New plan to restore Old Mint: Will it be on the money?

The state has awarded a $1 million grant to the nonprofit California Historical Society to help develop a plan to revitalize San Francisco’s Old Mint in partnership with the city.

The grant and the city contribution will allow the California Historical Society to develop plans for a complete assessment of the project, including how to finance it, how to line up public and private partners, and how to turn the old building into what is vaguely described as “an important cultural, learning and historical center.”

The state grant, to be announced Tuesday, was approved by the state Legislature in bills sponsored by state Sen. Mark Leno and Assemblyman Phil Ting, both San Francisco Democrats.

The grant marks the second major effort to convert the building into a museum or cultural center since the city acquired it from the federal government in 2003.

Jon Lau, project manager for the city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, said the grant would pay for identifying a use for the building and funding sources to make it happen.

The Old Mint was the largest federal building in the West when it opened in 1874, at a time when San Francisco was one of the country’s financial capitals.

Besides minting gold and silver coins, the Old Mint at one time stored as much as a third of the nation’s gold reserves.

[...] later, the city turned management of the Old Mint over to a company called Activate SF, which cleaned up the grounds and now rents it for public and private events.