The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-06-21
TELLS OF FIRST
CIVIC CENTER PLAN
Bernard j. S. CaflilI, Architect,
Writes Letter to Editor
of The Call

SATURDAY iuncneon OF the commonwealth club,
am represented by The Call as offering sub
| stitution for the civic center now before the
voter, viz: one at the site of the present city
hall. In the same article Mr. Burnham is quoted
as having assured the supervisors that st would
be impossible to incorporate the present city hall
site IN any civic center scheme" And further
on IN your report Supervisor c. A. Murdoch is
| quoted as saying that he Objected TO the mis-
representation of facts"
| propose to bring the third statement TO bear
on the hrst two, not to confuse but 10 enIighten
/ the voter on very important matter before him.
| As far back as 1899 / made the first plan TO be
called civic center by the author of the
! phrase, John de Witt Warner of New York He
described ''Mr. Cahill's plan for San Francisco
nrst among current projects in the United States
to create civic CENTER in an article nv maj
Iltle punished IN Municipal Affairs volume
| VI, No. l.
This plan was made to redeem the city hall
and postofhce from their obscurity without break-
ing the retail continuity of Market street and
without costing the city any money at all In the
| long
Five years later, in 1904. l was urged by the
secretary of the ''Adonment society" to make
another plan for civic center at Market street
and Van Ness avenue with proposed AUDITORIUM
as centerpieee and the panhandle extension AS
a tributary feature
| With these ideas in mind l evolved a plauI
very similar to the one before the public. II
soon discarded this plan as unsuitable becauss |
or the awkward junction of the streets at % |
thoroughfares the mistake OF breaking the e. |
tail continuity of Market street and the folly of
IeAtenulng the PARK panhandle a hill md !
through an expensive district to no point de fue |
In particular when it could be more economically
carried around the hill to and through Alamo |
| square and then after a grade saving curve to |
Fillmore street brought to an end magnihcantly |
after long stretch through widened Fulton
street to the city hall dome
PROPOSES PRESENT SITE
Here at the west facade of the city hail was |
the real place for the civic center-a rectangular
plaza twice large as Union square harked BIZ |
me city pail. the Mechanics pavilion. the new
ms 20 oulialng Tor state bureaus and
museum s, OF art gallery The plaza would be |
hanked by Larkin. McAlster, Polk and Grove
streets A lake with memorial fountain. trees.
gardens and terraces included in the
| scheme An extension of Grove ana HYDE
streets was also shown making a widening of
| the angle which enylsages the city halI from
Market street. widening and parking OF
Eighth street also suggested.
Before completing this plan, which was the
day and night involving continual accommodating
OF the whole area affected, / sounded Mr.
as TO whether he was irreyocably tied up to the
panhandle extension. He claimed to be free and
that the whole matter would be passed up to-
| When the plan was finished d photograph
was sent to Mr.. Phelan in New York and the
| large original drawing sent TO Mr.. Burnham
In Chicago through the Adjournment society Mr.
Pneian acknowledged the plan from New York
with thanks and warm appreciation He re-
| peated that he was not welded to the pan
handle, yet he objected to the Fulton street
boulevard as ending at the city hall in what he
q cul de sac Mr.. Burnhams attitude was diff
ferent. He adopted the whole scheme bodily
and with enthusiasm. Some months after this
| on visit to the bungalow Mr. BurDham let me
see. with some show of reluctance certa in
tracings hanging the wall-studies OF the
panhandle prolongatiou which he explained Mr.
Phelan had induced him to make. He expressed
some disgust at being interfered with Soon
after this the Phelan panhandle feature between
Oak and Fell streets became part OF the
Burnham plan and the Fulton street route was
abandoned. Meanwhile the plaza feature re-
1 Thn pnNrr ham r,Iax
was still shown where indicated on my plan of
| 1904. viz: between Van Ness avenue Polk
| Grove and Fulton streets. or Van Ness avenue
Polk, Fulton and McAlister streets Either
block would have hanked the proposed plaza
WENT BEFORE SUPERVISORS 4
Meanwhile another block was put before the
| library trustees on the other side of Van Ness
avenue between Hayes and Fell streets which
was no part Of any group of buildings, although
or course ii fanked the Pheian panhandle pro.
longation- Seeing that neither the library tr,is-
Burnham plan and that the new selection would
not work In with any grouping the first Sc
ana succeeded In holding back their decision
untn AIR. Burnham should return from Manila
20 appear In presence of full board to give
his momentous decision, ] sought him out in
the famous bungalow. He not only assured me
that he stood firm on the library site which he
showed me on the drawings Just where 1t had
always been, but assured that he wished me
70 De ms representative, to look after the plan
i
~ regret TO say that three days later before
me SUPERVISORS assembled in full force. Mayor
Scnmitz In the chair, Mr.. Burnham announced
tnat ne favored the Hayes street site; that II
WAS part of his plan, to prove which he pro-
uuced tracing made overnight for the purpose
and discarded afteryyard
IN the published Burnham report this very
site tnat Mr. Burnham publicly recommended
LOT l-nrary is shown pierced by wide bouie-
yard and totally annihiiated. while in the civic
/ center scheme now so vaguely but so insistently
put before the public this block is shown dedi-
Gated to city hall uses
inese facts all point in one direction-that
| the SO called Burnham plan is in reality the
| fnelan plan. and that the illegal, extravagantl
ang senseless scheme TO sell out the compact
| ana splendid city hall site to buy Another in
several pieces Is the work of Mr.. Phelan who
rs oent on bringing the panhandle to Market
| street and Van Ness avenue, and the city hall
library and everything else to the panhandle.
Inc argument that the choice of city
| hall site means work is misleading. 1t means
| delay new city hall we must have. If the
| OLD site is chosen work will proceed at once.
III new site is chosen the only work for years
| and Years win be for lawyers and real estate
| men. The Pheian civic center with the in
eyitable panhandle extension win consume the
equivalent Of is blocks Of land The original
civic center and park extension will take TO-
i Inc reader now see in what sense my
proposition lis called new one. He can
| also see what Mr. Burnham's advice to the SUI
pervisors amounts to- and, If he is just, as well
as intelligent he will concur most heartily
! with Supervisor Murdoch in ''objecting TO
| MISREPRESENTATION of the facts Yours very
| truly, BERNARD J. S. CAHILL.
/ Merry Widder wash boa rdS at IT