Thanks to the generosity of people who love the Palace of Fine Arts, work is already under way to renovate and restore one of San Francisco’s most treasured landmarks. Our chief restoration partners are architects Carey & Co., Inc., and landscape architects Royston, Hanamoto, Alley and Abbey.

For an insider’s view of Palace improvements in progress, be sure to visit our Work in Progress in the future.


Fall 2007 - Spring 2009

Phase II of our renovation and restoration campaign focuses on the Palace Rotunda and Colonnades. Next steps include repairing the interior Rotunda dome, previously covered in netting to catch falling plaster; seismic strengthening; pinning various architectural elements, including column capitals and weeping ladies, in place; installing a new roof membrane on the Colonnades; and repairing surface damage from efflorescence, green algae, black mold, and other elements. (click photo to enlarge)


To see examples of the damage and other illustrations of our need for restoration, please visit Palace in Need.

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Fall 2004 - Fall 2006

The Palace campaign extends heartfelt thanks to the Taube Family Foundation, the Friend Family Foundation, and the Koret Foundation, whose generosity has supported progress so far on our reconstruction of the Palace. In their honor, we name the Taube Family and Friend Family Rotunda, and Koret Gardens, which surround the Palace.

In Fall 2006, the Palace’s general contractor, Aquatic Environments, Inc., completed work on the eastern portion of a new stone wall around the lagoon. Step one in the reconstruction involved placing steel sheet piles against the water’s edge to provide structure. Steel was then capped in concrete and topped with a low stone curb above the water level. The stone, from a quarry in Napa, complements the color of the Palace rotunda and colonnades. Work continues on the west side of the lagoon. (click photo to enlarge)

Because the Palace provides habitat for birds and other creatures as well as a beautiful place for people to enjoy, plants to border the lagoon were chosen with care. New plantings favor species that will thrive along the lagoon’s damp edge and provide color and texture within the greater Palace landscape. Plantings include daylilies, Douglas and Japanese iris, sword ferns, willow trees, coreopsis, and gunnera. (click photo to enlarge)

In August of 2005, landscape experts began restoring the lagoon and eastern landscape of the Palace. Here they’re rebuilding the lagoon’s crumbling edge, which now consists of a sheet pile wall with a concrete cap, topped with basalt cobbles. (click photo to enlarge)




Thanks to the aquamog, which dredged the lagoon bottom and removed sediment, water quality and circulation in the lagoon are already greatly improved. Additional lagoon work includes adding soft edges to provide easy access for turtles and waterfowl, plus new native plantings for food and shelter. (click photo to enlarge)



In the fall of 2004, work began on the Palace dome. To stem further water damage, experts repaired the rotunda’s ceiling membrane and clad the dome with a urethane rubber roofing membrane, in burnt orange to match the dome’s original shade. Here workers can be seen applying the new roof. (click photo to enlarge)



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