May 2013 is Preservation Month

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The Spring 2013 Newsletter is online

Issue No. 141 of the BAHA Newsletter print edition is now available for reading online.

In this issue:

• Our neglected Civic Center
• Endangered historic house on Regent Street
• The two Campus Theaters
• Claremont Hills
• A tribute to Alko Office Supply (1908–2013)

Annual Meeting & Preservation Awards

Thursday, 30 May 2013
The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar Street, Berkeley

6:30	Social Hour—No-Host Wine Bar
7:00	Buffet Dinner ($25 by reservation)
7:30	Business Meeting & Election of Directors
8:00	Preservation Awards Presentation
	Dessert

To reserve dinner (catered by Bacheeso’s), please send a check for $25 per person to BAHA, P.O. Box 1137, Berkeley, CA 94701.

Checks must be received by Saturday, 25 May (please include names of guests). You may also pay online via PayPal.

We need volunteers to help set up, serve, and clean up!
Let us know if you want to help.

Help restore Fountain Walk and Circle

Photo courtesy of FOFW

Friends of the Fountain and Walk (FOFW) is a Berkeley neighborhood 501(c)3 non-profit organization that needs your help. They are nearing the end of an initial fundraising campaign that began two years ago to repair the deteriorating balusters at The Circle and along Fountain Walk. They ask for your contribution today to help us complete this important work.

Just as it was envisioned to be more than 100 years ago, the Fountain at The Circle is the pulsing heart of the city’s north side—a Beaux Arts icon that, with its surrounding balustrade and nearby Fountain Walk, recalls the city’s rich architectural past.

Designed by University of California campus architect John Galen Howard and sculptor Arthur Putnam, the restored Fountain proudly stands today as an outstanding example of a privately funded public work of art. With the generous help of people like you and the hard work of hundreds of volunteers, FOFW have moved forward and formed a successful partnership with the city for its ongoing maintenance and repair.

Photo courtesy of BPWA

Currently, FOFW’s fund-raising focus is the replacement of more than 75 damaged balusters around The Circle and along Fountain Walk. Today they are approximately $25,000 short of their goal of $75,000 in funds raised.

FOFW ask for your generous contribution of any amount to support the effort to restore this historic, esthetic, and economically significant benefit to the North Berkeley area. Please send a tax-deductible check today to:

Friends of the Fountain and Walk
c/o Sara Holmes
946 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94707

For additional information, e-mail FOFW: fountainandwalk@gmail.com

Benicia Vintage Home & Garden Tour

Saturday, 11 May 2013
11:00 am–4:00 pm

Tickets $25 advance; $30 tour day

The Benicia Historical Society’s tour will feature vintage homes and charming gardens. Tour goers will see the interiors of some of Benicia’s architectural treasures and visit amazing gardens during the height of the spring blooming season.

Tickets will be available starting 10 April at Benicia Main Street, Bookshop Benicia, and Camellia Tea Room in downtown Benicia, and Steve’s Hallmark at the Southampton shopping center. Proceeds will benefit Benicia Historical Society programs, including restoration of the Von Pfister General Store.

For additional information, contact Vicki Cullen (707) 315-6434 or Jerry Hayes (707) 746-6689.

BAHA Spring House Tour in Claremont Hills

Sunday, 19 May 2013, one to five o’clock

Claremont Hills: Historic Homes Above the Claremont Hotel is the focus of our 2013 Spring House Tour.

Tour-day ticket booth will open at 12 noon in front of John Muir School, 2955 Claremont Avenue.

The houses that will be open on this year’s BAHA tour are all survivors of the 1991 Oakland Hills Fire. They were constructed between 1909 and 1941 for well-to-do families by leading architects and designers of their day, including Albert Farr; Louis Christian Mullgardt; William C. Hays; William R. Yelland; Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr.; Vickery, Atkins & Torrey; Clarence Tantau; William E. Schirmer; Archie Newsom; and Louis Engler.

For complete information, see the House Tour page.

Tour map, illustrated guidebook & refreshments provided
General $40; BAHA members $30 (see discount limits)

Order tickets online or use the ticket order form.

Save the Berkeley Post Office

Come to the U.S. Postal Service Public Hearing
Ben Franklin (Josh Kornbluth) will be there in person!
Rally starts at 6 pm, Tuesday, 26 February
USPS Hearing starts at 7 pm

More info at Save the Berkeley Post Office

BAHA’s letter to the USPS