Unfortunately, the original Marina District developers spoiled the eastern approach to the Palace dome by misaligning Beach Street. Placing it about 20m too far north, they built its south-side homes directly over the Expo’s East-West axis, which had been a long pedestrian court looking directly on the dome. The black line on the map shows the alignment Beach St should have taken.
The homes I suggest moving are outlined in purple on the map. A few blocks to the northwest, a matching purple rectangle marks where these homes could be moved to raise their value (the row of simple wooden bodegas there could either be demolished or be moved half a mile west along Mason).
I would suggest extending the mall one block further east, from Divisadero to Scott, where the Beach St alignment corrects itself (due to the location of Lillenthal School’s main building, this segment would have to be at half width). This extension would stretch the sightline all the way to Fillmore, the original terminus of the Expo’s East-West axis. The homes in the orange box would fit at Mason & Girard, where their value would also increase. The red box encloses a small school annex, which if deemed worth preserving could fit easily within the nearby Marina Middle School campus.
By moving all the structures in a single operation with an end-to-end conveyor system, the city could move them at a fraction of the usual per-house cost. I would even venture to guess that the net increase in home value would cover not only the cost of moving but also that of landscaping and decorating the hypothetical mall. This mall, in turn, would increase home values throughout the neighborhood (especially for the properties fronting on it).
The mall itself could be lined on either side by an alternating series of palm trees and replica sculptures (the half-width section would only be able to accommodate them on the north side). My idea is that one would always have a palm tree on one side and a sculpture on the other, but they would alternate sides. The palms would recall the 1915 Avenue of Palms, which ran roughly over what is now Bay St between Lyon and Fillmore. It seems to me that palm trees would befit this district’s Andalusian theme, and would be compact enough not to obstruct the view toward the dome (which after all is the point of this mall). If palms are used, the historic (if geographically misplaced) name “Avenue of Palms” would be an alternative to “Fine Arts Mall”.
Other notes:
- To raise the value of the Beach St properties fronting it, change their addresses to “Fine Arts Mall” or “Avenue of Palms”.
- Bar vehicles except along the north half of the current Beach St roadway, which make westbound only.