Berkeley Architectural Heritage has endorsed saving our historic Old City Hall (the Maudelle Shirek Building) as our primary goal for this year.

Old City Hall has been empty for 10 years when it was declared seismically unsafe. It is suffering increasing demolition by neglect. There has been a committee working on preserving and restoring it for several years headed by John Caner of the Downtown Berkeley Association. It is committee of varied interests including BAHA, former State Senators and Mayors Loni Hancock and Tom Bates, downtown business, visual and performing arts, environmental groups, the Berkeley Historical Society.

Our beautiful Beaux Arts City Hall is Berkeley Landmark #1 designed in 1909 by John Bakewell and Arthur Brown, the same architects who designed San Francisco’s beautifully restored City Hall and the San Francisco Opera House. It it’s also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the Keystone of the Berkeley City Center, which was inspired by the concepts of the City Beautiful movement. The design was based on the Hotel de Ville in Tours, France.

There are plans in place, but not the funds, for restoration Including new Council Chambers and other civic and community uses. A report from Tipping Structural Engineers, a local firm, has greatly reduced the cost of seismic retrofitting. A preservation architectural firm, Page and Turnbull, has been chosen.

It is a source of great civic pride and continues to be identified as a symbol of the City Of Berkeley.