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Frank H. Ogawa Plaza

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Oak Tree growing in Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
Oak Tree growing in Frank H. Ogawa Plaza

Frank H. Ogawa Plaza is a public square located in Downtown Oakland.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Frank H. Ogawa Plaza (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
14th Street, Oakland

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Wikipedia: Frank H. Ogawa PlazaContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 37.805 ° E -122.2718 °
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Address

The Jack London Oak

14th Street
94612 Oakland
California, United States
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Oak Tree growing in Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
Oak Tree growing in Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
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Oakland City Hall
Oakland City Hall

Oakland City Hall is the seat of government for the city of Oakland, California. The current building was completed in 1914, and replaced a prior building that stood on what is now Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Standing at the height of 320 feet (98 m), it was the first high-rise government building in the United States. At the time it was built, it was also the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. The City Hall is depicted on the city seal of Oakland. The building was designed by New York-based architecture firm Palmer & Hornbostel in 1910, after winning a nationwide design competition. The building, constructed in the Beaux-Arts style, resembles a "rectangular wedding cake". It consists of three tiers. The bottom tier serves the foundation. It is three stories high and houses the mayor's office, the city council chamber, hearing rooms, and a police station with a firing range below in the basement. The thinner second tier follows; it is a ten-story office tower. The top floor of this section (the 12th floor) houses a 36-cell jail with an outdoor yard that has gone unused since the 1960s. Above the second tier is the two-story podium with a clock tower on top. The exterior is built of white granite and terra cotta, while the inside is built of white and black marble. The building was nicknamed "Mayor Mott's wedding cake" after former Oakland Mayor Frank Kanning Mott, a key player in passing the bond to pay for the new City Hall, who was married the same year construction began.In 1983, the Oakland City Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places.After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the building suffered from major structural damage and was immediately closed down. Instead of tearing it down and replacing it with a newer building, city leaders decided to retrofit it seismically. To do so, steel columns in the foundation were cut and they were replaced by rubber bearings. Steel beams were added to support the steel structure and concrete walls were added to support existing walls. The building can now move laterally 18-20 inches in an earthquake. The city hall was repaired along with the downtown revitalization project of building new office buildings. The repair project cost $85 million.

Kahn's Department Store
Kahn's Department Store

Kahn's Department Store, also called The Rotunda Building, is a historical seven story Beaux-Arts architecture building in downtown Oakland, California. The Kahn's Department Store was built in 1912. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 30, 1989. Some of the noted features of the building are the 120 foot high elliptical dome, with a 5,000 sq. foot floor below, a grand staircase, columns and terrazzo floors. The 167,000 square feet Kahn's Department Store was designed by Charles W. Dickey for Israel Kahn (1822–1883). Israel Kahn came from Germany to New York City and then to San Francisco in 1877. The original Kahn's Department Store was at 12th and Washington. Israel Kahn founded the Kahn's Department Store in 1879. The store was successful and in 1923 the building was expanded on the northeast corner, to 385,000 Sq. feet. In 1949 two partial levels were also added. The name of the store change in 1960 to the Rhodes Department Store and in 1975 changed again to the Liberty House store. Liberty House store closed in 1983 and remained vacant. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake did major damage to the building. The building was sold in 1991 to the Oakland Redevelopment Agency, with plans to restore and update the building and some adjacent buildings. The Oakland Redevelopment Agency and Rotunda Partners II, LLC partnered for the restoration in 1998, with Rotunda Partners buying the building in 1999. After a three-year renovation at a cost of about $50 million, the building reopened as The Rotunda Building office building. Kahn's Department Store is also an Oakland Landmark #132 listed on April 9, 2002.