{"nrhp_refnum":"13000591","name":"City Hall","other_names":["Vallego Old City Hall"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"715 Marin St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Vallejo","county":"Solano County","state":"CA","lat":38.102559900000074,"lon":-122.25677889999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2013-08-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Berkeley's City Hall at 2134 Grove Street, Alameda County, California, a two-story Beaux-Arts public building of steel-reinforced concrete finished in stucco, completed in 1909 and designed by Bakewell and Brown.","why_significant":"It is a notable and outstanding East Bay example of Beaux-Arts design, and an early work of the firm of John Bakewell and Arthur Brown, Jr. Its original scagliola columns and trompe l'oeil stairwell decoration are well preserved. It also housed Berkeley city government from 1909 to 1977 and is the keystone of the Berkeley Civic Center.","narrative":"Berkeley's Old City Hall, at 2134 Grove Street, is a two-story Beaux-Arts building in the French Renaissance tradition, finished in 1909. Built of steel-reinforced concrete with stucco, it has a symmetrical plan with a central block, two forward wings and a 60-foot lantern and spire. John Bakewell and Arthur Brown, Jr. won a 1907 competition with a design derived from the Town Hall at Tours, France, to replace a town hall that burned in 1904. Inside, a broad two-flight stairway features scagliola columns imitating marble and painted plaster walls and ceiling that imitate stone, leather and tapestry, all original. The building housed city government until 1977 and anchors the Berkeley Civic Center, which grew from City Beautiful ideas. Alterations have been modest: aluminum window sash on the main facade and a 1950 rear extension. School district offices now occupy it, and its spire remains a local landmark.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"BAKEWELL BROWN (John Bakewell and Arthur Brown, Jr.)","architectural_style":"Beaux-Arts, French Renaissance tradition","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Rated good condition and altered; occupied by Berkeley Unified School District administrative offices under a 30-year lease from 1979, with City Council and School Board meetings still held there.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.638486-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/81000142.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":null,"wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/solano-county/city-hall-13000591/"}