A grand Berkeley estate

Photo: Daniella Thompson

Allanoke (Ernest Coxhead, 1903) has been a famous Berkeley showcase for the past century. Read about its fascinating history and see period and contemporary photographs in this article.

Presidio celebrates the 1915Panama-Pacific Expo

A new exhibition at the Presidio’s Officers’ Club, 50 Moraga Avenue, San Francisco, features film, rare photography, publications, collectables, music, and a lecture series to celebrate the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915—a fair that attracted 18 million visitors.

The exhibition is free of charge and runs through 18 April 2004, Wednesday to Sunday, from 11 am to 5 pm. Free lectures are offered every Wednesday evening from 7 to 8 mp, with gallery hours extended from 5 to 7 pm.

Virtual tour of Orchard Lane

Photo: Daniella Thompson, February 2004

Take a stroll down the picturesque Orchard Lane steps, designed by Henry Atkins and constructed in 1909–10. Orchard Lane was designated a City of Berkeley Landmark on 6 January 1992.

UC Theater still awaiting solution

UC Theater, 2001 (photo: Johnny Hawkins/Daily Cal)

More than three years after it was shut down, the venerable UC Theater is still closed. Learn about the history of this landmark building and read a two-year old plan to save the theater and nurture the arts in these two articles.

Blood house at the ZAB on 26 February

Three landmarks on Durant Ave.: the Albra,
the Blood house, and the Brasfield
(photo: Daniella Thompson, 2004)

Will the Blood house be demolished, or will it be incorporated into a new development?

Read the story of this sole 19th-century remnant on the 2500 block of Durant Avenue. Then take a look at the preservation alternative to demolition.

The Zoning Adjustments Board will be deliberating the fate of the Blood house on Thursday, 26 February.

Memorial Stadium: controversialfrom the start

Postcard from the Anthony Bruce collection

As U.C. Berkeley plans a $140 million renovation of Memorial Stadium, architectural historian Susan Cerny ponders stadium planning errors of the past and asks the inevitable question: why hasn’t U.C. learned anything from its mistakes?

How did it all begin? Read Cerny’s article Memorial Stadium—controversial from the start.

Picturing Berkeley wins award

At the 33rd Annual Bookbuilders West Book Show, our book Picturing Berkeley—A Postcard History received a Certificate of Excellence for book cover and interior in the Trade, Image-Driven category. The book is showcased on a 2-page spread in the Book Show’s hardcover catalog.

Picturing Berkeley was edited by Burl Willes, designed by Kathleen Tandy, and jointly published by the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association and the Berkeley Historical Society. The book features over 400 reproductions of Berkeley postcards from the early 1900s, most in full color. It is available for purchase from the BAHA office.

The builder who was a painter

Bentley house (photo: Daniella Thompson)

In the late 19th and early 20th century, Berkeley boasted the presense of Alphonso Herman Broad. Prominent Berkeley contractor, builder, pioneer civic figure, and amateur artist, Alphonso Herman Broad was born in Maine in 1851. He came to Berkeley in 1877 and took an active part in the town’s civic life, serving as a member of Berkeley’s first board of trustees in 1881. Later he became town marshal. In 1880, A.H. Broad went into business as a building contractor and designer, and within five years was well-known throughout Berkeley and Oakland for his Eastlake Cottages. Until his death in 1930, Broad not only supervised construction of a large number of structures in all parts of Berkeley but also designed many of them.

Find out more about this colorful figure in this article on the Bentley house.

Town-Gown walk on Valentine’s Day

Our meeting point

Another free event from the Berkeley Path Wanderers Association:

On Saturday, 14 February, at 10 am, Jim Sharp will lead a special Valentine’s Day walk along the pathways and attractions of Daley’s Scenic Park and U.C. Berkeley’s rapidly expanding Northeast Quadrant. Berkeley Landmarks website creator Daniella Thompson and other local heritage experts will come along for the walk.

We will meet at 10 am, rain or shine, three blocks north of the U.C. Campus, at the top of the Landmark steps connecting La Loma Ave. with Virginia St.

Plan to negotiate some stairs, hills, and off-pavement surfaces.

For questions, please call Jim at 841-7271 (weekdays).

Observatory Hill at risk

Haviland Hall seen from Observatory Hill

The University of California’s 2020 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) includes plans for two new large buildings in the classic core of the campus.

Phase 1 and phase 2 of the Chang-Lin Tien Center for East Asian Studies are to be prominently sited on the northern edge of the Central Glade, across from the Doe Library (see Campus planning schizophrenia):

The Tien Center is envisioned as a composition of two rectangular buildings. Phase 1 will be located at the south base of Observatory Hill on the site of the existing parking lot, facing Memorial Glade and Doe Library, and aligned with the central axis of the Glade.

Phase 2 will be sited at the west base of Observatory Hill adjacent to Haviland Hall, oriented 90° to Phase 1.

The siting affects two key resources on campus—the landmark Haviland Hall (John Galen Howard, 1924) and historic Observatory Hill with its unique nature areas—and is directly at odds with the university’s New Century Plan and its stated principles and goals.

Take a virtual tour from the rear of Haviland Hall to the ruin of the former Students’ Observatory on the Hill. Every tree, shrub, stick and stone in the photos is slated to disappear.

Preservation at the Getty

Fallingwater, Mill Run, Pennsylvania (photo: BBC)

The Getty Conservation Institute works internationally to advance conservation and to enhance and encourage the preservation and understanding of the visual arts in all of their dimensions—objects, collections, architecture, and sites.

The following lecture is presented by the Getty Conservation Institute as part of Conservation Matters: Lectures at the Getty, a series examining a broad range of conservation issues from around the world.

Lectures are free of charge. Reservations are required and available now unless otherwise noted. Call 1 (310) 440-7300 or make a reservation online. Notice of cancellation is appreciated.

Building Communities through Heritage
Thursday, 19 February 2004, 7 PM

Sir Neil Cossons, chairman of English Heritage, will discuss how recent work in England, undertaken as part of a wide-ranging review of protection and management of the historic environment, demonstrates that support for heritage is widespread and is seen increasingly as key to creating sustainable communities.

Architectural Conservation Grants support organizations throughout the world in their efforts to preserve buildings or sites of outstanding architectural, historical, and cultural significance. Planning Grants assist in the initial development of an overall architectural conservation plan. Support is also available on a selective basis for the development of archaeological site management plans. Implementation Grants assist in the actual conservation of a building’s historic structure and fabric.

The Getty Campus Heritage Grants assist colleges and universities in the United States to manage and preserve the integrity of their significant historic buildings, sites, and landscapes. See examples of grant recipients.