palace of fine arts - sf, jan 2010

The task of creating Palace of Fine Arts for

the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition

fell to architect, Bernard R. Maybeck.

The Panama-Pacific International Exposition 1915

was an event dedicated to progress,

the celebration of the completion the Panama Canal,

and the rebirth of San Francisco

following the disastrous 1906 earthquake.

Funds came from six million dollars in donations,

five million in state bonds

and five million in San Francisco taxes.

The Palace of Fine Arts was the last of the major buildings of the Exposition to be started; construction began in 8 December 1913.

By the closing of the Exposition, a movement to preserve the Palace

was already under way,
signatures and money were gathered from the fine arts league.

For a while the Palace housed a continuous art exhibit,

and when the depression came, W.P.A. artists were commissioned

to replace the deteriorated murals on the ceiling rotunda.

But as time went by, a strange new life evolved for the exhibition hall.

In 1934, eighteen lighted tennis courts were installed and

remained there for eight years.

During this period, the Palace, without proper maintenance and

as a result of vandalism, was gradually crumbling into a genuine ruin.

Then during World War II it was requisitioned by the Army

for storage of trucks and jeeps.
Two years after the War's end,

the Palace was returned by the Army to the city.

By now, it had been declared unsafe of public use.

Then began a forceful attempt to preserve it as it was -

designed as a ruin, it should remain one.

But the building was not strong enough to last.

When Maybeck's opinion was solicited, he had this to say:

"I think the main building should be torn down and

redwood planted around, completely around the rotunda.

Redwood grows fast, you know.

Then as they grow, the columns of the rotunda would slowly crumble,

at approximately the same speed. Then I would like to design an alter,

with the figure of a maiden praying, to install in that grove of redwoods.

I shall like my Palace to die

behind those great trees of its own accord,

to become its own cemetery."

In the meantime, from 1947 on, the hall continued to be put to various uses;

as City Park Department warehouse,

as a flag and tent storage depot and

even as temporary Fire Department Headquarters.

For several years, Assemblyman Caspar Weinberger, supported by other prominent San Franciscans, had patiently pushed the cause of the Palace.

Finally between 1957 and 1959, his efforts were rewarded.

Funds from California State Legislature, the city and Palace of fine Arts League,

supplemented by a most generous $2,000,000 donation

(an later an additional donation of approximately $2,500,000)

from Walter S. Johnson, as well as large contributions from

other concerned residents of the city, saved the life of the Palace.

By 1962, a plan for its restoration in concrete had been

approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

The work of demolition and reconstruction began in 1964.

The exhibition hall which originally housed Impressionist
paintings during the Exposition, is now home to the Exploratorium,

a state of the art interactive science museum.

alcatraz - san francisco, jan 2010

Alcatraz, an island located in the San Francisco bay,

1.5 miles offshore from San Francisco, California.

Often referred to as the Rock, the small island early on served as a lighthouse, a military fortification, military prison and a Federal Bureau of Prisons federal prisons till 1963.

Later in 1972, Alcatraz became a national recreational area and received land marking designations in 1976 & 1986.

Today, the island is a historic park operated by the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and is open to tours.

20 November 1969, a group of Native Americans from many different tribes

(many individual Native Americans relocated to the Bay area

under the Federal Indian reorganization act of 1934)

occupied the island, and proposed an education center,

ecology center and cultural center.

During its 29 years of operation the penitentiary

claimed no prisoners had ever successfully escaped.

36 prisoners were involved with in attempts,

two men trying twice;

23 were caught,

six were shot and killed during their attempt,

and three were lost at sea and never found.

The most violent occurred on 2 May 1946

when a failed escape attempt by six prisoners led to the

so called Battle of Alcatraz.

11 June 1962, Franklin Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin

successfully carried out one of the most intricate escapes ever devised.

The prisoners chiseled away moisture-damaged concrete

from around an air vent leading to a corridor that was unguarded.

Using tools such as metal spoon soldered

with silver from a dime and electric drill

improvised from a stolen vacuum cleaner motor.

The noise was disguised by accordions played during music hour,

and their progress was concealed by false walls which,

in the dark recesses of the cells fooled the guards.

The escape route led up to a fan vent;

the fan and motor had been removed and replaced with steel grille,

leaving a shaft large enough for a prisoner to climb through.

Stealing a carborundum cord from the prison workshop,

the prisoners had removed the rivets from the grille

and substituted dummy rivets made from soap.

The escapees also constructed an inflatable raft from

several stolen raincoats for the trip to the mainland.

Leaving pa pier-mac he dummies in their cells with

stolen human hair from the barber shop for hair, they escaped.

The official investigation by FBI was assisted by Allen West,

who was also part of the escapees group but was left behind

(West's false wall kept slipping so he held it into place

with cement which set; when the Anglin brothers accelerated the schedule,

West desperately chipped away the wall, but by the time he did, his companions were gone).

Articles belonging to the prisoners

(including plywood paddles and parts of the raincoat raft)

were located on a nearby Angel Island, and

the official report of the escape says the prisoners drowned

while trying to reach mainland in the cold waters of the bay.

The notorious inmates:

Robert "Bird man of Alcatraz" Stroud
manslaughter (public and prison)
17 years









Al Capone
master manipulator
4.5 years








George "Machine Gun" Kelly
robbery and murder
17 years








Alvin "Creepy Karpis" Karpowicz
(nicknamed creepy for his sinister smile)
alliance with Barker gang, Creepy Karpis was the last Public Enemy to be taken
burglary, car theft, bank robbery, kidnapping
26 years








Ellsworth Raymond Johnson @ Bumpy @ The Godfather of Harlem
African American gangster, numbers operator, bootlegger, racketeer
9 years









Arthur R "doc" Barker
kidnapping - Barker Gang
4 years
(shot and killed during escape attempt)

The penitentiary was closed on 21 March 1963.
It was closed because it was more expensive to operate than other prisons
(nearly $10 per prisoner per day, as opposed to $3 per prisoner per day at Atlanta).








Half a century of salt water saturation had severely eroded the buildings,
and the bay was being badly polluted by the sewage from the approximately
250 inmates and 60 Bureau of Prisons families on the island.








The United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois,
a traditional land bound prison,
opened that same year to serve as a replacement for Alcatraz.

golden gate & bay bridge, sf jan 2010

7 January 2010

arrived sf, approximately 16:00

weather: damp and misty

golden gate

connects San Francisco, California & Marin County, California

designed by Irving Morrow

completed 27 May 1937

bay bridge

direct road route between San Fancisco & Oakland

designed by Charles H. Purcell

completed 8 July 1933

balboa park - san diego, dec 2009

Balboa Park is a 1,200 acre urban cultural park in San Diego, California

named after Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa.

Many of the trees in Balboa Park were planted

by American gardener Kate Sessions.

Placed in reserve in 1835, it is one of the oldest sites in the United States

dedicated to public recreational usage.

Besides open areas and natural vegetation,

it contains a variety of cultural attractions including

museums, theaters, gardens, shops, restaurants,

as well as the San Diego Zoo.

Balboa Park was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977.

The park is managed and maintained by the

City of San Diego Parks and Recreation Department.