Prospecting for gold for Old Mint’s future

Historical society seeks ‘blue-sky ideas’ for 1874 site

The tides of change that have transformed San Francisco have bypassed one of the city’s most venerable monuments — the Old Mint at Fifth and Mission streets.

The building, a national historic landmark that dates from 1874, has been underutilized for years. Now the public is being asked for ideas and proposals for transforming the grand granite building into a vibrant city and regional center for history and culture.

The city and the California Historical Society have held one community meeting on the Old Mint and plan to hold a series of others.

“We are asking for blue-sky ideas,” said Anthea Hartig, executive director of the California Historical Society. By that she means all ideas are welcome.

“We’ve found people have a great curiosity and appreciation for that building,” she said. “A lot of them see its potential as a cultural hub to connect the city and the people. We also want it to be a new home for the California Historical Society and a cul-

tural center.”

The Old Mint has a long history, starting in 1874 when it was built to turn raw gold and silver from California and Nevada into gold and silver coins. Built in classical Greek revival style, it was the largest and most important federal building west of Chicago. At the time, its steel-lined vaults held one-third of the nation’s gold reserves, worth billions in today’s money.

But coin-making operations moved to a new mint building in the mid-1930s, and the Old Mint has languished ever since.

The city has owned the building since 2003, but various proposals to use it have foundered. The most recent was to turn it into a museum under the auspices of the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society. But the proposal never won wide support, and the city terminated its agreement with the group in 2014.

At one point, two years ago, when the building was between tenants, a homeless camp settled at the top of its steps under its classical columns. Since then, security has been increased, the exterior grounds were landscaped and the building cleaned up.

Last year, the California Historical Society, a separate organization, obtained a $1 million state grant to team up with the city on business, financial and marketing plans for the Old Mint.

However, money has always been a problem for a place that literally coined money. All plans for a reuse of the Old Mint have run into the high cost of making the unreinforced granite building safe in an earthquake. The estimates have run up to $100 million, putting most plans out of reach.

The California Historical Society’s Hartig thinks it’s time for a new look.

“We could do a new computer modeling,” she said, describing a way to measure stresses in the building and also to run various damage scenarios. “The last one was done in 1993. It’s old data.”

The community workshops are the latest step in the long road toward transforming the Old Mint. This summer, the city and the California Historical Society have held focus group sessions with cultural and community groups.

“These public workshops are the next phase,” said Jon Lau, project manager for the city’s office of Economic and Workforce Development. “We are looking at a broader audience now. There are still several questions to answer, but we are hopeful it can be turned to useful and public enjoyment.”

This stage should take “a year or so,” Lau said. The plan is to present a detailed proposal for the Old Mint to the Board of Supervisors by the summer of 2019.

In the meantime, the city has contracted with Non Plus Ultra, a San Francisco events management company, which advertises the Old Mint asa“historic+ stately+ jaw-dropping” venue that offers “an unparalleled experience.” Events at the Old Mint this year have included a masquerade ball last summer and three Filipino community night markets in the building and the adjacent streets.

The final night market was held last week, and the event is expected to resume in the spring, Lau said.

There will also be a community history fair — now an annual event — held at the end of winter.

Noah Berger / Special to The Chronicle The Old Mint’s classical Greek revival columns once sheltered a homeless camp. Planners are now seeking a grander vision.

Noah Berger / Special to The Chronicle The Old Mint’s classic granite exterior retains the stateliness from the days when it was the largest and most important federal building west of Chicago.