Wikimedia Commons · Kylelovesyou · CC0Portsmouth Square's record runs from the city's historic heart to a current rebuild. A 1940 WPA theatre history places the city's first schoolhouse and earliest English-language entertainment on Portsmouth Plaza. 1959 Recreation and Park Commission minutes note the square's use for Chinese New Year and a contemplated subterranean garage beneath it. A 1975 Open Space fund report allocates $15,000 for benches and shelters, completed in 1977. A 1984 EIR for 505 Montgomery Street finds the tower would shade up to 40% of the square. The square is operated by the Recreation and Park Department (FY2025 budget line about $250M); its capital record includes a $43,000,000 permit (2026) for a new clubhouse, plus Arts Commission public-art contracts ($30,248 and $10,625 paid).
733 Kearny St · City-owned · 2,496 sq ft · 2 buildings on site · parcel 0209017 · District 3 · City Facilities registry
What the City actually paid, across 3 contractors. Contractors big enough to have their own page are linked; the rest are named only.
Every line opens that contract’s own page, with its spend curve and its subcontractors. Agreed amounts are ceilings, not spending.
Run by the Recreation & Parks, whose whole-department budget is $250.4M across 2,161 staff (FY2025) — citywide, not this place’s own. The City does not publish a running cost per building.
The Controller's 2009 audit of the Portsmouth Plaza Parking Corporation, the non-profit operating the garage beneath the square.
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency : audit of City of San Francisco Portsmouth Plaza Parking Corporation · 2009 ↗Internet Archive — San Francisco Public Library partnership scansA management audit of city-owned garages, comparing the non-profit operators' management fees and legal costs.
Report to the San Francisco Parking and Traffic Commission : management audit of city-owned garages ↗Internet Archive — San Francisco Public Library partnership scansThe 1998 draft environmental impact report for City College's Chinatown/North Beach campus, assessing sunlight access and the open spaces around Portsmouth Square.
City College of San Francisco Chinatown/North Beach campus : draft environmental impact report · 1998 ↗Internet Archive — Democracy's LibraryA 1982 environmental impact report for the Bank of Canton headquarters, assessing height, bulk and historic resources in the blocks below the square.
Bank of Canton of California headquarters, [final] environmental impact report · 1982 ↗Internet Archive — San Francisco Public Library partnership scans
See 4 more documents
A 1983 environmental impact report for 505 Montgomery Street, mapping the shadows the tower would cast across nearby open space.
505 Montgomery Street : [draft] environmental impact report · 1983 ↗Internet Archive — San Francisco Public Library partnership scansA Civil Grand Jury report on off-street parking, examining the long-term ground leases and bond financing behind the city's non-profit garage corporations.
Findings and recommendations concerning off street parking, Department of Parking and Traffic, San Francisco ↗Internet Archive — San Francisco Public Library partnership scans- General manager's report : Open Space Acquisition and Park Renovation Fund · 1975 ↗Internet Archive — San Francisco Public Library partnership scans
- Theatre buildings · 1940 ↗Internet Archive — San Francisco Public Library partnership scans
1 procedural record — minutes, agendas, calendars — not listed.
