Show thousands of world s fair visitors swarm to magic island that has been built in san francisco bay by E ELMO SCOTT WATSON y w western newspaper union TT T WAS the morning of feb druary 18 since daylight throngs had been streaming toward san Francis cos famed ferry building on market street or making their way across the huge bridge that connects san francisco and oakland with rocky yerba buena island soon the causeway NIGHT SCENE ON TREASURE isia ISLAND shown here under illumination are the arched waters of the fountain Fo of the evening star in the court of the moon on treasure island in the background Is the tower of the sun san bathed in white and amber lights over which they were hurrying from yerba buena toward their objective a little island yards away was packed with people eight I 1 the portals of the pacific the gates between the huge pyramidal towers swung open and the crowd surged forward for their first views of the wonders that lay beyond those t portals within four hours houis more than people were swarming over the island treasure island its called twelve 1 1 I 1 high up in the tower of the sun a 44 bell c carillon i poured out a flood of melody then while a mixed chorus q of voices sang a hymn of joy muted trumpets sounded an invocation of thanksgiving and prayer A few moments ments slater later over the radio loudspeakers came the voices of california notables gov culbert L ason olson mayor angelo rossi of san francisco and leland W ever held the one it at san francisco has innovations in architecture tec ture illumination exhibits and special events which make previous expositions seem quaintly archaic but in one respect it is absolutely unique that is its site aa a man made island set down in the middle of one of the great harbors of thi the world and flanked by the two greatest bridges in the world the story oi of this truly magic island which now stands where but three years ago boats plied the blue waters of san francisco bay sea fowl swam and fishermen cast their unes lines is one of the real romances of american initiative ingenuity and engineering achievement that story began less ies than 10 years ago when progress in aviation indicated that ahat san francisco was destined destine 1 to become the air crossroads athe pacific to achieve that destiny she must have a ii suitable airport 1 in 1931 ly san francisco junior chamber of commerce sur 3 1 1 X ag Q 4 Y N k Y li r 4 TREASURE ISLAND SENTINELS designers of um standards near the main entrance of the golden gate international tion have made them to conform to the general lines of the lau palm trees at left Is one ot the elephant towers flanking the balu entrance cutler president of the exposition with brief messages come twelve thirty for a moment the loudspeakers e rs were silent then the president Pies ident of the united stalest Stat Sta esl test from the other side of the continent t in ent came the bolce ice of franklin D roosevelt when his message was concluded two W world orld famous soloists led the chorus in a moving anthem of prayer and thanks thanksgiving gi V accompanied dby d by a piece e band and the carillon cari Uon then as the last notes of the ahe anthem faded away cannon roared out a 8 21 gun salute to the chief E executive x of the nation and from allover all over the isla island nd brilliant day light fireworks exploded in the sky abild and thus wast was the 1939 golden gate international exposition opened to the world I 1 0 0 0 lile like every ery 1 other worlds fair keyed 14 possible airport sites and th the final choice odthe of the experts was the yerba buena I 1 shoals they lay just north of yerba buena island midpoint mid point of the ODO bay bridge which was then being planned so that no more cen centrally trilly located site cite from the S standpoint of the entire bay ar area ea 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 population i records showed only hours of fog annually for the past 45 years and t the he steady prevailing winds were gentle gentil both essential elements for an airport meanwhile san francisco was planning a worlds fair in celebration of the future comple completion t ion of the two greatest bridges bridge s in the world she was building the san francisco oak land bay bridge longest and most costly anywhere end and the golden gate bridee cros crossing sing the harbor entrance with the lo 10 longest single span ever erected bothe so the two visions airport and worlds fair air were merged riter ged each plan speeded and supported the other early in 1935 1936 while the two bridges were still building and the clipper ship air traffie traffic which brought asia within days not weeks of america was passing from the exploratory stage into regular airmail flights work on the new airport began united states army engi engineers s 3 financed with in funds sponsor sponsored edby by the eap exp exposi asi tion company began assembling their dredges eleven of these huge machines a fleet of nine at one time began pumping black sand from drori I 1 the floor of the bay and sluicing it through pipelines over yerba 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 made island by the time the work had been completed cubic yards of sand had been compacted within the seawall from a na natural I 1 depth of 2 to 26 feet below water the ahe shoals had risen to a height of 13 feet above the tides making a acre rectangle of land the largest island ever built by macij man it is a little littlemore more than a mile long nearly two thirds of a mile wide and is connected to the shore of yerba buena I 1 island by a causeway yards long and 37 yards wide this causeway is the key to the islands Lid ands remarkable accessibility for across it are six lanes of highway to unk 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 ex position exposition this year three of these ferry slips anthe on the san francisco side will land the tha crowds from san Francis cos ferry building on ow market street discharge them into a ferrater fer ferry terminal building which with the slips themselves cost more more than three quarters quarte osof of a million dollars the fourth ferry slip is on the Oakland akland shore of thi the island highways that tha have brencon strutted tei ted I 1 as a part of the general transportation plan plantage take into account the dual function of treasure Is island landas as an exposition site and a future airport the army engi engineers who built the system across yerba buena island did it along novel lines three t traffie traffic lanes janes are of permanent construction st ruction for airport Itu utility lity gigantic hangars hardly had bad the water drained from the islands advancing sand fill 1111 when construction began on three buildings that will survive the glitter ot of the fair to tw endure as airport facilities eneis one is the reinforced concrete air terminal building to servo the fadrag fair ai administrative heid headquarters its permanent use will find it equipped with complete facilities including passenger I 1 mau mail arid and express terminals restaurants offices public observation galleries and meteorological tow the others are two gigantic gantic hangar buildings each by feet on the ground and 78 feet fee thigh i high built ossteel of steel anacon and concrete costing each for these buildings exposition engineers applied i a new design to hangar construction 1 cantilevered walls which actually aid by their weight in supporting the roof load during the fair these tu serve as the palace of bf fine and Liberal AXIS arts and the andi hau of A air r transportation liter later as airport facilities their huge foot foo doors may be heightened at c centers e aters to 65 feet to accommodate the rudders of airplanes greater than any aidy now known AU all other buildings on on treasure island are of temporary construction for removal after the exposition to provide II 11 c clear ear airport run runways w 4 V 1 rl A 1 above abott Is shown hown on one of t the th pie pic esque town towers of they the east on island an ancient walled walle delty city esthe i th basis basil of the expositions exposition structural scheme in the spacious central court of honor stands the 40 foot tower of the th sun which is ia only 57 feet in diameter it at its bas base but which competes in height with the lofty towers of if the bay bridge bridee nearby from it it radiates phalanxes of exhibit palaces each from to feet long lon and about feet wide they facy are ar edby broad con cours juries es court of lot thi th seven seas court of flowers court of reflections court of aw th moon court of pacifica treasure gar dens aames names which characterize their symbolism an of the m for display uniformity under con coll stant illumination and have beena bee built according accord lne to a so co call called pacific tyle style of architecture architect un 1 which combine combines the devani th 1 old ancient mystical orients forms have been blended into long horizontal horizon til lines setback i pyramids and m masses a ases ch character ar acter istle of malayan incan and cam bodian treatments treat menti the elephants elephant mammoth beast of farl far aas easta pageantry i is a predominating decorative note crowning as a it i does them the pyramidal 7 entrance antra entra ces that flank the portals portal of thi the pacific the color scheme set erfie of the leepo ekpo expo buildings includes 19 dit dif terent ferent shades characteristic of 0 1 both the rare shades of california Califor nii wildflowers wild flowers and the variegated varie gatet hues of the orient the basic bash plaster body color is a yellow ivory which has been designated designate i exposition 1 ivory along alone with it will these old bold mis sion lion fawn pagoda yellow pebbie beach cor coral al santa barbra barban taupe california ecru Eve evenell null star blue polynesian brown sur sun GOLDEN GATE W x laiq Z 0 Z r X vs A e R 0 W r A Z 0 4 Z design of the three teat ceni gildea gate bate exposition stamp which was irai placed on sale ial at san sail fran frai bisco cine on february it byca ink date at of t the exposition of at dawn yellow hawaiian e cm M eral raid dgreen reen santa mi clara apricot imperial diacon dagon red death val ley mauve e pacific blue min ming jade tad green light ming min jadi jade green dark southern cross blue del monte blue china clip per blue and treasure island gold these colors are reduced to half tones or less on exteriors to a void avold the girish garish under night illumination which increases the intensity of the basic color by turning their huge buildings inside out almost literally Lter ally trusts stylists sty lists have achieved a cement aco stucco that bathes the buildings and tall walls in a radiant golden glow sparkling with prismatic colors color S C lay day or night its done with vermiculite a mica like i substance exposition 1 sty stylists lists found that this material applied to wet stucco reflects light I 1 in a million scintillating jerns gems and ma makes kes thedaus the walls glow and gritter with live fire statues panels in relief great murals and paintings are uses sir d to glorify the courts and basja buildings N nearly ly all the outstanding western artists and sculptors are represented there |