United States Old Mint • Historic Structure Report
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United States Old Mint • Historic Structure Report 5th & Mission Streets, San Francisco, California prepared for The City of San Francisco prepared by Architectural Resources Group San Francisco, California 26 June 2002 United States Old Mint, 5th & Mission Streets, San Francisco Historic Structure Report 26 June 2002 Architectural Resources Group TABLE OF CONTENTS I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................... 1 II. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE ....................................................................................... 3 III. METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH MATERIALS ............................................................. 5 IV. PREVIOUS STUDIES AND DOCUMENTATION ................................................................. 7 V. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW AND CONTEXTS ...................................................................... 9 VI. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION ................................................................................................ 25 VII. CHRONOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT AND USE .............................................................. 44 VIII. CHARACTER-DEFINING FEATURES AND SIGNIFICANCE RATINGS .......................... 53 IX. PERIOD OF SIGNIFICANCE ............................................................................................. 63 X. EVALUATION OF BUILDING INTEGRITY ........................................................................ 64 XI. CONDITIONS ASSESSMENT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................ 67 XII. FUTURE BUILDING USES AND DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES .......................................... 82 XIII. BUILDING CODE ISSUES ................................................................................................. 89 XIV. BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................ 94 XV. ENDNOTES ........................................................................................................................ 99 Appendices Appendix A. Historical Photographs in Chronological Order. (Figures 1-44). Appendix B. Photographs of Existing Conditions, 2002. (Figures 45-122). Appendix C. Secretary of the Interior’s Standards. Appendix D. Historical Drawings in Chronological Order. Appendix E. Existing Conditions Drawings by Beverly Prior Architects, 2002. Appendix F. Historic American Building Survey (HABS) Drawings (1962). Appendix G. Old Mint Historical Drawing Inventory compiled by ARG, 2002. Appendix H. Old Mint Historical Room Uses Table compiled by ARG, 2002. Appendix I. National Historic Landmark Nomination (1961), National Register Nomination (1988). Appendix J. Original Specifications for Wrought and Cast Iron Work for U.S. Branch Mint. Figure Numbers noted in text, i.e. (Figure 22, 23), refer to photographs in Appendices A and B. United States Old Mint, 5th & Mission Streets, San Francisco Historic Structure Report 26 June 2002 Architectural Resources Group PROJECT TEAM Client City of San Francisco Office of the City Architect 1 Carlton B. Goodlett Place San Francisco, California 94102 Yomi Agunbiade, Acting Director Principal Preparers Architectural Resources Group Pier 9, The Embarcadero San Francisco, California 94111 Bruce D. Judd, FAIA, Project Principal Stephen J. Farneth, FAIA, Associate Project Principal David Wessel, AIC, Principal Conservator Bridget Maley, Project Manager Deborah J. Cooper, AIA, Architect Katherine T. Petrin, Architectural Historian Evan Kopelson, Conservator Jody Stock, Architectural Historian Architectural Drawings Beverly Prior Architects 375 Fremont Street, Suite 300 San Francisco, California 94105 Beverly Prior, Project Principal Mike Hauser, Project Captain Acknowledgments Yomi Agunbiade, Acting Director, Office of the City Architect Rebecca Benassini, Administrative Analyst, Office of the City Architect Warren Sitterley, Property Manager, General Services Administration, San Francisco, California Alfonso Mendez, Real Estate Specialist, General Services Administration, San Francisco, California John Hedger, Archivist, National Archives and Records Administration, San Bruno, California United States Old Mint, 5th & Mission Streets, San Francisco Historic Structure Report 26 June 2002 Architectural Resources Group I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Architectural Resources Group (ARG) was retained by the City of San Francisco to produce a Historic Structure Report (HSR), for the United States Old Mint located in downtown San Francisco at the northwest corner of 5th and Mission Streets. The Historic Structure Report contains essential information on the history of the building, an assessment of existing conditions, a discussion of significance, and evaluations of proposals with regard to future adaptive use of the building. The Old Mint is recognized as a National Historic Landmark, the highest level of federal designation. Due to the high level of integrity of the Old Mint, consideration of the implications for future use is critical. The historical overview presents information from the earliest newspaper accounts through the 1960s when demolition of the building was a real threat, made clear by contemporary accounts. The significance sections convey the extraordinary qualities and aspects of the Old Mint design and construction, especially the use of granite on the exterior and interior, sandstone facing and detailing, ornamental and utilitarian cast iron elements, and metal lining for vaults. A specific, rated list of character-defining features and other elements is presented. The HSR benefits from drawings of existing conditions prepared by Beverly Prior Architects. Remarkably, the comparison of an original 1874 floor plan with the existing conditions plans indicates that the building has changed very little, especially with regard to circulation and primary room configurations. The building has not incurred any exterior additions, but changes over time which have been constant. Many significant spaces have acquired non-contributing individual elements. Conversely, within altered and modified spaces there remain elements of historic importance. This is especially true at the north, south, and west wings of the first and second floors where former work and industrial spaces were converted to office use, and in some instances modern materials cover historic fabric. Whereas greater amounts of new, modern materials have been installed over historic fabric in the western or rear half of the building and restorative treatments have occurred in the eastern or front half, the Old Mint should not be viewed as having a “historic” half and a “non-historic” half. In fact, many historic elements of varying levels of significance, resulting from varying types of intervention, are found throughout all spaces of the building. Given the regular program of maintenance works, ongoing modifications, and rehabilitation campaigns throughout the life of the building, it is surprising that such a large amount of intact original historic fabric remains at the Old Mint. Page 1 United States Old Mint, 5th & Mission Streets, San Francisco Historic Structure Report 26 June 2002 Architectural Resources Group The final sections discuss future uses and code issues. Together with discussions on the best opportunities for the building, these sections outline a philosophy for proposed work, which should be carried out in accordance with The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring, and Reconstructing Historic Buildings (The Standards), and as stipulated by the Programmatic Agreement between the General Services Administration (GSA), the City of San Francisco, and other parties. Because the Old Mint is currently defined by varying types and sizes of spaces, each treated differently, a range of new functions would work best. Housing a combination of museum, office, event, or retail/restaurant space seems to be an ideal scenario for adaptive use of the building. This approach would allow for the uses that are most complimentary for the varied building spaces. As part of a future project at the Old Mint, deficiencies in life safety, structural systems, and accessibility must be upgraded to meet the current requirements of the Uniform Building Code, or the California Historical Building Code (CHBC), a “performance-based” code, requiring the same level of safety, but permitting the applicant to identify different options to achieve safety and minimize the removal of historic fabric, furthering the preservation of building’s integrity. The information presented herein provides the basis for evaluating future alterations to the Old Mint and will aid in the rehabilitation of this significant structure. This report expands upon the desire to improve the conditions at the Old Mint, focusing on the building, its site and its history. The 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed nearly every building in the vicinity of the Old Mint. As the only financial institution in the City able to open in the wake of the disaster, the Mint stimulated the City’s recovery and saved the City from total economic chaos in the days following the earthquake. Page 2 United States Old Mint, 5th & Mission Streets, San Francisco Historic Structure Report 26 June 2002 Architectural Resources Group II. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Designed by Alfred B. Mullett, Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department, the second United States Mint in San