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AKA: Marin County, Civic Center, San Rafael, CA; Superior Court of California, County of Marin, Courthouse #2, San Rafael, CA
Structure Type: built works - public buildings - courthouses
Designers: Daniel, Mann, Johnson and Mendenhall (DMJM) (firm); Green, Aaron G., FAIA, and Associates, Architects (firm); Mark Diversified, Incorporated, Building Contractors (firm); McKee, Robert E., Inc., Building Contractors (firm); Paradise Engineering Construction, Incorporated, Landscape Contractors (firm); Rothschild, Raffin and Weirick, Incorporated, Building Contractors (firm); Taliesin Fellowship (firm); Watkin and Sibbald, Landscape Conctractors (firm); Phillip James Daniel (architect); Aaron Gus Green (architect); S. Kenneth Johnson (architect); Arthur Edwin Mann (architect); Irvan F. Mendenhall (civil engineer/structural engineer); William Wesley Peters (architect); Raffin (building contractor); Rothschild (building contractor); Sibbald (landscape architect); Watkin (landscape architect); Weirick (building contractor); Frank Lloyd Wright (architect)
Dates: constructed 1960-1966
Frank Lloyd Wright produced the design for the first phase of the Marin County Civic Center, known as the Administration Building, but he died 04/09/1959, before construction began 02/15/1960. Wright's associates, William Wesley Peters, Chief Architect & Aaron Green AIA, Associated Architect, supervised the construction process between 1960 and construction completion 10/13/1962. Controversy over the design raged in 1960-1961, after ground had already been broken. On 10/31/1961, the County decided to alter the color of the Civic Center's roof from gold to blue.
Charles Jencks, in his book, Kings of Infinite Space, noted the dates of the Civic Center to have been 1957-1961.
The Marin County Civic Center was built over a long period, one marred by controversy. Phase II of the building program, the design and erection of the Hall of Justice occurred between 1965-1969. The passage of a bond issue for $7.7 million started the process in 1965. The Taliesin Fellowship/Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, led by William Wesley Peters, produced plans for this second phase of work. Building Contractor, Robert E. McKee, Inc., of South San Francisco, CA, was awarded the $11 million contract for the Hall. In 1995, Frank Lloyd Wright associate, Aaron Green, produced a design for a new jail located on the north end of the Hall of Justice. The Los Angeles firm of DMJM produced a design based on that of Green c. 1991 and supervised construction which began in 09/1992. Building contractor, Mark Diversified of Sacramento, CA, won the $18.1 million contract for the jail addition; the jail opened on 11/17/1994. In 2004, Marin County hired Mark Cavagnero Associates to create a new master plan for the Marin County Civic Center.
PCAD id: 2511
