Palace of Fine Arts: Reclaiming a City Jewel

By Frank Ladra
The Guardsman

Labeled a jewel in San Francisco’s sparkling crown, the Palace of Fine Arts has reclaimed its status as a gateway and respite from city life recognized by locals and visitors from around the globe.

The Campaign for the Palace of Fine Arts unveiled the San Francisco icon’s seven-year, $21 million transformation to the public Jan. 14. The fragile rotunda has been reinforced, the artisan-crafted maiden statues and colonnade structure revitalized, the landscapes restored and the dome returned to its golden glow.

The Palace of Fine Arts was built in 1915 for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Originally meant to be a temporary structure, the Palace was spared from demolition by the Palace Preservation League, founded by Phoebe Apperson Hearst, mother of famed newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst.

During the 1960s, philanthropist Walter Johnson championed the reconstruction of the Palace to replace the deteriorating wood and plaster framing with more permanent materials.

By the 1990s, mold, rust, graffiti and damage from the Loma Prieta earthquake had taken its toll on the structure of the Palace, and significant action was necessary to ensure the preservation of the landmark.

The Campaign for the Palace of the Fine Arts formed a partnership with the Maybeck Foundation (named for Palace architect Bernard Maybeck), the Recreation and Park Department and the Department of Public Works in order to carry out a vision that many considered impossible.