James Haas

Building a municipal opera house was the goal of many San Francisco leaders. It took twenty years, was proposed at several locations, had funding problems, morphed into a War Memorial and a Veterans Building, and generated much controversy—your typical San Francisco story. On October 15, 1932, the War Memorial Opera House opened to a gala performance of Tosca and has been a grand home for San Francisco culture ever since.

James Haas is a native San Franciscan and a retired lawyer. For nearly forty years he has endeavored to improve and complete San Francisco’s magnificent Civic Center. During those years he found that few people knew the significance or history of Civic Center. Consequently, he wrote The San Francisco Civic Center, A History of the Design, Controversies and Realization of a City Beautiful Masterpiece (click link to purchase book on this site), published by the University of Nevada Press. He lives in an apartment overlooking the City Hall dome.

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Doors open at 5:45 PM for socializing and snacks.
Presentations begin at 6:30.