Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
as handsome, proud, and imposing as a government capital building. In fact, most
visitors are shocked to learn that its mighty rotunda is
larger
than the one atop the
U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Only four domes are bigger: the Vatican,
Florence's Duomo, St. Paul's in London, and Les Invalides in Paris). If America
ever moves its capital to San Francisco, its governmental home is taken care of.
Should another horrible earthquake strike—make that
when
one strikes—a 1999
seismic retrofit saw to it that the structure can swing up to 27 inches in any direc-
tion; if you look closely at the stairs entering the building, you'll notice they don't
actually touch the sidewalk because the entire building is on high-tech springs
that had to be slipped, two by two, beneath a structure that already existed and
was conducting daily business.
City Hall's most imposing attraction is indeed its fabulously ornate rotunda, a
blend of marble (on the lower reaches) and painted plaster (high up), swept the-
atrically by a grand staircase where countless couples pose daily for their “just
married” shots right after tying the knot (Fri is the busiest day for that). You've
probably seen this staircase before. It featured in one of the final shots of
Raiders
of the Lost Ark
(1981) as a stand-in for the U.S. Capitol. It was here, in 2004, that
thousands of gay couples queued to sign up for their weddings; the first couple in
line was an octogenarian lesbian couple that had been together for 51 years. Also,
in 1954, Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe were married here and posed for
photos on these steps. Not all the famous happenings at City Hall have been so
hopeful. In 1978, the famous assassination of Mayor George Moscone and city
Supervisor Harvey Milk occurred in two places on the second floor; the resulting
trial, in which their killer got a light sentence because, as his lawyers said, he was
high on junk food (the “Twinkie Defense”) became a lynchpin of outrage for the
gay-rights movement. In the rotunda, look up: Sculptures of Adam and Eve can
be seen holding up the official seal of the city (so much for the old saw about San
Francisco being godless).
Across the hall at the top of the grand staircase, the sumptuous Chamber of
the Board of Supervisors is worth a peek if it's open; its walls of Manchurian oak,
plaster ceiling created to mimic wood, and doors hand-carved by French and
Italian craftsmen make this one of the most opulent rooms in the city. Sunshine
laws dictate that it must be open to the public unless in a special session, so pop
in for a gander. Better yet, drop in during one of its colorful meetings; see p. 136
for details of that.
Also, check out the Light Court off the main rotunda on the ground floor;
there, you'll find the head of the Goddess of Progress statue; she was atop the prior
City Hall, in fuller figure, but this is all that survives. The light-bulb sockets in
her hair were later additions. Excellent 1-hour guided tours, which are not neces-
sary to see the highlights, go at 10am, noon, and 2pm; sign up at the desk inside
the Van Ness Avenue entrance (there's a security check, of course—one way in
which Milk's death made a difference).
The three-level
Asian Art Museum
5
(200 Larkin St., at Fulton;
%
415/581
-
3500; www.asianart.org; $12 adults, $8 seniors 65 and older, $7 students and kids
13-17, $5 Thurs after 5pm; Tues-Wed and Fri-Sat 10am-5pm, Thurs 10am-9pm),
located across from City Hall, is extremely well designed and stuffed with incred-
ible artifacts spanning 6,000 years of culture, as befitting a city that has been home
to some of the cream of Asian-descended people for more than 150 years. Jade,
