Old Mint

OVERVIEW

Since its founding in 1874, the San Francisco Mint has played a significant role in the City’s history. The Classical Greek-Revival building at 5th and Mission Streets served as the first branch Mint in California and by the mid-1930s held a third of the United States’ gold reserve. In 1988, the Old Mint was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Just six years later, deficits and costly seismic upgrades threatened to close its doors forever. After years of work, the City acquired the Old Mint from the federal government and selected the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society to redevelop the site as a museum celebrating the history of the City of San Francisco: a very appropriate use for perhaps the City’s most historic building. In addition, this restored landmark will also house a coin museum, a revamped Visitors Center at the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau and two restaurants.

PROJECT UPDATE

In December 2006, the City executed a Development agreement with the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society (SFMHS) that outlined the steps that must be taken in order to begin construction of the history museum. That agreement provides 18 months for fundraising and entitlements and 24 months for construction of the project. The new museum is scheduled to open to the public in the summer of 2010. The SFMHS has already secured over $30 million in fundraising (of the $90 million cost of renovating the Old U.S Mint) through a combination of grants, donations and other institutional sources. In the fall of 2007, the SFMHS formally kicked-off a private gift campaign, which is designed to raise another $40 million or more for the project.

Adjacent to the Old Mint, another public-private partnership managed by OEWD, the Mint Plaza opened on November 16. The 18,000 sq. ft, 290-by 54-foot-wide portion of Jessie Street extending between 5th and Mint Streets, now closed to automobile traffic, was redesigned to accommodate a wide range of pedestrian-friendly uses, including art, theatre, live music, cafes, and street fairs.

For more information, visit the Mint Project.

PARTNERS

Over the last three years, OEWD’s Joint Development Division has worked with the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society (SFMHS) to determine the terms for leasing the building for a San Francisco history museum. The terms include a commitment by SFMHS to secure all the financing for the $90 million project in advance of construction and to develop a business plan that ensures the future success of the building as a cultural asset. The City has worked cooperatively with this non-profit to ensure that the design of the project does not conflict with historic preservation guidelines.