Meet The New Deal Library Crew

Let’s start with Frederick H. Meyer (1876 - 1961) the original architect of the most distinctive civic building in our village--the Bernal Branch Library. “Fred” to those of us who have become intimate with this renovation over the last two years, had no formal architectural training but began his career as a draftsman in a planing mill in the early 1890s. How’s that for representing the spirit of the WPA? He surely gained lots of experience after the 1906 disaster and is best known for the Humboldt Bank and Monadnock buildings in San Francisco. He also has two WPA public libraries to his name: The Bernal Library, 1940, and the West Portal Library, 1939.

Andrew Maloney, “Andy” to us, is with the City’s Bureau of Architecture and the architect in charge of our renovation. He has worked on numerous projects for the City including: The Mission Pool, Moscone Center Clubhouse, Visitacion Valley Clubhouse and the spectacular Education Center at the San Francisco Zoo. He is very interested in using reclaimed wood and created Indonesian red mahogany benches (from a monsoon blowdown) which you can see on Mission Street in front of the Jewish Museum. Two of his notable current projects include The Visitacion Valley Branch Library and The Sunnyside Conservatory.

Andy recruited a master craftsman, Davar Uzelac, to do all the custom woodwork in the library. He is from Croatia where both his father and grandfather were woodworkers. Davar is 'old school' believing in everything being done by hand. His esthetic complements Andy’s in the sense that no detail goes unnoticed: If you’ve got something that doesn’t line up right--well, you rip it out and do it over — that’s just what one does!

His skillful joinery is immediately obvious when you enter the building and is visible throughout. Doors, wainscoting, shelves, desks—every nook and cranny reveals his meticulous attention to detail which will make an impression and have a pleasing, lasting impact on anyone who spends time in the library. Davar praises Andy's skill as an architect, thinks he is extremely talented and appreciates this opportunity to collaborate.

Over the course of this project one would have observed a veritable U.N. of the trades inside: one crew spoke Spanish, one crew spoke Mandarin, one crew spoke Cantonese and there was a sprinkling of German, French, Italian and Croatian as well. We can’t wait to open the doors for business. It will be worth the wait thanks to the ‘good bones’ we had to begin with and the talent and dedication of the entire construction, design and renovation crews. Thank you all so much. The Bernal Heights Library will surely be the jewel in the crown of all the branch renovations and will be a shining example of the New Deal spirit for decades to come.