April 12, 2008 Soiree
Each year San Francisco Architectural Heritage celebrates the City’s unique architectural character with our black tie fundraiser, Soirée.
Soiree 2008 at The Old Mint
On Saturday, April 12, 2008 Heritage celebrated “The Granite Lady” - the Old Mint at 5th and Mission, along with the vibrant new space at Mint Plaza. Over 600 guests representing the real estate, legal, architectural, financial, development and engineering communities enjoyed fine dining, dancing, casino gaming, and a silent auction.
San Francisco Architectural Heritage will often select a structure mid-renovation in which to hold Soirée. The members of Heritage can appreciate the progress made to date as well as the significant work yet ahead. The Old Mint was a perfect mid-restoration structure in which to hold the event.
In 1961 the Old Mint, as it had become known, was designated a National Historic Landmark. Whoever would be responsible for maintaining the landmark structure would be in for an expensive endeavor. In 2003 the federal government sold the badly deteriorating structure to the City of San Francisco for one dollar—an 1879 silver dollar struck at the mint— for use as the Museum of the City of San Francisco. Ground was broken for renovations that would turn the central court into a glass-enclosed galleria in the fall of 2005. In the photos of Soirée 2008, you can see many original details as well as many areas in which the Old Mint needs significant renovation.
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The Old Mint (21)
The San Francisco Mint was opened in 1854 to serve the gold mines of the California Gold Rush. It quickly outgrew its first building and moved into a new one in 1874. The 1874 United States Mint building, known affectionately as The Granite Lady, is one of the few downtown structures that survived the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. It served until 1937, when the present facility was opened. -
Silent Auction (55)
This year's silent auction included a large number of collectibles and a large number of craft items made specifically for Heritage. The hot craft items were: a "Shop Clock" with nails, screws, nuts and bolts decorating the frame; "Handy Baby" bibs, burp cloths, blankets, hooded towels, and wash cloths by Little Drools; a quilt made by two of my friends in LA; and tool-shaped soap made by my 5-year-old nephew! -
Guests, Volunteers and Staff (5)
I was so busy during the actual event that I hardly got any photos of people enjoying themselves. But, trust me, people did enjoy themselves and they enjoyed the food. Dinner included 3 courses of desserts alone - a cheese plate and drunken fruit, followed by the chocolate fountain that seems to have become an icon of the event. I failed to get any photos of the gambling or the dancing, but there was plenty of both!