Marin County
Special to Marinscope
Oct. 13 will mark the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Marin County Civic Center. In honor of this special and historic occasion, the County of Marin has organized a free day-long celebration for the entire community.
The celebration orchestrated by the Marin County Department of Cultural Services and the Civic Center Library’s Anne T. Kent California Room will include free docent-led tours of the building, a cake-cutting at noon, live music at lunchtime in the cafeteria garden, and a panel discussion about what it’s like to work in a Wright-designed building. There will be architectural photography demonstrations, a building scavenger hunt, a screening of the 1997 feature film Gattaca that was partially shot on location at the Civic Center, and much more.
Guests on Oct. 13 are invited to enter the building past a parking lot full of vintage cars from the time period when the Civic Center was built. In addition, guests can see 26 new wooden doorstops handmade by a woodworker and Frank Lloyd Wright fan who donated them for the anniversary.
Commissioned in 1957, the Marin County Civic Center was Wright’s last and largest public project. When Wright visited Marin for the first time, he said, “You have one of the most beautiful landscapes I have seen, and I am proud to make the buildings of this county characteristic of the beauty of the county. … Here is a crucial opportunity to open the eyes not of Marin County alone, but of the entire country, to what officials gathering together might themselves do to broaden and beautify human lives.”
Here is the Oct. 13 schedule of events:
10 a.m. 4 p.m. – Vintage cars on display
Vehicles from the late 1950s and early 1960s will be on display outside the South Arch of the building (across from the Post Office on Civic Center Drive) leading up to the gold entry gates. There is no registration and no cost for classic vehicle owners to participate, and parking stalls will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
10 a.m. and 2 p.m. – Building tours
Free docent-led tours will start in the cafeteria, Suite 233. Join specially trained docents for a special tour and learn about the complicated and scandalous history of Wright’s only realized project for a government entity.
10 a.m. and 2 p.m. – “Photographing Wright”
Drop in and join Marin Photography Club experts and learn the basics of architectural photography including creative approaches to composition, image framing, and the challenges of light and shadow. Meet in the cafeteria, Suite 233.
11 a.m. to noon – “Working Wright” panel discussion
In the Board of Supervisors chambers, listen to County staff speak about what it’s like to work in Wright’s iconic building. Panelists include Tom Lai, Director, Community Development Agency; Erin Riley, Capital Planning & Senior Project Manager, Department of Public Works; and Mary Sackett, incoming Board of Supervisors member for District 1. The panel will be moderated by Carol Acquaviva, Anne T. Kent California Room librarian.
Noon to 2 p.m. – Cake-cutting and celebration
Come celebrate the Civic Center’s 60th anniversary at a special ceremony in the cafeteria garden with cake and cupcakes, live music from the 1960s by the County Crows, and a special proclamation from the Board of Supervisors. The special commemorative cake by Heston Cakes of Terra Linda will be baked in the shape of the Civic Center building with the inside made out of red velvet cake honoring Wright’s favorite color, Taliesin Red. Guests will also receive anniversary items and other surprise gifts.
3:30 p.m. – Screening of Gattaca
Head under the Civic Center’s iconic dome to the Civic Center Library for a free screening of the 1997 sci-fi thriller Gattaca and see how the Marin County Civic Center served as a futuristic setting in this cult film starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, and Jude Law.
Marin County residents who were born on Oct. 13, 1962, are welcome to stop by between noon and 2 p.m. in the cafeteria garden for a gift bag full of birthday goodies in honor of the celebration. Gift bags will also be available all day in the Civic Center Library.
At the building’s groundbreaking ceremony in February 1960, distinguished architect Edward Durrell Stone said of the Civic Center, “Great periods of history are great only because of the arts they produced. The Marin County Civic Center is a great work of art, the best our times can produce. This will be a place of pilgrimage in years to come. They will come here as they go to see Michelangelo today.”
The Civic Center 60th anniversary is supported by the Friends of the Civic Center Library, Frank Lloyd Wright Civic Center Conservancy, the Marin Photography Club, Jeff Craemer, and Gustaf Rooth.
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