4329 & 4331 Kirkham Street -- 2004 Activities

Kirkham Shacks Main Page -- 2005 -- 2004 -- 2003 -- 2002

December 19, 2004: The archeology team continued surface collection of materials under the front shacks. Team leader Holly de Maagd reported on Gabrielle and Jon's crawling/collecting: "With the stealth of hobbits they collected several boxes of artifacts, most of which were metal. Remarkably there were more cans with labels including a few very small cans with "Gerber" baby food labels that had a tight date of 1931-1937...how beautiful is that?!!"

December 12, 2004: While Reed Walker worked on shoring up the front shacks, the archeology team started mapping the site, and collected some of the loose artifacts found under 4329 Kirkham.

December 5, 2004: The volunteer archeology team takes its first look at the Kirkham site. Holly de Maagd, Joshua Samuels, Jon Moyer, Gabrielle O'Connell-Merel, Stacy Kozakavich and Michelle St. Clair have all joined the list of heroes donating labor to saving these pieces of San Francisco history.

November 13, 2004: Carpenters from Mayta and Jensen and other WNP volunteers fill up a third donated debris box from Sunset Scavenger and almost finish preparing the front cottages for their move.

November 5, 2004: Chris VerPlanck from Page & Turnbull measures shacks for architectural plans.

October 14, 2004: Aimee Klask from the Oakland Museum calls about the possibility of taking a refurbished cottage for display at the Oakland Museum.

October 12, 2004: John Mann from the San Francisco Zoo gives us approval to move the Kirkham cottages "backstage" on the zoo grounds for renovation.

September 23, 2004: The boys from Mayta and Jensen are back and our second debris box gets filled up. Gabrielle Merel comes out to do a bit of archeology and give some advice about what we might find.

September 22, 2004: A possible change in plan, as the SF Zoo gets interested in taking the cottages. Going down the Great Highway would be a lot easier than all the way to Treasure Island! Talks continue...

August 20, 2004: A San Francisco Chronicle article on the project.

August 13, 2004: A big handful of Mayta and Jensen carpenters keep up the demolition of non-historic additions, and we find a whole lot of artifacts in the sand under the cottages.

August 11, 2004: A San Francisco Examiner article on the project.

August 10, 2004: A huge hurdle was crossed this week when a volunteer staff of abatement experts from Bluewater Services in Oakland came out to strip away the cement tiles from the exterior walls of the Kirham Cottages. News crews, documentary filmmakers, WNP boardmembers, a steady stream of interested passersby were on hand throughout the day to observe the progress! The homes are quickly being turned back to their original condition as more and more of the emblematic park-bench green redwood siding becomes exposed. We expect the work will continue throughout the week, with removal of the interior drywall and deconstruction of the non-historic elements.

Great thanks to Dan Cross, Bluewater Services, and Ignacio's crew that put in three full days of volunteer work at the site!

July 14, 2004: Volunteer contractors from Mayta & Jensen visit the site to begin work removing non-historical elements. Sunset Scavenger donated the debris box, and Reed Walker brought Bruce, Ruben, and Danny who jumped into the front shack and made incredible progress in just a couple of hours. A glorious day we thought would never come, and we are so thankful to these wonderful people who are saving San Francisco history!

The gable that was added soon after the Kirkham shacks had been carted from the refugee camps is removed, exposing the original roofline (and some original cedar shingles!) for the first time in 97 years.

May 4, 2004: Supervisor Aaron Peskin offers to do what he can to help find a permanent San Francisco location for the shacks. Reed Walker from Mayta & Jensen follows up on getting an abatement company to prepare shacks for move.

April 20, 2004: Woody LaBounty gives a presentation and a request for any help with the Kirkham shacks to the 1906 Centennial alliance.

March 28, 2004: Woody LaBounty gives an information talk in front of the Kirkham shacks for 45 members of the SF Bicycle Coalition.

March 26, 2004: The City of San Francisco grants the shacks an environmental review exemption, allowing WNP to go on to the next step of applying for a moving permit.

January 29, 2004: Woody LaBounty and Reed Walker from Mayta & Jensen meet with Laurence M. Kornfield, chief building inspector for San Francisco to determine what procedures and paperwork need to be followed to get the shacks literally moved. Mr. Kornfield is very helpful, and is inspired to perhaps have the Department of Building Inspection take on the rehabilitation of one of the shacks!

January 24, 2004: Christopher VerPlanck from Page & Turnbull volunteers to write the letter explaining our adherence to the Secretary's standards. With WNP board member Richard Brandi and Ridge Greene, Chris does some deconstruction inside the shacks to check the condition of the original walls. Early reports are good! Chris hopes to have the letter ready for the Planning Department in early February.

January 8, 2004: Nannie Turrell and Moses Corrette from the SF Planning Department tell us that if we can show how our renovation plan complies with the Secretary of Interior standards, the Planning Department will give us a categorical exemption!

Kirkham Shacks Main Page -- 2005 -- 2004 -- 2003 -- 2002

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Page launched 8 February 2005.