PRESIDIO OF , AAA BATTALION HABS CA-2919 HEADQUARTERS FACILITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING HABS CA-2919 (Building 1648) Golden Gate National Recreation Area Langdon Court, east of Battery Godfrey San Francisco San Francisco County

PHOTOGRAPHS

WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA

FIELD RECORDS

HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY PACIFIC WEST REGIONAL OFFICE U.S. Department of the Interior 333 Bush Street San Francisco, CA 94104

HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY

PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO, AAA BATTALION HEADQUARTERS FACILITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING (Building 1648)

HABS No. CA-2919

Location: Langdon Court, in the northwest quadrant of the Presidio of San Francisco; approximately 600’ east of Pacific Ocean; San Francisco San Francisco County, California

USGS San Francisco North Quadrangle; Universal Transverse Mercator Coordinates: 4184141 (north), 546035 (east)

Present Owner: Golden Gate National Recreation Area National Park Service

Present Use: vacant

Significance: In 1957, the U.S. Army constructed this utilitarian, one-story, concrete block rectangular building for the 740th Antiaircraft (AAA) Battalion Headquarters, a group that oversaw operations for the Presidio’s Nike missile operations at Battery Caulfield. In 1974, the army remodeled the building for its new tenant, the 902nd Military Intelligence Group of the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command.

Part I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION

A. Physical History

1. Dates of Erection: The U.S. Army constructed this building in 1957.

2. Architect: The architect for this building was Corlett & Dewell, Architects and Engineers, 847 Clay Street, San Francisco, CA in coordination with the Army Corp of Engineers. PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO, AAA BATTALION HEADQUARTERS FACILITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING HABS No. CA-2919 (Page 2)

3. Original and subsequent owners: The U.S. Army was the original owner. In 1994, the US Army transferred ownership of the Presidio of San Francisco to the National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

4. Builder, contractor, suppliers: The building plans were prepared under the direction of J.A. Graf, Col. C.E. District Engineer. The name of the building contractor is unknown.

5. Original plans and construction: The earliest building plans, dated September 7, 1956, are located in the Park Archive and Records Center (PARC), Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

The 1956 floor plan shows a long, rectangular building. A central hallway runs the entire length of the building, with a series of small and large offices to the east and west side of the hallways. The rooms on the east half of the building include the Rations Breakdown room; separate toilet rooms for both the Enlisted Men and the Officers; the front entry hall with designated telephone shelf; the mail room and the message room; the Personnel and Files room; the S-1 (Administration) Admin room; the Executive room (Executive Officer to Commander) and the Battalion Commander’s office. The rooms on the west half of the building include the Battalion Supply #1 room; the Battalion Supply # 2 room; separate storage and heater room; the Conference room, the S-2 (Intelligence) and the S-3 (Operations) Office and the S-2 and S-3 Missile room.

6. Alterations and additions: In 1974, the 902nd Military Intelligence Group, San Francisco Military Intelligence Detachment, Military Intelligence Battalion, U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command moved into the building. To accommodate the new tenant and its new use, the army modified the building, most notably adding a security vault in one of the building’s largest office spaces (Room 111). The walk-in vault included two separate rooms and functioned as a secure and controlled office space. The army installed an intrusion detection system for the vault as well as buzzers in three offices that would activate when someone opened the building’s front door. The army installed dry and metal walls into the larger office rooms to partition them into smaller rooms. In the front hall mail and message space area, some walls were modified to open up the PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO, AAA BATTALION HEADQUARTERS FACILITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING HABS No. CA-2919 (Page 3)

hallway configuration. In the Rations Breakdown room, the army installed kitchen base cabinets. As part of the 1974 modifications, the army also removed two doors at the west façade (one was replaced by a window and one door opening was filled in with concrete masonry units); removed one door at the south façade (this opening was filled in with concrete masonry units); and added security grilles to twenty-three windows. The total cost of the modifications made in 1974 was $16,446.00. In the 1980s, the army made some additional minor structural repairs and modifications to the building.

In 1992, the 902nd Military Intelligence Group moved to Building 1201 in Fort Winfield Scott. Between 1991 and 1993, the National Park Service remodeled the building for the U.S. Park Police occupancy. They installed a new intrusion detection system, made handicap access improvements to the bathroom and removed asbestos. In possible in the mid to late 1990s, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area maintenance division made plans to move in to the building and dug trenches in the flooring. Their work was never completed.

B. Historical Context

The Cold War and the Missile Defense System In the years following World War II, the and the Soviet Union entered an era of highly strained foreign relations. This new type of world conflict centered around competing ideologies, atomic arms development, military build-up and the management of their respective spheres of influence. During this time, fear of nuclear attack from the Soviet Union became real and widespread throughout the United States. In 1947, the Truman’s Administration adopted the Containment Policy, asserting that the United States must contain Communism to its present boundaries and that further expansion of the Communist empire would be devastating to American interests. The U.S. policy was to peacefully block, through nuclear deterrents, the Soviet threat of domination over Eastern Europe and to limit Soviet intervention and assertion in other parts of the world.

During WWII, American became painfully aware of the damage caused by enemy aerial attacks. Lessons learned from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing forced the United States to focus national defense energy, research and budgets on protecting the country from high-altitude aerial threats, and later, enemy aircrafts carrying nuclear weapons. By 1945, the U.S. military was conducting research on a new missile defense system, with the code-name “Project Nike” after the Greek goddess of victory. These weapons, guided PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO, AAA BATTALION HEADQUARTERS FACILITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING HABS No. CA-2919 (Page 4) by a complex system of radars and tracking computers, had a range of up to 37 miles (under the Nike Ajax program) and 87 miles (with Nike Hercules program) and could shoot down planes traveling at two to three times the speed of sound.

In 1947, the War Department created the United States Air Force. As part of subsequent military agreements, the U.S. Air Force gained operational control of air defense and the U.S. Army was charged with staffing air defense units and development of Nike missiles. In 1950, the Army organized the Army Antiaircraft Command (ARAACOM) which controlled thirty-eight antiaircraft artillery battalions by 1951 and was assigned control of the Nile missile program by 1956. The Nike Missile Program was the most significant American military response to the Cold War.

The Nike Missile Program in the Bay Area The U.S. Army has had a significant presence in the Area, since California became a state in 1848. From 1856 up through World War II, the army protected the valuable San Francisco Bay and Golden Gate strait from enemies. As each new generation of military advances made the previous seacoast fortifications obsolete, the army would replace the fortifications with new, state-of-the-art guns. In 1947, the Army declared the current coastal defense batteries, the hulking 16” casemated guns that hugged the San Francisco and Marin coastlines, then obsolete because they could now be attacked from the air.

By the mid-1950s, the army constructed twelve permanent Nike missile launch sites throughout the Bay Area. In the East Bay, there were launch sites at San Pablo Ridge, Rocky Ridge, Lake Chabot, and Coyote Hills. In the south, in the City of San Francisco and San Mateo County, there were sites at Milagra Ridge, Fort Winfield Scott (Presidio) and . To the north of the Golden Gate Bridge, in Marin County, there were sites constructed at Fort Cronkite, Fort Barry, Angel Island and San Rafael. The army believed this circle of defense protected the area from potential aerial attacks (at least until the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles.) , located in Marin County, was established as the new headquarters for the Western Army Antiaircraft Command.

Battery Caulfield, the Presidio’s missile site

Battery Caulfield, the Presidio’s Nike missile site, was located in the center of the southwest quadrant of the Presidio, a quarter mile north of the former Public Health Service Hospital. As the army identified all the Nike missile sites by numbers, Battery Caulfield was assigned SF-89L; however it was the only Nike missile battery to be PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO, AAA BATTALION HEADQUARTERS FACILITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING HABS No. CA-2919 (Page 5) named after an army officer (Lt. Col Thomas D. Caulfield.) Since 1952, the 740th AAA Missile Battalion (740 AAAMBn), as part of the larger 30th Antiaircraft Artillery (AAA) Group, managed Battery Caulfield from Fort Winfield Scott. In 1957, the army constructed Building 1648 to function as the 740th AAAMBn headquarters building and it housed the army’s S-2 branch (Security Intelligence) and the S-3 branch (Operations.) The soldiers who worked in this building were responsible for establishing and maintaining security clearance levels, by preparing people for security clearance, establishing their personal histories and obtaining their fingerprints. All of the classified material related to the Presidio’s Nike missile program would funnel through this office. The men who actually worked the launch site and the Integrated Fire Control (IFC) lived across the street in Fort Winfield Scott barracks.

Changes to the Nike missile program

In 1958, the Army began to upgrade most Nike Ajax sites to accommodate the more powerful, nuclear-capable Nike Hercules. However, the army did not upgrade Battery Caulfield to the Hercules missiles and as a result, the army inactivated the 740th AAAMBn in 1958 and re-designated them as the 4th Missile Battalion, 61st Artillery (4/61st). By 1962, the army inactivated the Nike Ajax missile function at Battery Caulfield. In 1964, the army inactivated the last Nike Ajax site in the United States. The 4/61st group maintained control of the Battery Caulfield Nike missile operations until 1969. After 1969, the Headquarters Battery of the 1st Battalion 250th (1/250th) AAA Regiment, California National Guard (CAArNG) moved into Building 1648 and remained its occupant until 1974.

By the late 1960s, The U.S.S.R. had developed an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (I.C.B.M.) with a range of 7,500 miles and the ability to fly higher than the Nike missiles. As a result, the United States discontinued the Surface to Air Missile program and refocused its energy and budgets into the Anti-Ballistic Missiles that could intercept an I.C.B.M. By 1974, after twenty years of first-line defense readiness, the army declared the Nike missile system obsolete and took the last missiles out of service in 1979.

The Last Tenants of Building 1648

In 1974, the 902nd Military Intelligence Group, S.F. Military Intelligence Detachment, Military Intelligence Battalion, U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command moved into Building 1648 and remained the occupant for almost twenty years. In 1992, likely due to the pending Department of Defense transfer of the Presidio to the National Park Service, the Military Intelligence Battalion moved out of Building 1648 and into a nearby PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO, AAA BATTALION HEADQUARTERS FACILITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING HABS No. CA-2919 (Page 6)

building. The U.S. Park Police occupied the building from approximately 1993 to 1996. After 1996, the building has been mostly unoccupied.

Part II. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION

A. General Statement:

1. Architectural character: Presidio Building 1648 is a one-story, concrete, rectangular Cold War-era utilitarian military building.

2. Condition of fabric: The building is in fair condition.

B. Description of Exterior:

1. Overall dimensions: The one-story, rectangular building measures at 135’4” long by 46’ wide and is 6,187 square feet.

2. Foundations: The foundation is composed of reinforced concrete continuous footings.

3. Walls: The walls are 8” thick, white painted concrete masonry block.

4. Structural systems, framing: Concrete masonry block framing.

5. Openings

a. Doorways and doors: The building’s main entrance is located on the east elevation, 10’ left of center. The entrance was originally comprised of a pair of sold-core sash doors with 4 lites, but now contain a pair of solid core wood doors. At the south façade, there is a pair of entrance doors just right of center. In 1974, the army removed a pair of solid-core, flush wood doors, and filled the opening with concrete block. Sometime after 1974, the later concrete block was removed and the opening is now covered by a large piece of plywood. On the west elevation, the army replaced an earlier door opening with a window in 1974. Another door opening was filled in with concrete block. Currently, a single solid-core louvered entrance door is located just left of center of the elevations. The PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO, AAA BATTALION HEADQUARTERS FACILITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING HABS No. CA-2919 (Page 7)

louvers are covered with plywood panels. The north elevation contains a single door, now filled with plywood, located near the center.

b. Windows and shutters: Each elevation is punctured by bands of two-over-two and one-over-one double hung wood and steel sash windows. The windows are spaced irregularly and fixed above projected pre-cast concrete sills. In 1974, the army installed galvanized steel grilles to all existing windows. The horizontal grille bars twist into attachment plates at each end.

6. Roof:

a. Shape, covering: The building is covered by a gently sloped shed roof of built-up asphalt and tar.

b. Cornice, eaves: At each façade, the eave extends approximately 2’ beyond the wall plane and ends in an 8” tall vertical fascia. A pipe supported by wooden brackets is attached to all facades under the eaves.

C. Description of Interior:

1. Floor Plans: Building 1648 is long, rectangular building with one long hall that runs down the entire length of the building. On either side of the hallway are a series of large and small rooms. The rooms on the east half of the building include the kitchen area, the bathrooms, the utility closet, the front entrance, the enclosed vaulted space, and large and small office spaces. On the west side of the hallway is the mechanical room, the boiler room and a large and small office spaces.

2. Flooring: The flooring throughout the building is concrete and there are no baseboards in the main rooms. There are 6” baseboards in the bathrooms.

3. Wall and ceiling finish: The interior walls are either exposed concrete masonry units or sheetrock. A middle room on the west side contains non-historic paneling. In most rooms, the ceilings are covered in sheet rock; in some rooms, dropped acoustical ceiling tiling is present. PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO, AAA BATTALION HEADQUARTERS FACILITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING HABS No. CA-2919 (Page 8)

4. Openings

a. Doorways and doors: Most of the interior doors are single, hollow core doors. There is a single door with a square window containing security glass.

On the central, east side of the building , there is a large metal interior vault, produced by Master Safe Company (serial # 20053-2, model # SD4098-6R), dated October 1968. This walk-in vault creates a secured, sectioned-off room. The ceilings are covered with acoustic tile panels and there is a metal security door.

b. windows: The interior window sills are 3 ½” deep.

5. Decorative features and trim: The room at the south end of the east side of the building contains wooden kitchen cabinets with Formica countertops.

7. Mechanical equipment

a. heating, air condition, ventilation: The building contains long metal radiators and heating pipes at the ceiling level. Long metal ducts run the length of the hallway. There is a wall fan inside the vault room.

b.lighting: Most of the building is lit by long, suspended fluorescent lighting; there is a glazed dome security lighting down the entire hallway. The bathrooms contain light fixtures.

c. plumbing: There is both a men’s and a woman’s bathroom; each facility contains sinks, toilets and/or urinals with metal stall separators.

d. telecom: The mechanical room contains the fuse box and the telecommunication system.

PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO, AAA BATTALION HEADQUARTERS FACILITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING HABS No. CA-2919 (Page 9)

D. Site 1. General setting and orientation: The front elevation of Building 1648 faces east, towards Langdon Street and Lincoln Boulevard. The rear of the building faces west, towards Battery Godfrey and the Pacific Ocean. At the east (front) elevation, grass and weeds grow right up to the building’s wall. There is a small concrete pathway leading to the front entrance. A concrete sidewalk runs from the east elevation around the building to the middle of the north elevation. At the west (rear) elevation, a concrete sidewalk runs along the building. Directly behind the building is a sharp hill with a staircase leading to Battery Godfrey. At the south of the building, there is a concrete pad and the remnants of a concrete driveway. The building is closed to the public.

2. Historic Landscape design: There appears to be no historic landscape design. Wild grasses and weeds surround the building.

Part III. SOURCES OF INFORMATION

A. Architectural drawings: Floor plans for Building 1648 are available at the Park Archives and Records Center, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Building 667, Presidio of San Francisco in Drawer 110, Folder 1.

“AAA Battalion Headquarters Facilities Administration Building, Equipment Repair Facilities” September 7, 1956. Drafted by Corlett and Dewell, Architects & Engineers 347 Clay Street, San Francisco

Sheet 1: Site Plan and Site Location Sheet 2: Plot Plan Sheet 3: Floor Plan and Schedules Sheet 4: Elevations and Sections Sheet 5: Wall Section and Door Details Sheet 6: Window and Interior Details Sheet 7: Site Profiles and Details Sheet 8: Foundation and Framing Plans Sheet 9: Outside Utilities Sheet 10: Plumbing Plan Sheet 11: Heating Plan Sheet12: Electrical Distribution Sheet 13: Electrical Plans and Details PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO, AAA BATTALION HEADQUARTERS FACILITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING HABS No. CA-2919 (Page 10)

Sheet 14: Equipment Repairs and Facilities Floor Plan Sheet 15: (architect deleted from contract) Sheet 16: Equipment Repair Facilities Plan Sheet 17: Operation Room Heating and Ventilation Sheet 18: Operation Room Heating and Plumbing Details Sheet 19: Equipment Repair Facilities Electrical Plans

“Building 1648: Alterations to Building 1648, USA SIX DCSOPS” March 1974. Drafted by the Facilities Engineer Office, Presidio of San Francisco.

“Building 1648: Intrusion Detection System for Security Vault, USA SIX DCSOPS” March 1974. Drafted by the Facilities Engineer Office, Presidio of San Francisco.

B. Historic views: The Park Archives and Records Center, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Building 667, Presidio of San Francisco contains many historic images from Fort Winfield Scott. Unfortunately, the army did not take pictures of Building 1648, likely due to the military and later clandestine nature of the building’s occupants. To-date, no historic views have been found. The Park Archives does have a few illustrative images of the building’s future location (just to the east of Battery Godfrey and south of the Golden Gate Bridge District Administration building) from the early 1950s, prior to the construction of Building 1648.

C. Bibliography: Presidio Building 1648 National Register of Historic Places Determination of Eligibility, was written by Architectural Resources Group for the National Park Service in 2006.

D. Oral History Recording of Michael Brasington, U.S. Army veteran who served at the Presidio from September 1962 to April 1963.

PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO, AAA BATTALION HEADQUARTERS FACILITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING HABS No. CA-2919 (Page 11)

Part IV. PROJECT INFORMATION

The purposed of the HABS recordation is for mitigation recording of this historic building that will be removed per the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the National Park Service and the California Office State Historic Preservation. The MOA contains the following stipulation:

1.The NPS shall document Building 1648 to Level II standards as recommended by the regional Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) coordinator at the Pacific West Region. Unless otherwise agreed to by HABS/HAER, the Park shall ensure that all such documentation is completed and accepted by the HABS/HAER prior to demolition.

2.The Park will ensure that all recordation and documentation activities are performed or directly supervised by architects, historians, photographers, and/or other professionals meeting the qualification standards in the Secretary of Interior’s Professional Qualification Standards (36 CFR 61, Appendix A).

3.The Park will ensure that copies of all documents resulting from the documentation and recordation are transmitted to the SHPO and accessioned into the permanent archival collection of Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Kristin L. Baron, architectural historian, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, National Park Service, prepared the HABS report. Stephen Haller, historian, provided technical and historic assistance.

HABS photography was provided by Amanda Tomlin Photography, 18 Taft Court, Novato, CA, 94947.

The HABS records were prepared between October 2015 and May 2016. All existing condition HABS photographs were taken between April and May, 2016.

PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO, AAA BATTALION HEADQUARTERS FACILITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING HABS No. CA-2919 (Page 12)

PSF AAA Battalion Headquarters, site plan and site location, September 1956 Golden Gate National Recreation Area PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO, AAA BATTALION HEADQUARTERS FACILITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING HABS No. CA-2919 (Page 13)

Park Archives and Record Center, Presidio Building 1648, Drawer 110, Folder 1

PSF AAA Battalion Headquarters, plot plan, September 1956 Golden Gate National Recreation Area Park Archives and Record Center, Presidio Building 1648, Drawer 110, Folder 1

PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO, AAA BATTALION HEADQUARTERS FACILITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING HABS No. CA-2919 (Page 14)

PSF AAA Battalion Headquarters, floor plan and schedule, September 1956 Golden Gate National Recreation Area Park Archives and Record Center, Presidio Building 1648, Drawer 110, Folder 1

PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO, AAA BATTALION HEADQUARTERS FACILITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING HABS No. CA-2919 (Page 15)

PSF AAA Battalion Headquarters, facilities elevations & sections, September 1956 Golden Gate National Recreation Area Park Archives and Record Center, Presidio Building 1648, Drawer 110, Folder 1 PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO, AAA BATTALION HEADQUARTERS FACILITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING HABS No. CA-2919 (Page 16)

Building 1648: Alterations to Building 1648, USA SIX DCSOPS, March 1974 Golden Gate National Recreation Area Park Archives and Record Center, Presidio Building 1648, Drawer 110, Folder 1

PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO, AAA BATTALION HEADQUARTERS FACILITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING HABS No. CA-2919 (Page 17)

Building 1648: Intrusion detection system for security vault, USA SIX DCSOPS Golden Gate National Recreation Area Park Archives and Record Center, Presidio Building 1648, Drawer 110, Folder 1