| Show thousands 0 of world s fair visitors swarm to magic island that has been built in san francisco bay by ELMO 1510 SCOTT WATSON crossing the harbor entrance U western union with the longest single span ever eve T WAS the morning of february erected DT 18 so the two visions airport and an had worlds fair were merged each since throngs daylight plan speeded and supported the ur been streaming toward san other early in 1930 1030 while the th Francis cos famed ferry wo two bridges wore were still building building on market street or and the clipper ship air traffic which brought asia within making their way across the f days not weeks of america was huge bridge that connects passing from the exploratory san francisco and oakland stage into regular airmail flights with rocky yorba yerba buona buena work on tho the now new airport began island soon the cou causeway united states army engineers aj 14 91 NIGHT SCENE ON TREASURE ISLAND shown here under illumination ar are e the arched waters of the he fountain of the evening star in the court of tile the moon on treasure island in the background it nd I 1 is s the tower of the sun bathed in while and amber lights over which they were h hurrying from yerba buena toward their the ir objective a little island Is land yards away was packed with people el eight 9 ht oc ocl locki the portals of the pacific the gates between tho the huge pyramidal towers swung open and the crowd surged forward for their first views ot of the wonders that lay beyond those portals within four hours more than people were swarming over the island tre treasure a sure island its called twelve ocl oc locki high up in tho the tower of the sun a 44 bell carillon poured out a flood of melody then while a mixed chorus ot of voices song sang a hymn of joy muted trumpets sounded an invocation of thanksgiving and prayer A few moments later over the ra dlo adlo loudspeakers camo came the voices of california calit notables gov culbert culber t L olson mayor angelo of san r francisco ran cisco and leland W cutler president of the exposition with brief messages come twelve thirty for a moment the loudspeakers were silent then the president of the united Sta stalest test from the other side of the continent come came the voice of franklin D roosevelt when when his message was concluded two world famous soloists led the chorus in a moving anthem of prayer and thank thanksgiving accompanied by a piece band and the carillon carillo n then as the last notes of the anthem faded away cannon roared out a 21 gun salute to the chief executive of the nation and from all over the island brilliant daylight fireworks exploded in tile the sky and thus was the 1939 golden gate international exposition opened ned to the world like ever every other worlds fair ever held the one at san francisco has innovations in architecture tec ture illumination exhibits and special events which make inake previous expositions seem quaintly archaic but in ono ona respect it is absolutely unique that is its site a man made island set down in the middle of one of the great harbors ot of the world and flanked by the two greatest bridges in the world the story of this truly magic island which now stands where but three years ago boats plied piled the blue waters of san francisco bay sea fowl swam and fishermen cost cast their lines is one of the real romances of Ameri american crin initiative ingenuity and eng engineering I 1 achievement that story began less than 10 years ago when progress in aviation indicated that san francisco was destined to become the air crossroads of the pacific to achieve that destiny she must have a gul suitable table airport in 1931 the san francisco junior chamber of commerce sur T X M ix A as akl W V 7 2 R TREASURE ISLAND SENTINELS designers of the elgh t stand lards near the main entrance of the golden gate international tion have made them to conform to the general lines of the tall palm trees at left Is one of the elephant towers flanking the main entrance keyed 14 possible airport sites and the final choice ot of the experts was the yerba buena shoals they lay just north of yerba buona buena island midpoint mid point of the bay bridge which was then being plan planned so t that hat no more centrally located site from the standpoint of the entire bay area could be imagined an airport there would be only 47 miles from san Francis cos downtown district and 73 miles via an arterial boulevard from oaklands Oak lands center of 0 population records showed only hours of fog annually for the past 45 years and the steady prevailing winds were gentle both essential elements for an airport meanwhile son san francisco was planning a worlds fair in celebration of the future completion of the two greatest bridges in the world she was building the san francisco oak land day bay bridge longest and most costly anywhere and the golden gate bridge financed with in funds sponsored by the exposition company began assembling their dredges eleven of these huge machines a fleet of nine at one time began pumping black sand from the floor of the bay and sluicing it through pipelines over Y yerba aba buena shoals around the shoals had been built a sea wall nearly three and a quarter miles long and containing tons of quarried rock largest man blan made blade island by the ahe time the work had been completed cubic yards of sand had been compacted within the seawall from a natural depth of 2 to 26 feet below water the shoals had risen to u height of 13 feet above the tides making a acre rectangle of land the largest island ever built by man I 1 it is a little more than a mile long nearly two thirds of a mile wide and is connected to the shore of yerba buena island by a causeway yards long and 37 yards wide this causeway is the key to the islands remarkable accessibility for across it are six lanes of highway to link the island into the traffic streams of the bay bridge four ferry slips supplement these highways in transporting at the peak rate of hourly the millions who will visit the exposition this year three of these ferry slips on the san francisco side will land the crowds from san Francis cos ferry building on Market street discharge them into a ferry terminal building which with the slips themselves cost more tha than n three quarters of a million dollars the fourth ferry slip is on the oakland shore of the island highways that have been constructed ted as a part of the general transportation plan take into account the dual function of treasure island as an exposition site and a future airport the army engineers who built the system across yerba duena buena island 1 did it along novel lines three tr traffic lanes are of permanent construction st for airport utility gigantic hangars hardly had the water drained from the islands advancing sand fill when construction began on three buildings that will survive the glitter of the fair to endure as airport facilities one is the reinforced concrete air terminal building to serve the th e fair as administrative headquarters its permanent use will find it equipped with complete bacill ties including passenger mall mail and express terminals restaurants ollices public observation galleries and meteorological towers the others ore aro two gig gigantic antle hangar buildings each by feet on the ground and 78 feet high built of steel and concrete costing each for these buildings exposition engl engi applied a 0 new design to hangar construction cantilevered walls which actually aid by their weight in supporting the root roof load during the fair these structures will servo serve as the palace of fine and liberal arts and the hall of air transportation later as airport facilities their huge by 40 foot doors may be heightened at centers to 65 feet to accommodate the rudders of airplanes greater than any now known all other buildings on island are of 0 tl temporary m construction for removal after the exposition to provide clear airport runways 4 Q vr W I 1 P 4 I 1 I 1 k AI 4 above Is shown one of the picturesque s tur esque towers of the east 0 on it treasure island an ancient walled city Is tife the basis of the expositions structural scheme in the spacious central court of honor stands the foot tower of tho the sun which la Is only 57 feet in diameter at its base but which competes in height with the lofty towers of the day bay b ridge bridge nearby from it radiates phalanxes of exhibit palaces each from to feet long and about feet w wide de they are spaced by broad concourses court of the seven seas C ourt court of flowers courton court of reflections court of the moon court of pacifica treasure treasur gardens names which characterize their symbolism all of them are windowless for display uniformity under constant illumination and have been built according to a so called pacific style of architecture which combines the new and tho old ancient mystical oriental forms have been blended into long horizontal lines setback pyramids and masses characteristic charad tier of malayan incan and cambodian treatments TM the elephant mammoth beast of far east pageantry is a predominating decorative note crowning as it does the pyramidal entrances that flank the portals 0 of the pacific the color scheme of the exposition buildings includes 19 different shades characteristic of both the rare shades of california wildflowers wild Howers flowers and the variegated hues of the orient the basic plaster body color Is a yellow ivory which has been designated exposition ivory along with it will be seen these old mission fawn pagoda yellow pebble beach coral santa barbara taupe california ecru evening star blue polynesian brown sun GOLDEN GATE W 4 0 0 0 Z W X 0 Z 0 Z design of the three cent golden gate exposition stamp which was placed on sale at san francisco on february 18 the opening date of the exposition of dawn yellow Ila hawaiian wailan emerald green santa clara apricot imperial dragon red death valley mauve pacific blue ming jaide jade green light ming jade dark southern cross blue del monte blue china clipper blue and treasure island gold these colors are reduced to half tones or less on exteriors to avoid the garish under night illumination which increases the intensity of the basic color dy by turning their huge buildings inside out almost literally stylists sty lists have achieved a cement tuco stucco that bathes the buildings and tall walls in a radiant golden glow sparkling with prismatic colors day or night its done with vermiculite a mica like lika substance exposition stylists sty lists found that this mater material applied to wet stucco reflects light in a million scintillating gems and makes the walls glow and glitter with live fire statues panels in relief great murals and paintings are us use ir d to glorify the courts and basic buildings nearly all the biot outstanding western artists and sculptors are represented there |
