Insight Guides: San Francisco City Guide by Insight Guides

Author:Insight Guides
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Travel, USA
Publisher: Apa Publications
Published: 2016-11-27T16:00:00+00:00

City Hall was built in 1914.

Nowitz Photography/Apa Publications

The atrium of the Public Library.

Nowitz Photography/Apa Publications

Architectural ensemble

Brown’s City Hall, and the adjoining San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center (SFWMPAC), have been acclaimed by one historian as the greatest architectural ensemble in America.

City Hall 1 [map]

Address: 1 Dr Carlton B. Goodlett Place (Polk Street at McAllister Street); http://sfgov.org/cityhall/

Telephone: 415-554-6068

Opening Hours: Mon–Fri 8am–8pm free tours

Transport: bus: 5, 5R, 6, 7, 19, 21, 47, 49, 7X; streetcar: F; metro: all lines; BART: all trains

Built in 1914, City Hall is a magnificent Beaux Arts structure, honeycombed with municipal offices running from a central rotunda. The building sits where Van Ness crosses McAllister Street, and was where gay rights activist Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone were shot by former city supervisor Dan White in 1978.

City Hall was again the scene of controversy when same-sex marriages were performed here in 2004.

The Veterans Auditorium Building 2 [map] (which houses the Herbst Theater; tel: 415-392-4400) and The War Memorial Opera House 3 [map] (tel: 415-864-3330 for box office), which sit opposite City Hall, make up the largest performing art center in the United States – the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center (http://sfwmpac.org; tours Mon 10am–2pm; tel: 415-552-8338). The opera house was the birthplace of the United Nations and has a drama or two of a different sort. For many years a group of about 50 flower throwers – mostly men – known as the Opera Standees Association was tolerated by, but not formally associated with, the San Francisco Opera. “Opera-throwers” are fans who hurl bouquets at beloved divas during encores. It requires a certain skill to send flowers 35ft (10 meters) over the heads of the orchestra to land perfectly at the desired singer’s feet. One successful “member” hurled some 300 bouquets in a single season, each hitting its mark.

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