Van Ness Auto Row Support Structures: A Survey of Automobile-Related Buildings active in it as the field underwent numerous changes. Buildings that are large in their area, and that had a great capacity, are usually more important than buildings that had a smaller capacity and thus served fewer owners of automobiles. Finally, and very importantly, buildings that have higher integrity are better able to evoke their history than do buildings with lower integrity. Summation The purpose of establishing these hierarchies is to clarify which buildings in the study area best evoke the history of the automobile industry, and to aid us in evaluating them according to California Register criteria. Some aspects of automotive history are more important than others, and some buildings exemplify these aspects better than others do. For example: because auto showrooms, public garages, and multi-use buildings are so important as building types, examples with only fair integrity might still be considered significant, whereas used car salesrooms or fender repair shops with the same level of integrity would not be. Similarly, an auto repair shop that is one of the oldest in the study area, and that has excellent longevity in this use, migw be considered significant even 9 though its integrity is only fair, whereas a later example with the same level of integrity would not be. The methodology employed in this study, then, is to consider all of the factors outlined above in an attempt to identify those buildings which best illustrate the history of the automobile industry in the study area. Historical overview Introduction Van Ness Avenue, from its beginning at Market Street to just north of Pacific Avenue, was the premier auto showroom district in San Francisco from shortly after the earthquake and fire of 1906 until the 1980s. Although only a few active auto dealerships remain on the avenue, many buildings that were built as auto showrooms and that have undergone adaptive reuse survive to the present day. In addition, many early garages, auto repair shops, and other automotive support buildings still stand within a two-block radius of Van Ness. This corridor, about 22 blocks in length and slightly over three blocks in width, contains by far the largest concentration of auto-related buildings in San Francisco. Although many of these buildings now have other uses, their auto-related origins are often evident from their architectural appearance. The larger auto showrooms typically have wide expanses of glass in the lower and upper stories, a monumental scale, and sometimes lavish ornamentation to advertise their products. Garages used for automobile storage and auto repair shops possess wide portals for auto entrance and egress, and often the width of these entrance bays is repeated across the entire fagade. Showrooms and garages are usually built of reinforced concrete, a material that facilitated large window areas and the storage of autos on upper stories. The distinctive appearance o f these 11 , OCR Text: Van Ness Auto Row Support Structures: A Survey of Automobile-Related Buildings active in it as the field underwent numerous changes. Buildings that are large in their area, and that had a great capacity, are usually more important than buildings that had a smaller capacity and thus served fewer owners of automobiles. Finally, and very importantly, buildings that have higher integrity are better able to evoke their history than do buildings with lower integrity. Summation The purpose of establishing these hierarchies is to clarify which buildings in the study area best evoke the history of the automobile industry, and to aid us in evaluating them according to California Register criteria. Some aspects of automotive history are more important than others, and some buildings exemplify these aspects better than others do. For example: because auto showrooms, public garages, and multi-use buildings are so important as building types, examples with only fair integrity might still be considered significant, whereas used car salesrooms or fender repair shops with the same level of integrity would not be. Similarly, an auto repair shop that is one of the oldest in the study area, and that has excellent longevity in this use, migw be considered significant even 9 though its integrity is only fair, whereas a later example with the same level of integrity would not be. The methodology employed in this study, then, is to consider all of the factors outlined above in an attempt to identify those buildings which best illustrate the history of the automobile industry in the study area. Historical overview Introduction Van Ness Avenue, from its beginning at Market Street to just north of Pacific Avenue, was the premier auto showroom district in San Francisco from shortly after the earthquake and fire of 1906 until the 1980s. Although only a few active auto dealerships remain on the avenue, many buildings that were built as auto showrooms and that have undergone adaptive reuse survive to the present day. In addition, many early garages, auto repair shops, and other automotive support buildings still stand within a two-block radius of Van Ness. This corridor, about 22 blocks in length and slightly over three blocks in width, contains by far the largest concentration of auto-related buildings in San Francisco. Although many of these buildings now have other uses, their auto-related origins are often evident from their architectural appearance. The larger auto showrooms typically have wide expanses of glass in the lower and upper stories, a monumental scale, and sometimes lavish ornamentation to advertise their products. Garages used for automobile storage and auto repair shops possess wide portals for auto entrance and egress, and often the width of these entrance bays is repeated across the entire fagade. Showrooms and garages are usually built of reinforced concrete, a material that facilitated large window areas and the storage of autos on upper stories. The distinctive appearance o f these 11 , Heritage Society of Pacific Grove,Historical Collections,Names of People about town,A through B Name file,Automobile related buildings,AUTO RELATED BUILDINGS IN SF - USEFUL FOR REVIEW LOCALLY_011.pdf,AUTO RELATED BUILDINGS IN SF - USEFUL FOR REVIEW LOCALLY_011.pdf 1 Page 1, Tags: AUTO RELATED BUILDINGS IN SF - USEFUL FOR REVIEW LOCALLY_011.PDF, AUTO RELATED BUILDINGS IN SF - USEFUL FOR REVIEW LOCALLY_011.pdf 1 Page 1