Fredrick Funston, and the former US President, Warren
G Harding, can both be found at the city hall.
The building is also frequently used for weddings.
One of the most famous marriages taking place here was the one between Joe DiMaggio and
Marilyn Monroe in 1954.
The building has also been featured in dozens of movies.
One of them is the James Bond movie "A View To A Kill" from 1985.
In 1978, the San Francisco City Hall received a special award from the American Institute
at Architects.
It was awarded as one of the finest examples of French Renaissance architecture in the
country.
Ever since its construction, it has been considered one of the best examples of American fine
architecture.