Landmarks

The four churches of St. Dominic

Posted on December 28, 2024 by editors

Photograph of St. Dominic’s Church by Alex Mizuno

ST. DOMINIC’S CATHOLIC CHURCH is celebrating 150 years in the neighborhood — and 100 years in its landmark Gothic home — with the publication of a new book, Radiating the Joy of the Gospel in the Heart of the City.

The book captures key moments in the life of the church in words and photographs. These excerpts tell the story of the four buildings St. Dominic’s has occupied.

The First St. Dominic’s Church

As early as 1863, the Dominican Order bought a square block bounded by Steiner, Bush, Pierce and Pine Streets for $6,000. On June 29, 1873, Archbishop Joseph Alemany blessed the first St. Dominic’s Church at the corner of Bush and Steiner Streets, the site of the present church.

The original priory building was located at the corner of Steiner and Pine Streets, with the entrance on Steiner. This is where the Dominican friars lived as a community.

An article in The Monitor, the official publication of the archdiocese, described the territory around St. Dominic’s when the church was first founded: “At that time the Western Addition was a waste of sand dunes on the outskirts of the city. Of residents, there are very few in the district, and its houses, some of them small ranch houses, were far apart. Old fathers have told of how they went over the hills on horseback for provisions, and the old residents of the city of how they came to it from the Mission, in buggies and on foot, by ways made almost impassable by the drifting sands.”

The Second St. Dominic’s Church

Within a short time, the area grew. The little church of St. Dominic, though still new, was proving inadequate for the growing needs of the people. Although the plan of the first church provided for the addition of a transept, the decision was made to move it to another part of the block and transform it into a parish hall, while an entirely new church would occupy the original site at the corner of Bush and Steiner Streets.

The second St. Dominic’s Church was first authorized on April 18, 1880. Even before the plans for the church had been approved, the first church was lifted and moved to about the middle of the Pine Street side of the block.

After the laying of the cornerstone in 1883, work on the new church languished for some time. These were years when money was hard to come by on account of the gradual depletion of the Comstock Lode in the Nevada mines and the consequent depression in San Francisco.

Archbishop Patrick Riordan blessed the new church on Sunday, November 13, 1887, although there were a good many parts still to be erected or installed. In September 1892, The Monitor reported: “During the past week, a number of plasterers have been giving the finishing touches to St. Dominic’s New Church. The church has a seating capacity of 2,000.”

By 1893, the church was essentially finished except for some proposed interior decoration and also for the organ. It would be five years before the organ was installed. The total cost of the church was $188,926.77.

Then catastrophe struck. On the early morning of April 18, 1906, came the disastrous San Francisco earthquake and fire. The church was destroyed. Part of one of its towers fell on the priory.

The Third St. Dominic’s Church

Less than three weeks after the earthquake, ground was broken in the middle of the Pierce Street block for a temporary church that would serve first as a church and later as a parish hall. By May 1907, the temporary church was ready for dedication.

In 1923, plans for the fourth — and current — church became final and work began.

The Fourth St. Dominic’s Church

The third church had always been considered a temporary church. As early as 1917, a sketch of the proposed interior of New St. Dominic’s Church was shown. In 1923, plans for the new church became final and work began. Early in the year it was generally assumed that at least some of the foundations of the old church could be used in the new one. In February the engineers convinced the friars that this was not feasible, so it was decided to have the old stones crushed and used in the new reinforced concrete walls.

Plans were made to lay the cornerstone on August 5, 1923. The cornerstone was a large block of granite, the same that had rested in the foundation of the church that was destroyed.

During the next four years, the construction of the new church was the most interesting aspect of St. Dominic’s parish. The gradually rising English Gothic structure on the old site at Bush and Steiner Streets was considered a truly international church. Craftsmen, artists and technicians from the United States and Europe collaborated in fashioning the parts which together created an exquisite whole.

On February 19, 1928, Archbishop Edward J. Hanna dedicated the new St. Dominic’s.

Copies of Radiating the Joy of the Gospel in the Heart of the City are available in the parish office or may be ordered online here.

“The St. Dominic’s Block“

“The 1989 Earthquake“

Filed under: Body & Soul, Landmarks, Neighborhood History | Leave a Comment »

Medical library may become condos

Posted on January 20, 2024 by editors

Rendering of proposed additions to the library at Sacramento and Webster.

A PLAN TO upscale the landmark Lane Medical Library at Sacramento and Webster into 24 condominiums — which so far has found smooth sailing through the city’s planning apparatus — has run into a roadblock. It is being appealed to the Board of Supervisors, with a hearing scheduled on February 6.

After serving as a medical library for more than a century, the classical structure built in 1912 was sold in 2018 when California Pacific Medical Center moved to its new home on Van Ness Avenue. Since then it has been an event facility.

Now Gokovacandir LLC proposes gutting the interior of the building and adding towers to the east and south sides of the building that would extend to 87 feet — more than double the height limit in the neighborhood. The structures would include four four-bedroom units, nine three-bedroom units, 10 two-bedroom units and one one-bedroom unit, plus 26 underground parking spaces.

Sacramento Street elevation, courtesy of BAR Architects.

The project has been helped along by new state laws that encourage the construction of more housing, allowing developers to build beyond current zoning restrictions and giving them a “density bonus” if the project includes below-market-rate units. The 2395 Sacramento project would include three “affordable” units, qualifying it for five additional units as a density bonus.

In his appeal, neighbor Jonathan Clark challenges the Planning Department’s approval of the library conversion.

Clark’s lawyers argue that the city “has embarked upon a dangerous, far-reaching and blatantly unlawful interpretation” of environmental laws governing the project. They write: “The proposed project will jeopardize the historically significant Lane Medical Library, which is listed as City Landmark 115, by placing an 87-foot tall building on one side of the historic landmark and a 72-foot building on another side — all in a zone with a 40-foot height limit.”

Webster Street elevation, courtesy of BAR Architects.

The addition on the Webster Street side would sit between the library and Temple Sherith Israel at California and Webster, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The medical library has also been nominated for the National Register. Both buildings were designed by noted architect Albert Pissis. A three-panel mural by Arthur Mathews, one of early California’s most respected artists, would be removed, along with the rest of the library reading room, as part of the project.

Critics say the project exemplifies the problems created by speeding projects through the city planning process and using density bonuses where historic resources are involved.

UPDATE: Supervisors approve redevelopment of medical library

MORE: “Will all new housing be exempt from environmental review?“

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Calvary moved to Fillmore from Union Square

Posted on January 17, 2024 by editors

Calvary Presbyterian Church held its first service at Fillmore & Jackson in 1902.

By WOODY LABOUNTY
SF Heritage

The story: the imposing Calvary Presbyterian Church on the corner of Fillmore and Jackson streets — which seems like an ancient temple that has stood on its plot for time immemorial — was moved there from Union Square.

Let’s play detective and take a before-and-after look.

Sweet recognition for a Japantown bakery

Posted on February 9, 2023 by editors

Kenji Yick with the Sweet Stop’s famous Coffee Crunch Cake. Photo: Frank Wing

By FRAN MORELAND JOHNS

When the nominations for this year’s James Beard Awards were announced in late January, there was a local surprise. Among the semifinalists for Outstanding Bakery: Yasukochi’s Sweet Stop, a small shop in the corner of a Japantown grocery store most noted for keeping alive one of the city’s most beloved creations, the Coffee Crunch Cake.

The results will be in soon: Finalists will be announced on March 29, and winners unveiled at a ceremony in Chicago on June 5.

For chef-owner Kenji Yick, being shortlisted for the Beard award — the Oscars of the food world — came as surprising, and heartwarming, post-pandemic news.

Yick, a graduate of the French Culinary Institute, is the grandson of Sweet Stop founders Moses and Hatsy Yasukochi, who married in 1964 and opened the Sweet Stop 10 years later. Moses learned to bake the Coffee Crunch Cake, made famous at Blum’s on Union Square, from an employee who’d worked there.

Yick grew up “in and out of the bakery” while visiting his grandparents. By the time he decided to pursue a career in the food world and finished his culinary training, his grandfather was having to withdraw from the long hours of baking. So Yick went to work helping his grandmother.

Hatsuye (Hatsy) Yasukochi, was known as the “smile of the bakery” and considered by many the beating heart of Japantown. There were few in the community she didn’t know and love, and the sentiment was mutual. She died in 2020, an early victim of Covid, after a bout with cancer. When Moses lost his wife, he moved to an assisted living community in San Mateo near his children and grandchildren.

Many feared the bakery might not survive. But the Yasukochis’ grandson vowed to keep it going, and he has — and now the family legacy he carries on has been singled out for national recognition.

“We shut down for three months early in the pandemic,” he says, “and reopened for four days a week rather than five.” His grandmother’s absence in the bakery and the neighborhood is still widely felt. “The hardest part is that there now are just the two of us”: Yick and longtime front corner employee Debbie Ishida. “How long have you been here, Debbie?” he asks. “I don’t remember,” she responds. “A very long time.”

Kenji Yick and Debbie Ishida now run the Sweet Stop. Photo: Fran Johns

The Sweet Stop is still humming along, much as it has since Yick’s grandparents founded it nearly 50 years ago. He says the pandemic made clear the faithfulness of the shop’s core customers, who never abandoned their taste for cakes, pies and pastries from the Sweet Stop. But now the cakes — including the famous Coffee Crunch Cake — are only baked to order. “And we had to discontinue the Danish,” Yick says, “largely because we were designating it to Kimochi, and they had to discontinue their free meals. But we hope to bring it back.”

Tucked away inside the Super Mira Market on the corner of Sutter and Buchanan, Yasuchoci’s Sweet Stop is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. But you might want to order ahead, especially if you want a Coffee Crunch Cake.

EARLIER:

A classic cake lives on

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Elite’s new name: The Tailor’s Son

Posted on February 29, 2020 by editors

The wiring and lettering on the vintage sign were removed on February 28.

THE LAST TRACES of the legendary Elite Cafe — a beacon of hospitality on Fillmore Street for decades — have disappeared. The lettering on the vintage neon sign has now been removed, along with the wooden booths inside.

The Elite’s new name: The Tailor’s Son, in honor of owner Adrianno Paganini ’s father, who was a tailor. The sign is being reworked to announce the new name. During earlier incarnations, the same sign proclaimed the Asia Cafe and the Lincoln Grill.

EARLIER: “Elite no more“

Elite no more

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A final farewell to the Clay

Posted on February 27, 2020 by editors

Fixtures and furnishings being removed from the Clay Theatre.

DEMOLITION OF THE interior of the 110-year-old Clay Theatre on Fillmore Street began today, with workers hauling out the seats, the projectors and the popcorn machine.

Landmark Theatres, the company that operated the Clay in recent decades, has instructed its staff to leave the building empty by the end of the month.

The theater closed at the end of January, but ongoing discussions between building owner Balgobind Jaiswal and the S.F. Neighborhood Theater Foundation — which had offered to buy or rent the theater — had given supporters hope the Clay might continue as a nonprofit.

Those negotiations have proved unsuccessful and the landlord’s agent, neighborhood resident Pamela Mendelsohn of the Maven real estate firm, has been showing the space to other potential tenants.

Interior furnishings of the Clay Theatre being removed and hauled away.

EARLIER: “Clay Theatre to close“

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New life for an old library

Posted on November 5, 2019 by editors

The library’s majestic former reading room is now available as an event space.

By CHRIS BARNETT

One of the neighborhood’s enduring architectural treasures has been resurrected and a mystery is solved — almost.

The 107-year-old Beaux Arts four-story Health Sciences Library on the corner of Webster and Sacramento — which gave refuge to the smart and studious for decades, but has stood empty collecting cobwebs in recent years — is being reborn as a venue for “mission based” organizations and groups looking for conference and symposium space.

A designated San Francisco landmark once known as the Lane Medical Library, the building at 2395 Sacramento Street is now owned by entrepreneurial software executive-turned-humanitarian Kamal El-Wattar and his wife, Anya, a Michelin-starred chef, restaurateur and wellness advocate. The couple bought it more than two years ago for a reported $9.5 million, but have been silent on their plans for the property. Until now.

Kamal El-Wattar heads a nonprofit called The Answers Project that goes far afield for existential truths. Project researchers once trekked to Borneo to question the elders of an Indonesian culture about their life, philosophy and happiness. He is also a board member of the Biomimicry Institute, a low-to–no-profile think tank of sorts probing how technology and nature can be combined to resolve environmental problems.

Anya El-Wattar is an activist and artist who runs a local nonprofit, Project Butterfly Social, that also creates food events. They live in the neighborhood.

The building has a rich heritage. It was designed in 1912 by San Francisco architect Albert Pissis, who also designed Temple Sherith Israel, which shares the block. The high-ceilinged structure was initially owned by Cooper Medical College, the first medical school in the West, which opened in a Victorian brick building across the street in 1882.

The historic Health Sciences Library at 2395 Sacramento Street.

Stanford University acquired the Cooper complex to serve as its medical school from 1908 to 1956, when the Stanford hospital moved to Palo Alto. The complex was then expanded and became the Presbyterian Medical Center. In the early 1990s, it became the California Pacific Medical Center.

For decades, the library was shared by students at the University of the Pacific’s dental school, then located diagonally across from the library. Students used the library as a reading room and study hall until the dental school relocated downtown five years ago. Its neighborhood home was gutted and converted into The Pacific, a 77-unit condominium complex at Webster and Sacramento.

To help bring the library back to life, the El-Wattars hired a Washington, D.C., firm, Bond Events, to produce gatherings. The grandly stated mission: to make the century-old building the Bay Area’s go-to spot to “grow, meet, learn, discover and make history.”

A website shows off the space and the firm’s promotional prowess. The library, once filled with shelves and stacks piled high with musty books and instructional videos, today looks positively palatial, with a wide, sweeping staircase connecting its main floors.

Bond Event marketing director Kate Starr says a separate ground floor gallery space is ideal for “art shows, gatherings and fundraisings.” The second floor, with its large open space that was formerly the reading room, is called The Library. The third floor has meeting and breakout spaces and the fourth floor will have offices for the owners’ nonprofit ventures. The building also has an outdoor garden.

“We are committed to creating flexible space that helps heal our bodies, our minds and the planet,” the website proclaims.

It appears the building is not going to compete head to head with the city’s hotel ballrooms and meetings spaces. “We will have limited social events,” says Starr. Revenue the library generates will be used to support the needs of the El-Wattars’ foundation, she says.

EARLIER: “Medical library is on the block“

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The ’89 quake in the Fillmore

Posted on October 2, 2019 by editors

St. Rose Academy, at Pine and Pierce, was torn down after the 1989 earthquake.

ON OCTOBER 17, 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake shook the Fillmore and the rest of the Bay Area. The neighborhood was spared major damage, but felt the effects of the quake in ways large and small. The most visible local damage was at St. Dominic’s Church, where the top of the tower was lost and the historic home of St. Rose Academy was razed.

St. Rose Academy, a Catholic high school for girls, was completed only a few months before the 1906 earthquake, but survived — only to be torn down after the 1989 earthquake when seismic concerns were raised.

Katherine Petrin, an architectural historian, San Francisco native and St. Rose graduate, class of ’81, observes: “The feeling at the start of the 1989-90 school year was that St. Rose was experiencing some uncertainty. This was spurred in part by St. Ignatius College Prep becoming coeducational a few years earlier and the desire of the Dominican order to focus its educational mission at other facilities in Marin. After the October ’89 earthquake, many St. Rose alumnae were none too pleased when the Dominican Sisters claimed the building could not be seismically retrofitted.”

Soon several alumnae formed Save St. Rose!, a group advocating not necessarily for continued educational use, but that a compatible new use could be found for the building, generating income to pay for the project. Partnering with San Francisco Architectural Heritage, the Save St. Rose! group put forward a study, confirmed that federal and state funds were available and presented preservation alternatives to the city Planning Commission and the community. However, on June 26, 1991, the San Francisco Board of Permit Appeals upheld the Planning Commission’s approval of a permit to demolish St. Rose.

An earlier St. Dominic’s Church building was heavily damaged by the 1906 earthquake and later torn down and replaced by a new Gothic building in 1928. The highly decorative lantern that extended for decades from the top of its tower was damaged and removed after the ’89 quake. Flying buttresses were later added to strengthen the walls of the church and support its stained glass windows.

— Bridget Maley

The top of the tower at St. Dominic’s Church was damaged and removed.

READ MORE: Locals drew together after the quake at the Pacific Heights Bar & Grill, then a key community gathering place, which never recovered from the earthquake.

Filed under: Bridget Maley, Landmarks, Neighborhood History | Leave a Comment »

Painting the ladies

Posted on August 1, 2019 by editors

SAN FRANCISCO ARTIST Kit Haskell has established herself as the gold standard for pen and ink drawings of the city’s Victorian homes. The newest book to feature her drawings lets children of all ages choose their own favorite Crayola colors for the Painted Ladies.

It’s a coloring book featuring 20 of Haskell’s meticulously accurate drawings of some of San Francisco’s finest vintage homes, many of them located in the neighborhood. Each one comes with a history lesson, naturally, given Haskell’s long involvement in the Victorian Alliance and the San Francisco History Association.

Her book is available at Browser Books on Fillmore.

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A concert series in an Arts & Crafts treasure

Posted on July 6, 2019 by editors

Photograph of the Swedenborgian Church by Laurie Passey

CULTURE BEAT | PAMELA FEINSILBER

Andrew Dodd lives nowhere near the neighborhood, but he’s brought something special to it. Dodd created the Second Sunday Concert Series at the Swedenborgian Church, at Washington and Lyon Streets, offering live music in the stunning 1895 Arts & Crafts-style church.

You live in Concord. How did you get involved with a small church more than 30 miles away?

After I got divorced, someone I dated in San Francisco showed it to me, and I couldn’t believe it. It’s more like a meetinghouse than a church — the original design didn’t even have a cross anywhere near the altar. Everyone who experiences it comes away amazed at its beauty and humility and simplicity and authenticity. I wanted more people to have that kind of experience.

It sounds more peaceful than religious.

The best way to explain it might be John Muir’s statement that, to him, a grove of redwoods was a cathedral. This church was conceived of and designed by a friend of his, Joseph Worcester, and it embodies in a very humble way that feeling of being in a natural, very intimate, personal place to explore one’s spirituality — much like Muir did in the wilds of California. You know, the trunks of madrone trees from the Santa Cruz mountains hold up the roof.

What about other Arts & Crafts elements, like the chairs?

The chairs were handmade by a friend of Worcester’s of hard maple with no screws or nails, just perfect craftsmanship. The rush-woven seats are from reeds in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The notion is that handmade things are imbued with the spirit of the maker. One of the prototypes of the chairs is in the Smithsonian collection.

So the idea of adding beautiful music to this beautiful place….

Yes, it seemed like a natural recipe for the experience I wanted. I came up with the idea because many people living in the neighborhood, with a National Historic Landmark right in their front yard, were not aware of it.

How do you select the performers?

I want to, as is often quoted in scripture, cast a wide net. Emanuel Swedenborg felt that all faiths are equally important in heaven, so all are valuable paths to the divine. And so many musicians are drawn to San Francisco because so many styles are appreciated here. I enjoy doing my own crossover. I find the musicians, negotiate the fees, schedule the shows and produce the advertising.

What’s your background?

I had a career in advertising for almost 30 years. I organized photo shoots, supervised copywriters and illustrators and designers. I was responsible for budgets and a year-long calendar. So I had all the tools I needed.

EARLIER: “The Arts & Crafts movement started here“

Filed under: Landmarks, Music | Leave a Comment »

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