3301–3601 Lyon Street

1. 1900

   Built.

2. September 22, 1913

   The United States Steel Products Company and the J. G. Williams Construction Company took the contracts for the structural steel and ironwork of the exposition's Fine Arts building, at $54,800 and $18,676.

   The San Francisco Call, 22 September 1913, p. 4
3. December 8, 1913

   Construction began on Bernard Maybeck's Palace of Fine Arts, the last of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition's major buildings to be started; the colonnades and rotunda were wood frames coated in staff, a plaster-and-fibre mix meant to last a year. William G. Merchant of Maybeck's office designed much of its ornament.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
4. 1934–1942

   Eighteen lighted tennis courts were installed in the galleries by the Park and Recreation Department and ran until 1942; the Army then used the building as a motor pool through the Second World War, returning it to the city in 1947.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
5. 1938

   The Palace of Fine Arts, built of wood, lath and plaster as a temporary structure for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, was shored up, patched and repainted by Works Progress Administration workers in about $54,000 of repairs.

   San Francisco New Deal Historic Context Statement, adopted 2023
6. May 25, 1959

   Walter S. Johnson offered the city $2 million to rebuild the Palace; voters approved a $1.8 million bond later that year, alongside $2 million from the state.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
7. July 20, 1964

   The reconstruction contract was awarded; the rotunda and colonnades were taken down and recast in permanent materials from molds of the originals, the work finishing in September 1967.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
8. January 1975

   The remaining original colonnades were rebuilt, a gift of Walter Johnson.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
9. 1977

   Designated San Francisco Landmark No. 88, Palace of Fine Arts.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
10. February 10, 1977

    The City Planning Commission unanimously approved designating the Palace of Fine Arts a city landmark, on the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board's recommendation (Resolution 7660).

    San Francisco City Planning Commission minutes, San Francisco Public Library (Internet Archive)
11. May 1993

    Permit 9307210 $$$ $1,000,000

    Seismic upgrade of structure fr interior #9208236 & 9208237.

12. Sep 1993

    Permit 9316068 $$$ $40,000

    Revision #9307210-change some structural details (per plans).

13. Apr 1996

    Permit 9607268 $$$ $5,000

    Lay new floor, construct divider wall.

14. Apr 1997

    Permit 9706490 $$$ $100,000

    Construct new sewer line.

15. Jul 1997

    Permit 9713777 $$$ $100,000

    Install partitions walls.

16. Oct 1997

    Permit 9719697 $$$ $136,000

    Construct new steel mezzanine with steel sub-deck & plyw'd floor.

17. Jan 1998

    Permit 9801466 $$$ $12,000

    Install fire sprinklers.

18. Apr 2000

    Permit 200004247991 $$$ $85,000

    Replace a piece of dropped plaster ceiling of the rotunda install 12" diam ventilators on top.

19. Dec 2004

    Permit 200412211899 $$$ $20,000

    Voluntary barrier removal, revise the seating area for wheel chair access & handrails to code.

20. May 2005

    Permit 200505051723 $$$ $688,000

    Palace of fine arts lagoon & park restoration work: concrete wall at lagoon edge, sheet piling for.

21. Jan 2006

    Issued Permit 200601091740 $$$ $18,000

    Installation of total pac2-preaction system for new server room.

22. Mar 2007

    Issued Permit 200703136045 $$$ $4,500

    Monitoring of new preaction panel via existing fire alarm panel. preaction system under 200601091470.

23. Jul 2007

    Issued Permit 200707247625 $$$ $9,000,000

    Selective structural upgrade, concrete repair, cleaning, new roof, new electrical, building pedestrian lighting, new landscape including grading, paving, planting, irrigation.delete column core drilling from selective structural upgrade via addendum #2 9/6/07 attached.

24. Jun 2026

    Filed Permit 202510026616 $$$ $240,000

    Att: install 90' faux eucalyptus tree with 16 new antennas, 12 new rrus, 4 new surge supressors, 1 new cabinet on new concrete pad, new concrete pad for future generator, new 400a meter & new 400a sub panel, new cru block wall.

25. Jul 2026

    Issued Permit 202607064536 $$$ $53,000

    Remove circular structure (breakout room #1/#2) & mezzanine above located in interior atrium space. replace structure with stair & viewing mezzanine (to be connected to existing mezzanine).

DBI holds 39 permits for this parcel, most of them tenant improvements on individual floors. The timeline shows the 24 largest by stated cost, plus the earliest on file; the DBI query in the sources below returns all 39. 9 expired or cancelled permits are not shown. The roll classes this parcel as a vacant lot and also gives it a build year of 1900. The assessor's roll gives 1900; the city's statement on Progressive Era and early revival styles gives 1915.