San Francisco now has a city street named after one of its finest native architects. In December, 2008, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution proposing to change the name of Chelsea Place, an alley off Bush Street that leads directly into the 450 Sutter garage, to Timothy Pflueger Place. The skyscraper 450 Sutter, a major medical/dental building downtown, was designed by Miller & Pflueger and completed in October, 1929, just weeks before the stock market crash of 1929.
On March 18, 2009 Pflueger family members, friends, fans and a few in the media, gathered to christen the alley. Former president of the board of supervisors, Aaron Peskin, gave some impromptu remarks, rather than reading the lengthy proclamation that declared March 18, 2009 Timothy Pflueger Day in the City of San Francisco. Champagne and sparkling apple cider flowed. You can read more in the San Francisco Examiner.
It was an occasion not to be missed! There was even a contingent from the Art Deco Society of California, including founder Michael Crowe, and a few other volunteers of San Francisco City Guides, including some guides from our Downtown Deco tour.
The newly-named block is off the south side of Bush Street, in between Stockton and Powell. Pflueger Place is also in fine company. Just across the street is Dashiell Hammett Street, where the master of the hard-boiled detective lived for a brief spell during his San Francisco years. And a few doors down is Burritt Street, where Sam Spade’s partner Miles Archer was gunned down by Brigid O’Shaughnessy in Hammett’s best-known work, The Maltese Falcon.
