Photo Gallery: The palace its architect wanted torn down or left to decay

After the earthquake and fires of 1906, the city of San Francisco went to a great deal of trouble to prove to the world it was getting its groove back. It took on the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition, essentially a sprawling world’s fair in the city’s Marina District to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal and the resurrection of San Francisco. The exhibition took place in 1915. Massive exhibition palaces were constructed, including the famous Palace of Fine Arts, the only structure from the exhibition that stands today. The architect was Bernard Maybeck. Hard to believe, but Maybeck did not want his palace, evoking Roman ruins, to stand after the exhibition closed. He wanted it to torn down, or left to decay, and replaced with a grove of redwood trees. And that’s sort of what happened. Decades later, with the palace in serious decline, preservationists prevailed and raised money for its restoration. The palace looms large today, still bold and impressive, along a lagoon, attracting tourists, strollers, wedding parties and teenage girls in bright dresses posing for photographs marking their quinceañeras.

Dan’s Next Play: The fourth and final run of “Baltimore, You Have No Idea,” with new scenes, will be on stage at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Dec. 8-13. Tickets now on sale. See what it’s all about on our updated website.