The Class of 1950, aided by the Class of 1954, is spearheading the campaign to pay for the restoration of Sather Gate.
Please send your contribution for this fabulous restoration and conserve University funds for academic purposes.
WHY DO WE NEED YOUR CONTRIBUTION?
In 2007, students from UC Rally Committee were on a scissor-lift hanging blue and gold lights on Sather Gate for the Cal-Stanford football game when several of them noticed serious problems with the gate. Eddy Crochetiere, committee treasurer, reported, "Parts around the outside were all twisted and the insides were rotting out. The nameplate that says 'Sather Gate' was nearly detached." This was reported to Jim Horner, Campus Landscape Architect, who commissioned a condition assessment of the gate from the firm of Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. (WJE). Their report concluded that Sather Gate is in a precarious state and needs to be totally rebuilt.
After standing for 98 years with little attention, Sather Gate has suffered damage. The old steel frame of the central portal has been weakened by water-induced corrosion and by the combined stresses of gravity and seismic forces. The joints in the bronze cladding that protect the steel frame have opened up along 22% of their length, exposing 59% of the steel frame to moisture and creating a severe section loss to 25% of the frame. The expansive nature of the steel corrosion has burst open 9% of the joints to the point that the bronze cladding may not be salvageable. In addition, the two outer piers that provide lateral support for the gate are vulnerable to failure due to a lack of reinforcing steel in the concrete core and down into the bridge abutments.
Given these findings, WJE recommends that the University implement a restoration program consisting of completely removing the bronze cladding and ornamentation from the low-grade steel frame, rebuilding the frame with modern stainless steel, improving the frame connections to the piers to address seismic concerns, attaching new bronze cladding, and reinstalling the salvaged bronze sculpture-work which will include replicating some of the laurel leaves for a part of the gate where they are missing. The recommended work will result in a stronger and more durable structure that will be an exact replica of the original gate.
The estimated total cost for the recommended restoration, based on the WJE report, is $1.3 million.
This is a very large sum of money, but it can be raised with the help of every loyal Californian! Please donate generously to the fund for the restoration of our treasured gate!
The History of Sather Gate
For 98 years, Sather Gate has welcomed students to the University of California at Berkeley. In 1910, Jane K. Sather donated the money, in memory of her husband, Peder Sather, to build an imposing main entrance to the heart of the University. The site chosen was at the terminus of Telegraph Avenue where a bridge crossed Strawberry Creek.
Architect John Galen Howard was selected to design this gate. Howard planned a gate with four masonry piers supporting imaginatively decorated bronze work. At the apex of the bronze arch is a large star symbolizing the Light of Knowledge. Bronze laurel leaves enhance the decoration. High on each pier is a bas-relief figure, sculpted by Professor Earl Cummings, representing one of the academic disciplines. Four nude male figures represent Law, Letters, Medicine and Mining, and four nude female figures represent Agriculture, Architecture, Art and Electricity. When they were installed, the prudish people of the early 20th Century were outraged by the nude figures. Public outcry led Jane Sather to demand their removal. The sculptures were taken down and stored away on campus. Sixty-seven years later they were discovered and reinstalled.
Today, Sather Gate marks the border between the campus and the lively Sproul Plaza, which contains the Administration Building, the Student Union and other centers of activity. (The terminus of Telegraph Avenue has moved one block south of its 1910 location). The area around the gate has always been a place where students have gathered to socialize, campaign, promote causes and hold rallies; since the 1960s, it has become a site for political activism. Sather Gate is the most photographed structure on campus.
Donate generously!
THE STORY OF THE RESTORATION OF SATHER GATE
Barbara Waite, Marion Harris, President of Class of '50 Council, and Dr Dwight (Bud) Murray, Past President of Class of '50 Council. Homecoming 2008.
The University originally hoped to start dismantling Sather Gate after graduation in May 2009 and to complete the restoration in time for graduation in May 2010. However, there were concerns about the safety of the structure, and then, unexpectedly, all the companies involved in the restoration work (architects, engineers, metal workers, contractors, etc.) became available.
On October 3, 2008, Jim Horner presided over a meeting at Sather Gate. Representatives from all the companies involved in the restoration, and the Berkeley Fire Department, were there to examine the damage and to schedule their work. (While the work is going on, fire trucks must have access to the campus at all times). During the discussion, Horner emphasized that the drains going down to Strawberry Creek must be protected from any contamination.
On October 10, the work begain by encasing the gate in fencing and scaffolding. The wide central opening was closed off. By October 20, the magnificent star, signifying the Light of Knowledge, and the small arch on which it sits were taken down. Plywood barriers had been added to the fencing. On both days students were streaming through the side openings of the gate at the end of their classes.
On October 30, the center section of the gate has been completely removed. The parts have been labeled, recorded and shipped with care to the metal shop in Burlingame. The contractor there will try to save most of the original material by heating and straightening the twisted sections of bronze. The cast and extruded bronze is being tested in a laboratory in Los Angeles to determine its chemical composition in order to match the material of the new pieces with the original pieces. The lab discovered that the steel core was made differently than was shown on the original drawings. Lots of very rusted carbon steel connectors were found inside. Today, the masonary columns were searched with radar, which confirmed that they were built without reinforcing steel. Therefore, some hidden form of reinforcement will be necessary to compensate for senismic forces. A geotechnical firm is being asked to analyze subsurface conditions based on local drilling records and then advise the structural engineers how to proceed.
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By December 1st Sather Gate was just four masonary pillars. The bronze work had all been shipped away to be restored or replaced, leaving the grand old lady looking forlorn without her greenish bronze finery.
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Don Reichert, a Sather Gate Committee member, was on campus on January
12 and stopped by to check on the Sather Gate project. He talked with William J.Galvin, general manager of DeVincenzi Architectural Products (DAP), who was overseeing the work to reinforce the four masonry columns of the gate. The workers were core-drilling the holes for the vertical rebar, and will start the reinforcement shortly.
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By March 6, each of the four columns had been reinforced by four, 23 feet long steel rods, which were drilled down through the columns into the concrete footing underground. When the original gate was built, the granite facing on the columns was built first. Then scrap metal was dumped in before the concrete was poured to fill up the center, leaving lots of voids. Consequently, twice as much grout was used as would have been necessary if the centers were solid. Before the reinforcing was started, the globe lights on top of each column were removed in order to upgrade the wiring. The eight marble bas-relief sculptures were also removed to be cleaned and restored.
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On Friday, March 6, 2009 the workers began welding together sections of the restored bronze work. The red color in the photo above was not the work of the Stanford Rally Committee; it is caused by the sun shining through the red, protective plastic screen around the work area that was used to prevent the transmission of harmful ultra-violet rays generated by the welding arcs. The bas-relief nude sculptures have been cemented to the columns. The bronze work on the small side entrances was the first to be reattached to the columns. Only two new castings were needed for the whole job -- the "H" on the north side and a decorative laurel leaf. Thus almost 100% of the bronze on the new gate is the original bronze work attached to an all new stainless steel frame.
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The final stage of the restoration was to replace the four globe lights atop the columns. The old lead encased wiring for the lights was replaced with new conductors that come from each side and and travel in part between the bronze cladding and the stainless steel frame in the side panels. The gate was thoroughly cleaned, which according to some reports removed a dim outline on one concrete support, said to be the face of Jimi Hendrix. The area around the gate was tidied up, and the six months of restoration was finished by April 1, 2009.
Now the new Sather Gate stands proud and strong to welcome new generations of students.
The Sather Gate Rededication Ceremony and Reception for Donors
Saturday, June 20, 2009 4:00 - 6:00 PM
Everyone who made a contribution toward the restoration of Sather Gate was invited to take part in the ceremony for the completion of the project. Many of these donors gathered on a balmy afternoon in Berkeley to commemorate the work of the Class of 1950, aided by the Class of 1954, in raising the money to save this beloved archway to the Cal campus. The program was opened by the Master of Ceremonies, Dick Hafner, who also spoke for the Class of '50. Other Speakers included:
Jim Horner, who managed the restoration; Don Denton, who represented the class of '54 and led the attendees in an a California yell; and Marion Harris, President of the the Class of '50 Council and chairman of the Restoration Campaign. Entertainment was provided by the Cal Men's Octet (minus two). The formal program ended with the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, led by Dwight (Bud) Murray and Marion Harris for the Class of '50, and Midge Zischke, Don Denton and Jack Ken for the Class of '54. A Reception followed, featuring Hafner Vineyards Chardonnay donated by Dick Hafner, plus sparkling cider and gourmet hors d'oeuvre from Bancroft Catering. The afternoon concluded with major donors posing for photos in front of Sather Gate. Each of these donors received a UC frame in which to place their photo as a keepsake of the restoration.
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