Preserving History: Buildings Demolished, Moved and Landmarked
Old City Hall - Demolition by Neglect
This gem of beaux arts architecture, the jewel of Berkeley’s Civic Center, was patterned after the Hotel de Ville in Tours, France. It was designed by Bakewell & Brown (1907-09), the firm that later designed San Francisco’s City Hall. The building was one of the first eight buildings to be designated City of Berkeley Landmarks on December 15, 1975. It is part of the Civic Center Historic District #81000142 on the National Register of Historic Placed, added in 1998. The building is home to a mural, “Berkeley-The City and Its People,” by artist Romare Bearden, which hangs behind the dais in the City Council Chambers.
The building has now been declared unsafe and is no longer occupied. It has been determined that it will need vast sums for retrofitting to meet earthquake safety standards. To save it will require either a bond initiative or a major community fund raising effort. The fear is that it has become a perfect candidate for what the National Trust for Historic Preservation terms “demolition by neglect.”