A Wartime Mural Preserved

This mural was painted in 1942 or '43 by an anonymous soldier, telling the men to not waste food.

NPS Image

During World War II, the U.S. Army took over Aquatic Park as the headquarters for an anti-aircraft unit. The military controlled the park until 1948. Before returning the property to the city, they did a careful restoration, removing almost every trace of Army occupation. They did, however, leave behind a painting on a stucco wall under the east bleachers. This area has been used for storage and shop space and this modest painting has never been viewed by the public.

When restoration of the bleachers required that the damaged east bleacher be demolished, the painted wall section was cut out. Now safely in storage, the piece will be conserved as a part of the history of Aquatic Park.

It was five days prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 that the Army took over Aquatic Park. Battery B of the 216th Coast Artillery Regiment moved into the main building. It also became the headquarters of the Fourth Anti-Aircraft Command. The complex was used for offices and quarters for the officers and men. The space under the bleachers served as a mess hall. The wall painting, done by an anonymous soldier probably in 1942 or ’43, exhorted the men not to waste food. While it is no masterwork, it is certainly evocative of wartime life at the site.

Beginning in 1951, the space was managed by the Maritime Museum and then by the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. Staff were aware of the painting as an interesting bit of historical curiosity. The bleachers structure, built initially of defective materials, was damp and badly ventilated, and gradually deteriorated. As part of the Aquatic Park Rehabilitation Project, the eastern bleachers are being torn down and rebuilt. During the restoration, the entire wall section containing the artwork was sawn free from the surrounding structure and carefully lowered onto a padded platform in order to preserve the painting.

According to a park curator, it is “dumb luck” that the painting survived, considering it was done in water-soluble paints on a wall under the leaky bleachers.

The painting was done on a thick plaster wall on metal mesh over a wooden frame, so the back side of the painting was a crumbly, rusty piece of plaster wall. In the conservation shop, park curators applied a plastic coating that soaked into the original plaster making a firm layer. It will then be attached to a piece of lightweight aluminum backing that will serve as a suitable frame for exhibiting the work.