Old Berkeley City Hall
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Old Berkeley City Hall, also known as the Maudelle Shirek Building, is a historic building in the
Civic Center A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains of one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, ...
neighborhood of Berkeley, California, U.S.. It was originally located at 2134 Grove Street (now 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way). It has been listed in the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
under the name "City Hall" since September 11, 1981; With and listed as a
Berkeley Landmark This is a list of landmarks in Berkeley, California. "Berkeley Landmarks", "Structures of Merit", and "Historic Districts" are a classification given by the City of Berkeley for buildings or areas of local historic importance. As of 2022, there ar ...
by the city since December 15, 1975. It is one of the contributing buildings to the Berkeley Historic Civic Center District. With


History

The design of the Berkeley City Hall was derived from the
Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
at
Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
, France, designed by
Victor Laloux Victor-Alexandre-Frédéric Laloux (; 15 November 1850 – 13 July 1937) was a French Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts architect and teacher. Life Born in Tours, Laloux studied at the Paris ''atelier'' of Louis-Jules André, with his st ...
. The building design by architects
John Bakewell Jr. John Bakewell Jr. (1872–1963) was an American architect, based in San Francisco, California, U.S. Biography John Bakewell Jr. was born on August 28, 1872, in Topeka, Kansas, U.S. He studied architecture at University of California, Berkeley, ...
, and
Arthur Brown Jr. Arthur Brown Jr. (May 21, 1874—July 7, 1957) was an American architect, based in San Francisco and designer of many of its landmarks. He is known for his work with John Bakewell Jr. as Bakewell and Brown, along with later works after the par ...
for the old city hall was selected as the winner of a 1907 competition to replace the original Town Hall, which had burned to the ground in 1904 (designed by
Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...
and Joseph Cather Newsom, 1884). A few years later in 1915, the same two architects designed
San Francisco City Hall San Francisco City Hall is the seat of government for the City and County of San Francisco, California. Re-opened in 1915 in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, it is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epito ...
, which has similar features. The Old City Hall is the keystone of the Berkeley Civic Center, which was inspired by the concepts of the
City Beautiful movement The City Beautiful movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of th ...
, emphasizing broad vistas and important public buildings grouped around a central open space or park. In 1977, the city offices were moved to 2180 Milvia Street, which resulted in the name "old city hall". The fate of the old city hall building has been in limbo since 2002, when Berkeley voters rejected a bond to repair it. In 2007, the name of the building was changed to the Maudelle Shirek Building after former Vice Mayor and eight-term City Council member Maudelle Shirek.


Description

Berkeley City Hall, also referred to as Old City Hall since the relocation of city offices to 2180 Milvia Street in 1977, is a two-story Beaux-Arts building in the French Renaissance style. Constructed with steel-reinforced concrete and finished with
stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...
, it features an
attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building. It is also known as a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because they fill the space between the ceiling of a building's t ...
and a
basement A basement is any Storey, floor of a building that is not above the grade plane. Especially in residential buildings, it often is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the Furnace (house heating), furnace, water heating, ...
. The building's U-shaped structure includes a semi-circular stair-bay at the rear. Its symmetrical design is divided into a central section flanked by two smaller wings, projecting to the north and south. The main
façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...
, facing east, is particularly impressive. Set back about 30 feet from the street, it is surrounded by landscaped gardens featuring
lawns A lawn () is an area of soil-covered land planted with grasses and other durable plants such as clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawn mower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic and recreational purpose ...
,
shrubs A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...
, trees, and curving flower beds. A broad central stairway leads to a
balustraded A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its c ...
terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...
spanning the front of the central section. The central portion of the building (86' by 66') comprises five bays. The ground floor features round arch openings with molded
architraves In classical architecture, an architrave (; , also called an epistyle; ) is the lintel or beam, typically made of wood or stone, that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can also apply to all sides, including the vertical members, of ...
, containing wood-framed sash windows with triple horizontal and vertical divisions. These windows have shallow balconies with classical balustrades. Above, the second-floor windows, now fitted with aluminum sash that retain the original divisions, also feature projecting balconies with balustrades. The central facade is adorned with six giant order-length ionic columns supporting a cornice with ornamental
dentils A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Rev ...
and monumental
urns An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape ...
. Behind the urns is a blank frieze ending in a secondary cornice molding with a central
cartouche upalt=A stone face carved with coloured hieroglyphics. Two cartouches - ovoid shapes with hieroglyphics inside - are visible at the bottom., Birth and throne cartouches of Pharaoh KV17.html" ;"title="Seti I, from KV17">Seti I, from KV17 at the ...
. The central portion is topped with a raised,
hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downward to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope, with variants including tented roofs and others. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other vertical sides ...
adorned with ornamental flames. The highlight of the building is a 60-foot
lantern A lantern is a source of lighting, often portable. It typically features a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle, a oil lamp, wick in oil, or a thermoluminescence, thermoluminescent Gas mantle, mesh, and often a ...
and
spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...
. The lantern rises from the roof, featuring a paneled base with a high metal balustrade around an open
colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...
. This colonnade supports a classic
entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...
crowned by a narrow
dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
with engaged
piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...
and
finials A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the apex of a dome, spire, tower, roof, or gable or an ...
, topped by a beveled spire. The two identical wings of the building (each 31' by 77') are perpendicular to the central portion and share similar architectural details. The ground floors of these wings have round
arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...
openings framed by cartouches with lion
masques The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A masq ...
and supporting brackets. The second-floor balconies span three smaller rectangular windows and are faced with metal balustrades. Each wing has a hipped roof capped with ornamental flames. Since its completion in 1909, the building has undergone minimal alterations. The main facade's wooden sash windows were replaced with
aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...
, preserving the original design. In 1950, the building's rear was extended to create additional office space, enclosing windows on either side of the
stair Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...
-bay and darkening the main staircase. Inside, the most notable feature is a broad U-shaped stairway leading to the second floor, with a wrought iron
banister A handrail is a rail that is designed to be grasped by the hand so as to provide safety or support. In Britain, handrails are referred to as banisters. Handrails are commonly used while ascending or descending stairways and escalators in order t ...
decorated with gold-colored medallions. The interior walls,
ceiling A ceiling is an overhead interior roof that covers the upper limits of a room. It is not generally considered a structural element, but a finished surface concealing the underside of the roof structure or the floor of a story above. Ceilings can ...
, and columns create an illusion of more expensive materials through expert craftsmanship. What appears to be dressed stone walls and a tooled leather and
brocade Brocade () is a class of richly decorative shuttle (weaving), shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in coloured silks and sometimes with gold and silver threads. The name, related to the same root as the word "broccoli", comes from Italian langua ...
tapestry ceiling are actually plaster painted in red, olive, green, cream, and gilt to mimic these materials. The marble wainscoting in the main floor hallway is genuine, but the two columns at the stairway's base are
scagliola Scagliola (from the Italian language, Italian ''scaglia'', meaning "chips") is a type of fine plaster used in architecture and sculpture. The same term identifies the technique for producing columns, sculptures, and other architectural elements t ...
, imitating
marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...
. This original decorative work remains unaltered.


See also

*
List of Berkeley Landmarks in Berkeley, California This is a list of landmarks in Berkeley, California. "Berkeley Landmarks", "Structures of Merit", and "Historic Districts" are a classification given by the City of Berkeley for buildings or areas of local historic importance. As of 2022, there ar ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Alameda County, California __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Alameda County, California. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Alameda County, C ...


References


External links

* {{Authority control John Bakewell Jr. buildings Arthur Brown Jr. buildings Beaux-Arts architecture in California Buildings and structures completed in 1907 City and town halls on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Berkeley, California Berkeley landmarks in Berkeley, California