Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915 - Palace, lower right.
The Palace of Fine Arts is the only remnant of the PPIE on site.
G O A L S
1. Preservation Restore to their original condition the existing Rotunda, Colonnade, Lagoon and, as appropriate, the Park, and maintain these in perpetuity.
2. Reconstruction Reconstruct Maybeck's original classical 'Peristyle' - the Main Building’s North, East & South Façades
3. Education Provide historical and architectural educational elements including permanent multilingual educational panels on the exterior, and an indoor Visitors Center.
For specific project goals, see "Project Proposal" on next page.
Why the Palace must be restored...
IN THE MIND OF THE WORLD CITIZEN, Bernard Maybeck's Palace of Fine Arts is as much the iconic landmark of San Francisco as the Eiffel Tower... is a symbol of Paris, or Big Ben "means" London. There is, with respect to Maybeck's Palace, a citizen-wide obligation of stewardship, which is shared throughout the broad clture and can be supported internationally...
Each year, newspapers and nightly television newscasts suggest that fewer outdoors urban experiences in the heart of America's largest cities, are positive. The Palace with its Lagoon is a cultural oasis, and it embodies values which our fathers cherished, which our contemporaries may be close to losing, and which we should not forfeit, by neglect, for posterity...
The Maybeck Foundation's mission is ambitious but it has national support. Its "Proposed Improvements" and "Historic Preservation Project" for the Palace of Fine Arts are carefully and thoroughly considered, staging intention and potential accomplishment as support materializes. The six project goals give promise of a model preservation effort and will bring San Francisco international acclaim for both how and what the city has preserved. By reconstructing a lost facade and preserving a structure, San Francisco will have preserved a vision, a place, and if there was ever a site where visitors experience a sense of place, it is the Palace Rotunda, Colonnade, and Lagoon.
Prof. Robert M. Craig
College of Architecture
Georgia Institute of Technology
Community response to the Maybeck Foundation's
Proposal and research...
I am pleased to write in support of the Maybeck Foundation's proposal for returning San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts to its original splendor.
The Palace, which was built in 1915 by Bernard Maybeck, is an architectural and historic treasure... I appreciate the efforts of the Maybeck Foundation and encourage others to join in this worthwhile effort...
Willie L. Brown, Jr.
Mayor
City of San Francisco
I grew up near the Palace and took for granted the size and splendor of the park. As a Supervisor however, I am all too aware of the poor treatment it has received for decades...
...My staff and I have brainstormed about setting up a non-profit that could take care of the long-term historic preservation of the Palace....
This was our general thought when the Maybeck Foundation approached me for support of their proposal. I read their entire proposal and was delighted... I am doing everything I can to support the Maybeck Foundation in hatching this project. It is one of the best projects I have seen for directing private funds to beautify our public, urban landscapes.
Gavin Newsom
Board of Supervisors
City of San Francisco
We believe the preservation and continued use of Bernard Maybeck's masterwork is vitally important to San Francisco. The Palace of Fine Arts, an irreplaceable landmark, is symbolic of San Francisco's history and culture...
The Maybeck Foundation is uniquely qualified to be the agent of change. Its focus is the work of Bernard Maybeck. As a non-governmental, non-profit organization, the Maybeck Foundation has the ability to reach out and secure assistance from potential funding sources: government, private citizens, businesses, and organizations established for funding conservation efforts.
The urgency of this effort is economic... Deferred maintenance already limits the ability of San Franciscans to utilize and enjoy one of it finest assets. The future holds and ever-increasing fiscal burden to arrest continued deterioration.
We urge everyone - government, citizens, and businesses alike - to support the efforts of the Maybeck Foundation on behalf of the Palace of Fine Arts.
Charles Edwin Chase, AIA
Executive Director
San Francisco Architectural Heritage
On behalf of the Board of Directors for Friends of Recreation and Parks, I am delighted to endorse the [Maybeck Foundation's] proposed feasibility study to test the scope and fundraising goals for the intended "Palace of Fine Arts Improvements Project."
The Maybeck Foundation's desire to return the Palace and the surrounding park to their original glory is greatly appreciated by an associate organization concerned about parks and open spaces. We are enthusiastic to hear the findings of the study.
Friends is very impressed by the good community work done by the Maybeck Foundation on other projects [they] have undertaken. We look forward to collaborating with you on this project on behalf of the Palace of Fine Arts.
Donna Ernstson
Executive Director
Friends of Recreation and Parks
...the wonderful Bernard Maybeck Palace of Fine Arts has, for the last thirty years, been the home of the San Francisco Exploratorium, recognized as a national treasure for science, art and education.
The Exploratorium is now engaged in a major fundraising campaign, with rather remarkable success to date... The proposed improvements to our space in the Palace of Fine Arts will provide ehnanced educational opportunities...
Distinct from this fundraising effort are the improvements contemplated in the Maybeck Foundation's proposal for the Palace grounds, environs and historic structures...
...The Exploratorium welcomes the opportunity to work together to achieve renovations and improvements to the full building (in our case), and improvements to the environs (in your case) in service to the citizens of, and visitors to, San Francisco.
Goery Delacote
Executive Director
Exploratorium
... On behalf of the League, we would be delighted to assist [the Maybeck Foundation] in fundraising efforts... We also uphold the notion of making sure that the Palace of Fine Arts remains the "jewel" of Bernard Maybeck's creation!... We remain loyal to the Maybeck Foundation and can always be relied upon for any assistance in the future.
Jerry Friedman
President
Palace of Fine Arts League, Inc.
I am truly delighted and enthusiastic about the improvement plans surrounding the Palace of Fine Arts. This Maybeck architectural treasure is among the highest prioritized tourist "must see" San Francisco landmarks.
As a neighbor of the Palace from childhood, I have observed, albeit sadly, its slow and steady deterioration. The maintenance has been minimal at best...
It is with this sense of urgency that an illustrious committee was formed in 1990 to "Light Up the Palace"... We succeeded; it was well worth the time and massive energies - and it was a gift to San Francisco!
On behalf of the Committee, let me express my communal support of the Maybeck Foundation's efforts to return the park and the decorative exterior structures of the Palace of Fine Arts to their orginal glory!...
Gina L. Delle Sedie
General Chair
Light Up the Palace Committee
...As a long-time resident of the neighborhood - from even before the Exploratorium - I have watched various restoration efforts. The momentum of activity has stopped... The Maybeck Foundation is now leading an excellent effort to continue the work that must be done...
I see the main problems of the Palace of Fine Arts today:+ The blank east facade of the Main Building, facing the colonnade
+ The pollution of the Lagoon and erosion of its pathway
+ Lack of maintenance for the amount of usageThe proposal... deserves support of the all who care about the traditions of San Francisco and the enthusiasm of today's tourists.
Jeanne F. Glennon
Lyon Street
San Francisco
The Proposal of the Maybeck Foundation, taking the lead in restoring the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, deserves to be supported. As neighbors of the Palace who use the park on a daily basis, we would love to see a fully restored, clean, safe environment for ourselves, our neighbors, and our visitors.
These proposals, if adopted, would go a long way toward restoring this unique historical monument and tourist attraction. They would provide for the most important changes, developing the blank exterior wall of the building, restoring the lagoon, and providing funds for on-going maintenance afterwards...
We encourage all who care about the history of San Francisco to support the efforts of the Maybeck Foundation to restore this unique architectural treasure.
Georgina & Sergio Acosta
Lyon Street
San Francisco
As an architect long involved in historic preservation, I have followed the fortunes of Bernard Maybeck's Palace of Fine Arts for many years.
The history of this inspired design is one of tension between the ephemeral and the real. The site, the western focus of the Panama Pacific International Exposition, was not Maybeck's to design, but his idea was so powerful as to pre-empt anyone else. Once built of temporary materials, the Palace complex dominated it setting so strongly that it excaped demolition time and again. Derelict by the mid-1960's, the buildings were rebuilt under the stewardship of Walter Johnson and the city...
At present the buildings are in need of repair, but in addition they stand only as an approximation of the richness of Maybeck's conception. Planting and classical detail on the building now occupied by the Exploratorium and Palace of Fine Arts League were left out of the reconstruction because they were too expensive to recreate. And again, the Palace itself again requires repair.
The Maybeck Foundation has come forward with a program of repair and restoration. Earlier generations have done their part; it is time now for us to take up our responsibility to this fragile composition that integrates inspiration, material, and setting.
J. Gordon Turnbull, FAIA
Principal
Page & Turnbull
