Berkeley Historic Civic Center District Explained

Berkeley Historic Civic Center District
Nrhp Type:	hd
Location:	roughly bounded by McKinney Ave., Addison St., Shattuck Ave., and Kittredge St. Berkeley, California, U.S.
Added:	December 3, 1998
Refnum:	98000963
Designated Other1:	Berkeley Landmark
Designated Other1 Number:	212
Designated Other1 Date:	December 7, 1998
Coordinates:	37.8694°N -122.2703°W

The Berkeley Historic Civic Center District is a 9.9acres historic district in Berkeley, California, U.S.^{[1] [2] [3]} It comprises portions of a five-block area surrounding Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park, primarily made up of civic-related buildings.^{[4] [5] [6]} It has been listed as one of the National Register of Historic Places since December 3, 1998; and listed as a Berkeley Landmark by the City of Berkeley since December 7, 1998.^[7]

History

There are thirteen buildings in the district, and it contains nine contributing buildings, one contributing site, and one contributing structure. There are four noncontributing buildings. Berkeley's Civic Center area is bordered by the downtown commercial and retail district on the east and north, and bordered by residential neighborhoods to the west and south.

In 2022, city officials launched a public process that aimed to gather community input on the revitalization of Berkeley's Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park.

Notable buildings, sites, and structures

• City Hall (now known as Old Berkeley City Hall, or Maudelle Shirek Building) (1909), 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley, California; designed by architects John Bakewell and Arthur Brown Jr.
• Berkeley Civic Center Park (now known as Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park) (1938–1942), 2100 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley, California
• Veterans’ Memorial Building (1928), 1931 Center Street, Berkeley, California
• Federal Land Bank (also known as the Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Building) (1938), 2180 Milvia Street, Berkeley, California
• Berkeley Community Theater (1950), on the campus of Berkeley High School, Berkeley, California
• Downtown YMCA (1910), 2001 Allston Way, Berkeley, California
• United States Post Office (1914), 2000 Allston Way, Berkeley, California
• State Farm Insurance Companies Building (1947–1948), 1947 Center Street, Berkeley, California
• City Hall Annex (1925), 1835 Allston Way, Berkeley, California
• Hall of Justice (1938–1939), 2171 McKinley Street, Berkeley, California

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Alameda County, California
• List of Berkeley Landmarks in Berkeley, California

Notes and References

1. Web site: Berkeley Historic Civic Center District . NPGallery Digital Asset Management System.
2. Web site: Savidge . Nico . 2022-09-04 . Local groups want to fix up Berkeley's Civic Center. Here's what it looks like today. . 2023-07-01 . . en-US.
3. Web site: 2011-08-01 . Berkeley’s Civic Center Took Nearly Half a Century to Complete . 2023-07-01 . Berkeley, CA Patch . en.
4. Web site: December 3, 1998 . [{{NRHP url|id=98000963}} National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Berkeley Historic Civic Center District ]. July 1, 2023 . National Park Service. With
5. Book: Cerny, Susan Dinkelspiel . An Architectural Guidebook to San Francisco and the Bay Area . 2007 . Gibbs Smith . 978-1-58685-432-4 . 303–304 . en.
6. Book: Smith, Harvey L. . Berkeley and the New Deal . 2014-10-13 . Arcadia Publishing . 978-1-4396-4767-7 . 43 . en.
7. Web site: Berkeley Landmarks Designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, Berkeley, CA . Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA).