Central Tower (San Francisco)

Central Tower

Former names	Call Building Spreckels Building
Record height
Preceded by	Chronicle Building
Surpassed by	Standard Oil Building
General information
Type	Commercial offices
Location	703 Market Street San Francisco, California
Coordinates	37°47′14″N 122°24′14″W / 37.787181°N 122.403861°W / 37.787181; -122.403861Coordinates: 37°47′14″N 122°24′14″W / 37.787181°N 122.403861°W / 37.787181; -122.403861
Completed	1898 1938 (art deco/art moderne renovations)
Owner	RKI 703 Investors LLC
Height
Roof	91 m (299 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	21
Design and construction
Architect	Reid & Reid Albert Roller (renovations)
References
^[1]^[2]

Central Tower is a 91 m (299 ft) 21-story office building at Market and Third Streets in San Francisco, California. The building has undergone numerous renovations since its completion in 1898 as the Call Building and later, the Spreckels Building.

History

In 1890, M. H. de Young, owner of the San Francisco Chronicle, built San Francisco's first skyscraper, the 218-foot (66 m) Chronicle Building, to house his newspaper. In response, John D. Spreckels and his father Claus Spreckels purchased the San Francisco Call in 1895 and commissioned a tower of their own that would dwarf the Chronicle Building.^[3] In September 1895, The Call wrote:

The San Francisco Call is to have the finest building ever erected for a newspaper office. It is to be built on the corner of Market and Third streets, of granite and white marble, and will be fifteen stories — 310 feet high, the highest building this side of Chicago. Unlike the Chronicle building it will be a beautiful building and a credit to its owner, Claus Spreckels, and worthy of the great paper to be printed within its walls. A light granite will be used for the first three stories, but above the third story white marble will be used. The main entrance or rotunda will be finished in some polished California marble, the very choicest obtainable, and the floor will be mosaic.^[4]

The building eventually stood 315 feet (96 m) tall with an ornate baroque dome--which housed the offices of Reid & Reid, the building's architects^[5]--and four corner cupolas when construction finished in 1898. It was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River for many years. The structure was badly burned and damaged by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, although the building did not collapse.

After the fire, The Call reopened its offices at a new location, The Montgomery, and the former Call Building became known as the Spreckels Building. In 1938 Albert Roller completely refurbished Central Tower. The building's height was reduced to 298 feet (91 m) and the number of stories was increased from 15 to 21; the ornate dome and the cupolas atop the building were removed.

Spreckels Building, circa 1897-1905
The Call from Market Street, 1905
On fire after the 1906 earthquake
Aftermath of the fire

References

↑ Central Tower (San Francisco) at Emporis
↑ Central Tower (San Francisco) at SkyscraperPage
↑ Korom, Joseph J. (2008). The American Skyscraper, 1850-1940. Boston: Branden Books. pp. 211–213. ISBN 0-8283-2188-4.
↑ "San Francisco Call, Volume 78, Number 110". California Digital Newspaper Collection. 18 September 1895. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
↑ John Leroux, "Chasing the noblest of arts and the American dream", Architects Association of New Brunswick, no date.

External links

Media related to Central Tower (San Francisco) at Wikimedia Commons

The Call Building: ...Then And Now (images) at Life magazine

Central Tower articles and topics

Timeline of the tallest buildings in San Francisco

Montgomery Block (15 m) (1853)
Old Saint Mary's Cathedral (27 m) (1854)
Palace Hotel (37 m) (1875)
Chronicle Building (66 m) (1890)
Call Building (96 m) (1898)
Standard Oil Building (100 m) (1922)
Pacific Telephone Building (133 m) (1925)
Russ Building (133 m) (1927)
Hartford Building (142 m) (1965)
44 Montgomery (172 m) (1967)
Bank of America Center (237 m) (1969)
Transamerica Pyramid (260 m) (1972)

Tallest buildings in San Francisco

Skyscrapers over 500 feet (150 m)	Transamerica Pyramid 555 California Street 345 California Center Millennium Tower One Rincon Hill South Tower 50 Fremont Center 101 California Street 575 Market Street Four Embarcadero Center One Embarcadero Center 44 Montgomery One Market Plaza Spear Tower One Sansome Street One Rincon Hill North Tower One Front Street First Market Tower McKesson Plaza 425 Market Street Montgomery Tower

Highrises over 400 feet (120 m)	333 Bush Street Hilton San Francisco Union Square Tower I Pacific Gas & Electric Building 50 California Street St. Regis Museum Tower 100 Pine Center 45 Fremont Street 333 Market Street 650 California Street 555 Mission Street The Infinity II 100 First Plaza One California San Francisco Marriott Marquis Russ Building 140 New Montgomery JPMorgan Chase Building The Paramount Providian Financial Building Three Embarcadero Center Two Embarcadero Center 595 Market Street 123 Mission Street 101 Montgomery Embarcadero West 100 Van Ness Avenue

Highrises over 300 feet (91 m)	One Maritime Plaza Four Seasons Hotel Westin St. Francis 456 Montgomery Plaza 535 Mission Street Shell Building Park Central Hotel San Francisco 199 Fremont Street Hilton San Francisco Financial District One Market Plaza Steuart Tower 425 California Street 100 Montgomery Street Grand Hyatt San Francisco Fox Plaza 101 Second Street NEMA 580 California Street 601 California Street The Infinity I Hilton San Francisco Union Square Tower II 450 Sutter Street InterContinental San Francisco Stevenson Place 150 California Street 225 Bush Street 505 Montgomery Street Blue Shield of California Building Fairmont San Francisco 180 Montgomery Street KPMG Building Central Plaza Sir Francis Drake Hotel The Summit W San Francisco 353 Sacramento Street 555 Market Street Bank of California Building Phillip Burton Federal Building Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences San Francisco Marriott Union Square 88 Kearny Street 388 Market Street Commercial Union Assurance Building Hunter-Dulin Building One Bush Plaza San Francisco City Hall McAllister Tower Apartments Mark Hopkins Hotel Mills Tower Central Tower

Under construction	Salesforce Tower 181 Fremont Street 350 Mission Street 340 Fremont Street 399 Fremont Street Jasper LUMINA I & II 41 Tehama Street 222 Second Street

Planned and proposed	Oceanwide Center I & II Palace Hotel Residential Tower Park Tower at Transbay 706 Mission Street Treasure Island development 524 Howard Street

See also: San Francisco Designated Landmarks, Buildings and structures in San Francisco

Timeline of the tallest buildings west of the Mississippi River

Central Tower (91 m) (1898)
Smith Tower (141 m) (1914)
Kansas City Power and Light Building (145.1 m) (1931)
Mercantile National Bank Building (159 m) (1942)
Sheraton Dallas Hotel (183 m) (1959)
ExxonMobil Building (185 m) (1963)
Republic Center Tower II (183 m) (1964)
Elm Place (191 m) (1965)
555 California Street (237 m) (1969)
Transamerica Pyramid (260 m) (1972)
Aon Center (262 m) (1973)
JPMorgan Chase Tower (305 m) (1982)
U.S. Bank Tower (310 m) (1990)

Timeline of the tallest buildings in California

Montgomery Block (15 m) (1853)
Old Saint Mary's Cathedral (27 m) (1854)
California State Capitol (64 m) (1874)
Chronicle Building (66 m) (1890)
Call Building (96 m) (1898)
Standard Oil Building (100 m) (1922)
Pacific Telephone Building (133 m) (1925)
Russ Building (133 m) (1927)
Los Angeles City Hall (138 m) (1928)
Hartford Building (142 m) (1965)
44 Montgomery (172 m) (1967)
Bank of America Center (237 m) (1969)
Transamerica Pyramid (260 m) (1972)
Aon Center (262 m) (1973)
U.S. Bank Tower (310 m) (1990)

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, December 01, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.

Central Tower (San Francisco)

History

See also

References

External links