Aug 252011
North Beach
Sentinel Building
The Columbus Tower, also known as the Sentinel Building, or to most as Zoetrope sits at the corners of Columbus Avenue, Kearny Street and Jackson Street. It is a flatiron building with a distinctive copper-green exterior. Designed by Salfield and Kohlberg the building is clad in white tile and copper. Construction was begun before the 1906 earthquake and fire. The framing survived the disaster, and the building was completed in 1907. The top floor initially housed the real estate offices of the notorious Abe Ruef, a local political figure who spent time in San Quentin for graft. The Kingston Trio owned the building and used it as their corporate headquarters during the 1960s.
By the early 1970s the building was falling gradually into a state of mild disrepair. The film director Francis Ford Coppola purchased the building, and renovated it into the building that can be seen today. Coppola then set up his own business in the building American Zoetrope, and it remains there to this day. The bottom floor is his restaurant Zoetrope, which is what most people see and why most people call it that.
To learn more about the Sentinel Read my article at Untapped Cities
It is always nice when beautiful old buildings are saved…thank god for people with money!
Love those old signs!
Great shot, love the old sign!
That is a fabulous flat-iron building – so glad it has been restored! Love the signs too.
Great post. Nice write-up and a cool photo of the building.
These are fabulous!
Great shot of the old flatiron building with the new highrise under construction in the background.