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Health & Fitness

Berkeley's Civic Center Took Nearly Half a Century to Complete

The concept of Berkeley's Civic Center was begun in 1898 but was not completed, and the park dedicated until Memorial Day, 1942, 44 years later.

Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center is a Historic District placed on the National Register of Historic Placed in 1998. The district is bordered by McKinley Street, Milvia Street, Allston Way and Center Street. Four major buildings comprise the symmetrical, cross axial composition running east-west from City Hall (1909) to the Federal Land Bank/Farm Credit Union (1938) and north-south from the Veterans' Memorial Building (1928/9) to the Community Theater (designed 1937, completed 1951). This cross axis meets in the center of the circular Civic Center Fountain (1939-1942).  Other significant buildings in the Historic District include the YMCA (1910), the Post Office (1914) and 1947 Center Street (1946). 

Berkeley’s Civic Center had its earliest beginnings in 1898 when Berkeley’s Town Hall was moved from Sacramento Street and University Avenue to Grove Street (now MLK, Jr. Way) and Allston Way. Three years later the corner stone was laid for a new high school in the Neo-classic style that brought a second civic use to the area. 

As we learned from my , “old” City Hall that stands today was built in 1909 after the 1884 town hall was destroyed by fire in 1904. The grandeur of the new City Hall proclaimed the city’s image as the “Athens of the West” in keeping with the beautiful Neo-classic buildings under construction on the University Campus.

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The City Hall, as the keystone of a future Civic Center, was inspired by the concepts of the “City Beautiful Movement” promoted by Chicago architect Daniel Burhman, that encouraged important public buildings be grouped around a central park. It was hoped that a proper civic center would also link the downtown with City Hall. However the city did not own the land for the future Civic Center Park, so a $175,00 bond to purchase the land was proposed on September 15, 1914 but subsequently failed. The bond measure was accompanied by an ambitious plan drawn by architects Lewis Hobart and Sheldon Cheney. 

It wasn’t until the late 1930s that the city was able to begin purchasing the block that would become Civic Center Park. In the process the city sold the east quarter of the block to the Farm Credit Administration and used the revenue to purchase options on the remaining land held in private hands. This is the reason the building that now serves as the city’s main administration offices, at 2180 Milvia Street, is often still called the Federal Land Bank/Farm Credit Building (James W. Plachek, 1938).

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It was also in the late 1930s that planning began for new buildings at Berkeley High. The resulting complex of buildings by architects Henry H. Gutterson and William Corlett, Sr., and incorporating sculpture by Jacques Schnier and Robert Howard represents one of the Bay Areas premier examples of the Art Deco Style.

Finally on May 7, 1940 voters approved a bond issue of $125,000 to purchase the remaining land to create Civic Center Park. The newly constructed park was dedicated on Memorial Day, 1942 with a pageant and orchestral concert. The park, with its large central lawn and hardscape terrace, quickly became a centerpiece of Berkeley civic activities. Fairs, gatherings, and other public events continue to be held there.

Susan Dinkelspiel Cerny, Jerry Holan and Linda Perry researched and wrote the National Register Landmark application in 1998.  Contemporary photos and additional information can be found at: http://berkeleyheritage.com/berkeley_landmarks/civic_center.html

To learn more about the National Register of Historic Places visit: http://www.nps.gov/nr/

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