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The Call Building aka Central Tower - 701 Market Street, San Francisco

view from the west

 

This tower once looked quite ornate, with dome and cupolas, before being stripped down to its present streamlined appearance in the 1930s.

 

See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Tower_%28San_Francisco%29

 

Here's a good summary by James R. Smith, author of "San Francisco’s Lost Landmarks":

"... the Call Building still stands, now called Central Tower, a name as nondescript as the building. After purchasing the Call Building, Albert Roller learned that the structure could easily support six full stories above the fifteenth floor. He demolished the “uneconomical” baroque dome in 1937, replacing it with a new structure in the moderne style we now call Art Deco, modifying the entrance, lobby, and elevators with the classic art deco adornments and initiating our building into the modern age of Metropolis. The current structure is a treasure to aficionados of that style, but the city lost sight of one of its most recognizable landmarks."

 

see: www.sfcityguides.org/public_guidelines.html?article=941&a... and Theaters

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Uploaded on August 7, 2010
Taken on August 1, 2010