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

November 2022 – About the Turtle Island Monument Project

Three City Commissions will be reviewing a revised design for the Turtle Island Monument this month. We have sent the following letter to the commissioners, mayor and vice-mayor: Dear Landmarks Preservation, Civic Arts, Parks Recreation & Waterfront Commissioners, We understand that designs for the Turtle Island Fountain, a monument to the Indigenous community located at…

November 2022 – Public Input Phase Begins

The City now has a web page about the current Civic Center planning process. On Wednesday, November 15, 5-7 pm, the consultants will hold a public meeting at the Central Berkeley Public Library.

October 2022 – BAHA program

During an online event by Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association on October 5, Daniella Thompson spoke about the history and significance of the Maudelle Shirek Building. Marc Steyer of Tipping Structural Engineers spoke about his company’s research into the seismic weaknesses of both buildings and how they could be addressed. See his slides here: 2022-10-05 Berkeley…

September 2022 – Entering Phase Two

An online meeting on September 29 included representatives from the project planning team, CCCC, and four City commissions—Public Works, Civic Arts, Landmarks and Parks. The project team gave a presentation illustrated with the slides shown here on the City’s webpage for the Civic Center project. New concept drawings (see below) seemed to: relegate the Historical…

August 2022 – More on Measure L

The bond measure details and the summary with pro and con arguments are now available here. We appreciate that “Revitalize our Civic Center buildings and Park” is included in the summary. Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) will host a free Zoom webinar, “Saving Our Civic Center’s Crown Jewel,” on October 6 at 6 pm (register…

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. 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.

We are planning two meetings in October:

Monday, October 17, 12-1 pm, focusing on reactions to Sept. 29 meeting and next steps.

Monday, October 24, 4 pm, with guest speaker Ann Riley, focusing on the idea of daylighting Strawberry Creek in Civic Center Park.

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.