Berkeley Community for a Cultural Civic Center – Connecting Berkeley's Past, Present & Future

YOU can help:

Save two beautiful, historic civic buildings from "demolition by neglect"
Make the Civic Center area "the heart of Berkeley"
Expand our city's cultural facilities

See What We're About to learn more, and join our email list to stay informed.

Drawing for Berkeley City Hall by architects Bakewell and Brown.
Berkeley City Hall not long after completion in 1909. Source: Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association.
Maudelle Shirek Building. Photo by Stephen Rosen.
Entrance to Maudelle Shirek Building
Maudelle Shirek Building lobby
Detail of Shirek Building lobby
Shirek Building lobby detail
Mural about Maudelle Shirek, second floor
Council Chambers, Maudelle Shirek Building
The Romare Bearden mural that hung in the Council Chambers from 1973 to 2003
Postcard from the period when the BUSD administrative offices were in the Maudelle Shirek Building. Source: Berkeley Historical Society
Aerial view during City Hall construction. Source: Berkeley Historical Society
Architect's drawing of Veterans Memorial Building
Postcard, Veterans Memorial Building, 1940s. Courtesy Berkeley Historical Society.
Ecology Center Saturday Farmers Market
Detail of facade of Veterans Building with reliefs representing three wars. Photo by Ann Harlow 2020.
Veterans Building architectural detail. Source: Gehl Studio, 2020
Veterans Building lobby
Veterans Building auditorium. Source: Gehl Studio, 2020
Tile work in Veterans Building
Berkeley Historical Society museum entrance, Veterans Building
Berkeley Historical Society exhibit gallery
Civic Center Park with fountain under construction, ca. 1941
Civic Center Park and City Hall, 1940s
Annual review of Junior Safety Patrol, Civic Center Park, 1952. Source: Berkeley History Collection, Berkeley Public Library.
Civic Center Park has been the location of annual Indigenous Peoples Day events since 1992, when it was the first in the U.S. Source: Eric C., Foursquare
Counterprotesters in Civic Center Park and banners on Veterans Building, August 2017. Photo by Rob Gloster
Occupy Movement tents, 2011. Photo by John Aronovici
Civic Center Park. Source: Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association
Peace Wall, created 1988: Over 5,000 tiles, mostly by Berkeley schoolchildren
Peace Wall detail
Climbing rocks in children's play area
Former fountain, Civic Center Park
Former fountain
Turtle Island Monument plan to replace fountain
Turtle Island Monument proposed design

Latest Updates

August 2022 – Bond Measure to Go on November Ballot

The City Council voted on August 3 to proceed with a $650 million bond measure. While the Civic Center is still included in “a long list of other infrastructure priorities such as improvements to Berkeley’s waterfront, parks, pools and civic center” [Berkeleyside], the $100 million for that category is an improvement over the June suggestion…

July 2022 – Bond Measure Deliberations Continue

According to an 8/3/22 memo from the City Manager to the Mayor and Council: At the July 26, 2022 City Council meeting the council directed staff to schedule a special meeting to be held on August 3, and to return with a revised single bond measure in an amount from $600 million to $650 million,…

June 2022 – Will Civic Center Be Funded If Bond Measure Passes?

At this point, inclusion in the projects the proposed bond measure would fund is not guaranteed. The City Council will have a special meeting about the bond measure on Tuesday, June 21, at 6 pm–agenda packet here. Of interest is the following outline for the $150 million infrastructure part: $90M for climate change, wildfire protection,…

June 2022 – Council Tentatively Approves Bond Measure

At its May 31 meeting the City Council approved proceeding with a $300 million bond measure. Berkeleyside reported: “The $150 million the bond would raise for affordable housing could allow the city to build or preserve hundreds of homes for less-wealthy residents, though the exact amount will depend on additional funding from other sources like…

May 2022 – Bond Measure Alternatives Go to City Council

Public Works has prepared a report for the Council following the latest opinion survey. The revenue measure combination that comes closest (61-63%) to 2/3 support is a $300M bond (1/2 to affordable housing, 1/2 to other infrastructure for which the Civic Center could be eligible) paired with a 30 cent per square foot parcel tax…

The CCCC group is open to any and all interested individuals, particularly those who live or work in Berkeley.

We meet on Zoom about once a month. Our next meeting will be on Monday, September 19, 2022, 12-1:30 pm. To receive notifications about future meetings and discussions, please use the "Join our email list" button below.

You can send suggestions or questions using the same contact form, or email berkeleycccc@gmail.com.

Join our email list

You can help

. . . support the next steps by donating to CCCC via our fiscal agent, Berkeley Partners for Parks. Be sure to enter under Designation: “CCCC.”

Or, you can mail a check made out to “Berkeley Partners for Parks” at PO Box 12521, Berkeley, CA 94712, with “CCCC” in the memo field. Your donation will be tax-deductible.