Preparing for the Inevitable: Digitally Preserving San Francisco's Oldest Building
The Mission San Francisco de AsÃs is in a race against time. Completed in 1791, the parish's Mission Dolores is the oldest building in the city, and the only intact mission established under Father Junipero Serra, the controversial Spanish Franciscan friar. In a city that's already survived two major earthquakes – in 1906 and 1989 – the inevitability of the next Big One has preservationists especially worried about this historic structure.
"It isn’t a matter of if, but when," warns Andy Galvan, curator at the Mission Dolores. Galvan is an Ohlone Indian, and his Native American ancestors lived along the coast when Spanish missionaries arrived in the 18th century. When he leads tours into the adjacent cemetery, one of the few remaining resting places that remain within city limits, he points out the markers of his great-great-great-great grandparents. They built the mission he now works in, along with his distant cousin, assistant curator Vincent Medina. The mission underwent major conservation work from 1993 to 1995, but Galvan has been unable to secure additional funds for the work he says still needs to be done before the next major quake.