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Sunol Water Temple

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Architecture

   The Sunol Water Temple
   Enlarge
   The Sunol Water Temple

   The Sunol Water Temple is an unusual structure located at 505 Paloma
   Way in Sunol, California. Designed by Willis Polk, the 18-meter high
   classical pavilion is made up of twelve concrete Corinthian columns and
   a concrete ring girder that supports the conical wood and tile roof.
   Inside the temple, water from three pipelines dumps into a white tiled
   cistern before plunging into a deeper water main carrying it to through
   Niles Canyon and across San Francisco Bay near the Dumbarton Bridge.
   The roof covering the cistern has paintings depicting Indian maidens
   carrying water vessels.

History

   The restored ceiling of the temple. The empty sections were never
   completed .
   Enlarge
   The restored ceiling of the temple. The empty sections were never
   completed .

   Since the mid-19th century a private company, The Spring Valley Water
   Company (SVWC), owned much of the Alameda County watershed and had held
   a monopoly on water service to San Francisco . In 1906, William Bourn,
   a major stockholder in the SVWC, and owner of the giant Empire gold
   mine, hired Willis Polk to design a "water temple" atop the spot where
   three subterranean water mains converge (from the Arroyo de la Laguna
   and Alameda Creeks, the Sunol infiltration galleries, and a 30 inch
   pipeline from the artesian well field of Pleasanton) . Some sources
   claim Bourn wanted to sell the water company to the City of San
   Francisco and saw the temple as a way to appeal to San Francisco
   voters, who would have to approve the purchase (municipal efforts to
   buy out the SVWC had been a source of constant controversy from as
   early as 1873, when the first attempt to purchase it was turned down by
   the voters because the price was too high) . Other sources claim that
   as one born into wealth and classically educated, Bourn was partially
   motivated by a sense of civic responsibility .

   Polk's design, modeled after the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, Italy, was
   constructed in 1910 (Tivoli is where much of the waters that fed Rome
   converged in the foothills of the Apennines). Prior to the construction
   to the Hetch Hetchy aqueduct, half of San Francisco's water supply (6
   million gallons a day) passed through the Sunol temple. The SVWC,
   including the temple, was purchased by San Francisco in 1930 for $40
   million .
   1922 map showing the pipelines of the SVWC and the temple (click to
   enlarge)
   Enlarge
   1922 map showing the pipelines of the SVWC and the temple (click to
   enlarge)

   For decades the Water Temple received many visitors and was a popular
   location for picnickers. By the 1980s the water temple had badly
   deteriorated, and was severely damaged in 1989's Loma Prieta
   earthquake, leading some community leaders to call for its demolition.
   The site was closed to the public due to safety concerns . A community
   effort lead to the temple's restoration beginning in 1997 . Today the
   restoration, including seismic and accessibility upgrades, is complete
   and the temple is again open to the public, however any water that now
   flows through the temple is not part of the potable water supply.

   Fields adjacent to the temple belong to the city of San Francisco which
   has authorized the digging of a gravel quarry on the site . Local
   residents concerned about the temple's future brought a lawsuit to
   attempt block the quarry project , but eventually ran out of funds and
   dropped the suit .

   In June 2006, a new facility named the Sunol Water Temple Agricultural
   Park was opened on a site adjacent to the temple . The park provides
   space for small businesses and nonprofit groups to grow produce . The
   park serves a platform for service and educational programs related to
   sustainable agriculture and environmental conservation.

Inscription

   "I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry lands springs
   of water [from Isaiah 41:18b]. The streams whereof shall make glad the
   city [from Psalms 46:4]. S.V.W.C. MCMX [Spring Valley Water Company
   1910]"

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunol_Water_Temple"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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