New Main Library 25th Anniversary

Happy silver anniversary to the New Main Library building, which opened its doors on April 18, 1996. Paid for by $104.5 million in bond funds and $22 million in private donations, the New Main Library construction project was, at the time of completion, the largest public/private partnership in the history of San Francisco. Its Sierra White granite facade, obtained from the quarry that provided the stone for other Civic Center buildings, is consistent with its Beaux Arts style. The facade on Grove and Hyde streets has a more contemporary feel, compatible with the commercial activity on Market Street. It was designed by James Ingo Freed of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners (New York) and Cathy Simon of Simon Martin-Vegue Winkelstein & Moris (San Francisco).