If Millennium Partner’s proposed 550-foot tower at 706 Mission Street is approved for development, the “core-and-shell” for San Francisco’s Mexican Museum will be built at the tower’s base (click images to enlarge) with entrances to the museum from Jessie Square:



The 52,000 square foot museum space, stretching from Jessie Square across two floors of the adjacent Aronson Building and worth $18 to $22 million, would effectively be gifted to the City along with a $5 million operating endowment to The Mexican Museum.

As Jessie Square which fronts the Contemporary Jewish Museum appears today:
Jessie%20Square.jpg
A Big Week And New Renderings For A Big SoMa Tower To Rise [SocketSite]

14 thoughts on “The Designs And Dollars For San Francisco’s Mexican Museum”
  1. The Mexican Museum facing the Jewish Museum down the block from the African Diaspora Museum and the California Historical museum. It’s getting to be like a museum theme park down there!

  2. @James: Plus SFMOMA, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and maybe someday the Old Mint– planned that way, decades ago, to revitalize what was once Skid Row. Also one of the reasons why the Fisher Collection didn’t belong in the Presidio.

  3. Yes, those too, as well as the Cartoon Art Museum… Personally, I love museums spread throughout the city (including the Disney in the Presidio) so it’s not so much like cultural window shopping for tourists, but not complaining about this project at all.

  4. Excellent news. I know the Mexican museum was struggling mightily to fund its badly needed relocation. OTOH sfmoma was able to raise tens of millions quickly for its upcoming expansion. Elitism in the artworld makes the elite penthouses in all the new residential high risers seem like child’s play.

  5. Plenty of museums spread throughout the city- Legion of Honor, Academy of Sciences, de Young, Disney, Presidio military museum, Maritime museum, Exploratorium.
    Concentration of museums in one area is great. It increases foot traffic and reduces crime.
    Whatever happened to the proposal of the “collapsed toilet paper” museum on the corner of Folsom and 3rd?

  6. Really like this part of town…It oddly reminds me of Berlin. An eclectic mix of old and new.
    I’m sure I’m in the minority but I think this building should be rescaled downwards by about one third. I hope the current open space doesn’t turn into another uninviting plaza like in front of 555 California.

  7. “I’m sure I’m in the minority but I think this building should be rescaled downwards by about one third. I hope the current open space doesn’t turn into another uninviting plaza like in front of 555 California”
    I disagree. The tower will of course shade the plaza, but only in the morning when few people are using it. And there’s an unshaded park literally right across the street, so I fail to see how it would be an issue anyways. The tower would also look worse if it were to get chopped down, and it would be a missed opportunity to break out of the boring 400-500 foot tabletop effect that so much of SF’s skyline has. A shorter building would also mean less housing, and as always, SF needs all the housing it can get.

  8. I prefer museums that are dedicated to art, history, science and particular disciplines within it. I don’t know what to do with a “Mexican museum” or a “Jewish museum”.

  9. “I prefer museums that are dedicated to art, history, science and particular disciplines within it.”
    That’s exactly what the Mexican and Jewish museums are dedicated to, smart guy.

  10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2T7wKdQsTo
    Jessie is a square
    Yeah you know it’s been a good square in my ‘hood
    Lately somethings changed and it ain’t so good
    Jessie’s got another museum like I knew it always should
    Tourists wandering with jet lagged eyes
    And she’s lovin’ them with those guidebooks I just know it.
    Yeah they’re stopping to have a bottled water
    late late in the morning
    Mexican museum in Jessie’s Square!
    I wish they’d build in Jessie’s Square!
    Where can I find a museum like that?
    I play along with the charade.
    Contemporary Jewish Museum I would prefer to trade
    You know I feel so dirty when they start talkin’ cute
    The tribe does better than la raza but the point is probably moot.
    Tourists wandering with jet lagged eyes
    And she’s lovin’ them with those guidebooks I just know it.
    Yeah they’re stopping to have a bottled water
    late late in the morning
    Mexican museum in Jessie’s Square!
    I wish they’d build in Jessie’s Square!
    Where can I find a museum like that?
    (Bridge)
    Tacos in the cafeteria
    Quizas some lowriders in the lobby?
    I brush up with Sabado Gigante
    Ain’t that the way culture’s supposed to be?
    -Key Change-
    -Solo-
    Chorus * 2, (3 if encore).

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