The Women's Building
3541–3543 18th Street · Mission
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1906
Built.
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February 5, 1910
The Mission Turnverein chose A. Reinhold Denke's design for its new hall after a competition among seven architects; the building was estimated at $40,000, exclusive of the land.
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April 23, 1910
The hall's construction contract was let at $42,500. The plans covered the whole 93 by 95 ft lot: four bowling alleys with spectators' seats in the basement; a 52 by 60 ft gymnasium, dressing rooms, a cafe and a bar on the first floor; a 36 by 72 ft banquet room and clubroom on the mezzanine.
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June 1910
The cornerstone of the Mission Turn Hall was laid in a ceremony held in German and English: a four-storey unreinforced brick gymnasium and social hall for a Turnverein, designed by August Reinhold Denke in his first year as a registered architect, and the first building the city's German American community put up after 1906.
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June 25, 1910
The hall was built on the site of the Turnverein's pre-1906 hall, where the society had kept a temporary hall and its gymnasium classes since the fire; the new building was expected to be ready about the middle of September.
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June 1936
Reopened as Dovre Hall, named for the Norwegian mountains, by two lodges of the Sons and Daughters of Norway, who had bought the building in the autumn of 1935: the gymnasium became a dance hall with a stage, other rooms became lodge rooms, and a four-level elliptical stair and an elevator were put in near the entrance.
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1979
Built in 1910 as a Turnverein hall for the city's German community and later used by Norwegian organisations as Dovre Hall, the building was bought by the San Francisco Women's Centers and opened in autumn 1979 as The Women's Building, the first women-owned and women-operated community centre in the United States. A designated San Francisco landmark (No. 178).
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February 1980
An arson fire did about $60,000 of damage; that October a pipe bomb exploded at the entrance, destroying the marquee signs and blowing out windows.
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July 1983
One of the first public forums on AIDS in the United States was held here, sponsored by an advisory committee of the Human Rights Commission; from about 1988 ACT UP San Francisco held its meetings in the building.
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Jun 1984
Minor interior demolition.
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1985
Designated San Francisco Landmark No. 178, Mission Turn Hall (Women's Building).
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Jul 1985
Construct new handicapped toilet.
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May 1987
Renovate office space, 2 new meeting rms, counter, sink.
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Mar 1989
Repair/replace marquis metal roof & flashing/facade column.
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Sep 1991
Partitions for office space includes plumbing, mechanical. & electrical.
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Dec 1992
Permit renewal inspection #9116225.
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1994
MaestraPeace
The mural MaestraPeace was painted on the building, by then the Women's Building / Edificio de Mujeres.
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1994
MaestraPeace, the five-storey mural painted on two sides of the Women's Building in 1994, was the work of a group of muralists including the African American artists Edythe Boone and Yvonne Littleton.
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Nov 1994
Remove counter &replace with 1hc lavy, add 1 door to create ways.
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Nov 1994
Renew expired permit appn. 9312424.
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Aug 1995
Unreinforced masonry building seismic upgrade - bsmt to 4thf.
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Jun 1996
Extension of existing stair #2.
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Jun 1999
Revision to permit-9512978/r2 soil conditions required.
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Feb 2002
Replacement door for sidewalk.
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Sep 2008
Water proofing of an area in basement. install a drainage mat over existing slab and pour a topping slab over the mat.
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Sep 2011
Repair retaining wall in basement.
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Jun 2014
Kitchen remodel at existing kitchen at 2nd fl. maher 155-13 not required.
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Jun 2015
Upgrade ansul hood and duct fire protection system in the kitchen area to meet ul 300 standards. n/a maher ord. 155-13.
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Sep 2017
Sub-sidewalk roof repair to install compliant curb ramp.
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May 4, 2018
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places at the national level of significance, for second-wave feminism, with the Maestrapeace mural a contributing object.
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Jun 2019
1st fl - emergency replacement of the fire alarm control panel as well as interface cards within the existing display annunciators; there is no record plans or ul certificate for the existing fa system.
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July 20, 2022
City Landmark No. 178
Listed as San Francisco Landmark No. 178, Mission Turn Hall (the Women's Building), and — at 3543 18th Street — among the properties in the survey area listed in or formally determined eligible for the National Register and the California Register. Built as the Mission Turn Verein Hall at 18th and Lapidge Streets, a hall for gymnastics that gave association space to San Franciscans of German origin and a home to the German Men's Chorus.
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Nov 2025
Reroofing: clean & brush the roof surface for proper adhesion, apply asc primer to roof surface, apply asc silicone to the roof surface, broadcast granules onto wet silicone. no hot works.
DBI holds 34 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 34. 1 of them are nominal $1 street-space or sidewalk permits. 5 expired or cancelled permits are not shown. The assessor's roll gives 1906; the cornerstone was laid in June 1910. Accounts differ on when The Women's Building opened: June 1979, or the autumn of that year.
Nearby
- 3538 18th Street Same street
- 3548 18th Street Same street
- 18 Lapidge Street Same block
- 15–19 Linda Street Same block
- 24 Lapidge Street Same block
- 23–33 Linda Street Same block
- 15–21 Bird Street Around the corner
- 30 Bird Street Around the corner