CA -- San Francisco -- Coit Tower:
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- Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
- COIT_000906_01.JPG: The Coit Tower
- Wikipedia Description: Coit Tower
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coit Tower was built atop Telegraph Hill in 1933 at the bequest of Lillie Hitchcock Coit to beautify the City of San Francisco. Lillie bequeathed one-third of her estate to the City of San Francisco "to be expended in an appropriate manner for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city which I have always loved."
Popular opinion is that the tower was designed to resemble a fire hose nozzle due to Lillie Hitchcock Coit's affinity with the San Francisco fire fighters of the day, in particular with Knickerbocker Engine Company Number 5. (Coit commissioned a separate tribute which still stands in nearby Washington Square Park on Columbus Street.) The designers denied this, a fact which is attributed to the Arts Commission meeting notes at the time of approval.
The art deco tower, 210 feet (64 meters) of unpainted reinforced concrete, was designed by architects Arthur Brown, Jr. and Henry Howard (of the architectural firm of Blakewell and Brown),
Murals:
A feature of the towers interior are murals by 26 different artists, including Victor Arnautoff, Bernard Zakheim, John Langley Howard , and Clifford Wight. Two of the murals are of San Francisco Bay scenes painted by Spanish artist José Moya del Piño, who by then was a fulltime resident in the Bay Area. Most murals are done in fresco; the exceptions are one mural done in egg tempera (upstairs, in the last decorated room) and the works done in the elevator foyer, which are oil on canvas. While most of the murals have been restored, a small segment (the spiral stairway exit to the observation platform) was not restored but durably painted over with epoxy surfacing. These murals in particular contained very "leftist" political and social themes related to the Great Depression and socialist political movements. Most of the murals are open for public viewing without charge during open hours, although there are ongoing negotiations by the Recreation and Parks Department of San Francisco to begin charging visitors a fee to enter the mural rotunda. The murals in the spiral stairway, normally closed to the public, are open for viewing on Saturday mornings at 11:00 am with a free San Francisco City Guides tour.
The view:
The tower, which stands atop Telegraph Hill in San Francisco's Pioneer Park, offers fantastic views of San Francisco including the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park ("Aquatic Park"), Alcatraz, Pier 39, Angel Island, Treasure Island, the Bay Bridge, Russian Hill, the Financial District, Lombard Street, and Nob Hill.
Parking:
Due to the extreme topography, the parking lot at the top of the hill is only accessible by one road, Telegraph Hill Boulevard. Because Coit Tower is such a popular tourist attraction, at peak times, the street can be backed up a third or more of the way down the hill, and the wait to get to the top can reach 40 minutes or more. This prompts many drivers to make illegal U-turns, block resident access, and delay the 39-Coit bus. For these reasons, the San Francisco Department of Parking and Traffic is considering eliminating public parking at the top of the hill and promoting public transportation alternatives from more accessible locations, though no changes have yet been made.
A system of wooden and concrete stairs and footpaths lead to the top of the hill from various directions making a steep but direct climb possible. The Filbert Steps are a prominent example, ascending the hill from the east.
Telegraph Hill Boulevard connects with Lombard Street, another popular tourist attraction.
Media:
* In the book trilogy Nine Lives Of Chloe King by Celia Thomson, the protagonist Chloe King falls from Coit Tower and dies only to return to life due to her nine lives of belonging to a race of humans who have the characteristics of cats, also known as Mai.
* Coit Tower Plaza stands in for the driveway of Nick and Nora Charles' San Francisco home in After the Thin Man (1936).
* In the Dirty Harry movie The Enforcer, Kate Moore calls the tower "coitus interruptus", claiming it looked "vaguely phallic".
* In A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore, the phallic appearance of the tower as well as its origins are mentioned.
* In the game SimCity 4, Coit tower is featured as a buildable landmark.
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