It is common to hear visitors say our San Francisco City Hall rivals the renowned Paris Opera House for opulence and majesty.
Opened in 1915 after a ground-up rebuilding after the Great 1906 Earthquake it is now designated as a National Landmark and is highly regarded as a true national treasure. City Hall was designed by architect Arthur Brown Jr., who also designed San Francisco's Memorial Opera House, Veterans Building, Temple Emanuel, Coit Tower and 50 United Nations Plaza.
In 1989 another massive rebuilding of City Hall began. This time the project was not to repair major earthquake damage, but to prevent it in the future. San Francisco City Hall is now one of the safest buildings in the world if you're caught in a major earthquake.
During an earthquake the massive dome acts as a pendulum. A base isolation system separates the building from the ground, thus interrupting the energy before it enters the structure and accelerates the dome. This is done with the installation of rubber and steel discs (base isolators) under each column. A four-foot moat around the building allows it to move side to side without being attached to the earth. San Francisco City Hall is now the largest base isolated building in the world and the only isolated national landmark. It has now been designed to remain operational even after a great earthquake.
Public tours of San Francisco City Hall are readily available to everyone. They are conducted Monday - Friday 10:00 am, 12:00 noon and 2:00 pm. All tours run 45 minutes to an hour. Reservations are required for groups of eight or more and must be made four weeks in advance to allow for scheduling.
A fee is charged for private groups of eight people or more. There is no charge for school groups from the elementary-high school level.
The sign-up location for tours is the Docent Tour kiosk, located in the Van Ness Ave. lobby next to the elevators. Reservations
Fun Facts about San Francisco City Hall:
| - | The interior is finished in California marble, Indiana limestone, and Eastern oak. From the center of the lobby, a wide marble staircase leads to the second-floor gallery. |
| - | Built of gray California granite with blue and gold burnished ironwork, it was designed in a French Renaissance style. In plan it measures 408 by 285 feet, enclosing a square rotunda covered by the 112 foot diameter dome. |
| - | The San Francisco City Hall is located in the Civic Center, a complex of public buildings grouped around the Civic Center Plaza. |
| - | The top of the dome is 11 feet 7 inches taller than the United States Capitol in Washington. |
| - | Arguably the "finest public building in the world". |
| - | Designated City Landmark #21 on March 13, 1970. |
| - | Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated here in 1978. |
| - | Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe were married here in 1954. |
| - | There is $400,000 worth of gold in the dome's design. |
| - | The main floor of the Rotunda is approximately 75 feet square. |
Resources:
San Francisco City Hall - official website
Directions, public transit and a map to SF City Hall
SF City Hall Photo Gallery
San Francisco City Hall - Wikipedia article
Mayor Gavin Newsom's Welcome Page
San Francisco Visitors and Convention Bureau
Academy of Sciences
Asian Art Museum
Barbary Coast Trail
Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
Exploratorium
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
MOMA (Museum of Modern Art)
Moscone Center
Other Museums
Steinhart Aquarium
Strybing Arboretum & Botanical Gardens
Symphony Zoo, San Francisco
San Francisco International Airport
Municipal Railway (MUNI)
Events Search, Convention & Visitors Bureau
Treasure Island Special Events
Hotels
Restaurants
Other Links Recommended by the Mayor
Coffee in the Castro - SF Castro District's Best Coffee Houses
San Francisco's Absolute Best Beefsteak Hamburgers
San Francisco's Ferry Building Marketplace - a Complete Guide
San Francisco's Fabulous Lesbian Chefs
Taxicab Crooks and Scam Cabs in San Francisco
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