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Committee forwards landmark nominations for Roosevelt Middle and Sunshine School after SFUSD requests time to consult
Summary
The Land Use and Transportation Committee forwarded landmark nominations for Theodore Roosevelt Middle School (460 Arguello) and Sunshine School (2728 Bryant) to the full Board with recommendation; Planning staff described architectural significance and SFUSD asked for a one-week continuance so its new board can be briefed.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and Transportation Committee on Feb. 11 forwarded to the full Board with recommendation two community‑sponsored landmark nominations: Theodore Roosevelt Middle School, at 460 Arguello Boulevard, and Sunshine School, at 2728 Bryant Street.
Planning Department staff Shannon Ferguson told the committee the Historic Preservation Commission unanimously recommended designation on Dec. 6, 2017, and that detailed case reports were prepared by Verplank Historic Preservation Consulting and Donna Graves with funding from the Historic Preservation Fund Committee. Ferguson said Roosevelt (constructed 1930) is San Francisco’s only example of Dutch/German expressionist school architecture by architect Timothy Pflueger and contains three New Deal‑era murals created under the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP). She said Sunshine School (constructed 1937) was funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA) and was built as an integrated facility for children with disabilities, showing Spanish Colonial Revival, Art Deco and Moorish influences.
A representative of the San Francisco Unified School District told the committee the Board of Education had submitted a March 2018 letter stating it was "not supportive of moving forward with landmark designation at this time" and asked the committee for a one‑week continuance so the district’s four new board members could be briefed on the implications. An SFUSD official reiterated the board’s procedural concerns and potential cost impacts for future renovations, and asked staff to provide an on‑record briefing for the district’s new board members.
Professor Robert Cherney of the Historic Preservation Fund Committee, San Francisco Heritage’s Mike Bueller, and authors of the nominations urged the committee to advance the designations. Bueller noted that local listing can allow the district to use the State Historical Building Code as a more flexible alternative to the Uniform Building Code, potentially producing cost savings for preservation‑sensitive projects.
Chair Aaron Peskin said he would forward the items to the full Board so SFUSD officials could brief their board; Supervisor Asha Safaie moved to forward the nominations with recommendation, and the committee took the motion without objection.
Next steps: the matters will appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda (the clerk said items acted on would appear on Feb. 26 unless otherwise stated).
