99 Grove Street

1. 1882

   Exhibition building moved here

   The Mechanics' Institute moved its exhibition building to this block. The hall ran to nearly 170,000 square feet and could hold more than 10,000 people.

   Taryn Edwards, “Before the Midwinter Fair: The Mechanics' Institute's ‘Pacific Rim' Industrial Exhibitions of 1869 and 1871,” The Argonaut: Journal of the San Francisco Historical Society, vol. 30, no. 1 (Summer 2019), pp. 8–23
2. 1900

   Built by Lindgren Company.

3. 1906

   Exhibition building burns

   The exhibition building survived the earthquake and was used briefly as a hospital, then burned in the fire that followed.

   Taryn Edwards, “Before the Midwinter Fair: The Mechanics' Institute's ‘Pacific Rim' Industrial Exhibitions of 1869 and 1871,” The Argonaut: Journal of the San Francisco Historical Society, vol. 30, no. 1 (Summer 2019), pp. 8–23
4. June 1909

   Land leased to the city

   An accord was reached and the land was leased to the City of San Francisco for the development of the civic center.

   Taryn Edwards, “Before the Midwinter Fair: The Mechanics' Institute's ‘Pacific Rim' Industrial Exhibitions of 1869 and 1871,” The Argonaut: Journal of the San Francisco Historical Society, vol. 30, no. 1 (Summer 2019), pp. 8–23
5. 1912

   City buys the block

   The City of San Francisco bought the land for $700,000, ending the era of the Mechanics' Institute industrial exhibitions.

   Taryn Edwards, “Before the Midwinter Fair: The Mechanics' Institute's ‘Pacific Rim' Industrial Exhibitions of 1869 and 1871,” The Argonaut: Journal of the San Francisco Historical Society, vol. 30, no. 1 (Summer 2019), pp. 8–23
6. 1913-1915

   Construction began in July 1913 and the auditorium was dedicated on 5 January 1915, in time for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition.

   National Register of Historic Places nomination, National Park Service
7. December 6, 1913

   The Lindgren Company took the general contract to build the Exposition Auditorium, at $717,014.

   The San Francisco Call, 6 December 1913, p. 11
8. 1921

   G. Albert Lansburgh altered the main hall for the use of the San Francisco Opera, adding a canopy that lowered the ceiling.

   National Register of Historic Places nomination, National Park Service
9. 1933–1934

   The California Civil Works Administration ran its programme from the third floor here, with about eighty clerks administering its projects, and the Municipal Employment Bureau in the same building verified that applicants were unemployed. The Works Progress Administration later rehabilitated the building: general repairs, new plumbing and heating, new flooring, a mezzanine and a remodelling of the third and fourth floors.

   San Francisco New Deal Historic Context Statement, adopted 2023
10. 1956-1958

    Brooks Hall, a 90,000-square-foot exhibition floor beneath the south half of Civic Center Plaza, was built to plans by Wurster, Bernardi and Emmons with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, connected to the auditorium above by ramps.

    National Register of Historic Places nomination, National Park Service
11. 1961-1964

    The interior was modernized by Wurster, Bernardi and Emmons with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Until this work the upper floors had been in use by city departments.

    National Register of Historic Places nomination, National Park Service
12. December 8, 1968

    The Civic Auditorium hosted, on 8 December 1968, the live demonstration of modern personal computing later called the Mother of All Demos.

    Donna Graves for San Francisco Heritage, Citywide Historic Context Statement for Counterculture (1965–1975), San Francisco Planning Department, adopted 17 July 2024
13. 1970

    The Civic Auditorium, where gay rights activists disrupted panels on homosexuality at the American Psychiatric Association's 1970 convention - three years before the association removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders - and which later hosted the Living Sober conferences.

    Donna J. Graves and Shayne E. Watson, Citywide Historic Context Statement for LGBTQ History in San Francisco, San Francisco Planning Department, adopted by the Historic Preservation Commission November 18, 2015
14. Oct 2018

    Permit 201810011899 $$$ $300,000

    Neon artwork installed along the western elevation, with penetrations limited to existing grout lines, under historic preservation commission motion 0325.

15. Dec 2019

    Issued Permit 201912200180 $$$ $830,000

    Outside-air, mixing and return dampers and filters replaced on the main arena fans, with new motors, bearings, variable-frequency drives and controls.

16. Dec 2019

    Issued Permit 201912200105 $$$ $582,000

    Emergency lighting upgraded through the building, with new fittings and controls.

17. May 2023

    Issued Permit 202305258617 $$$ $653,510

    The polk street banquet hall on the first floor renovated — a new wall system carrying decorative perforated metal panels and acoustic material, a new acoustic ceiling and lighting, and accessibility upgrades to the restrooms.

18. Dec 2024

    Permit 202412046131 $$$ $1,500,000

    New single-ply membrane roof laid over the existing membrane across the low-slope roof, about 65, 000 sq ft of roof area.

Six of the 53 filings on this parcel are shown; the rest are rooftop telecommunications installations, fire-alarm revisions, and sign and street-space permits. 1 expired permit is not shown. The assessor's roll gives 1900; the city's statement on Progressive Era and early revival styles gives 1915. The parcel is the whole block bounded by Grove, Larkin, Hayes and Polk Streets, and carries one address. Business and civic addresses are usually deferred on this site; this page exists because the prompting source locates its subject on this block. The roll reports no assessed land or improvement value for this parcel, so no split is charted.