Switch Station #8: Images of the Old Art Gallery Building
Built in 1904, the building’s original purpose was to generate electricity and steam for campus buildings. By the late 1920s, the powerhouse could no longer keep pace with growing power demands, and it was replaced by a new central plant in 1930. The building was renovated and reopened in 1934 as the University Art Gallery. After the completion of the Berkeley Art Museum building in 1970, the building became known as the Old Art Gallery and it has been used for more than 50 years for a variety of storage uses.
In 1936 and 1937, four mosaic tile murals were added to the shallow, arched niches on the eastern façade as a WPA public art project.
Artist Florence Alston Swift, an abstract artist born in San Francisco in 1890 and trained on the West and East coasts, created and installed the “Music and Painting” mural. Helen Bruton, one of three artistically gifted sisters from Monterey who experimented with modernism, designed and installed the “Sculpture and Dancing” mural with her sisters, Margaret and Ester.
Project Background
The Clean Energy Campus initiative will transition UC Berkeley to 100% electricity, and the heart of the system will be a new electric heating and cooling plant (EHCP) that will be constructed underneath North Field. Future energy demands of the EHCP necessitate an additional switch station to increase the capacity for electricity to reach the UC Berkeley campus. The decaying and largely unused Old Art Gallery building being in close proximity to North Field is an ideal location to house the new Switch Station #8.
The 1904 building was originally the campus powerhouse, supplying electricity and steam to the young Berkeley campus. As the campus grew, power demands exceeded its capacity and, in 1930, a new central plant opened in the southwest part of campus. In 1934, the former powerhouse building reopened as a gallery to display art and served this purpose until a new University Art Museum opened on Bancroft Way in 1970. The building was subsequently used for storage for more than 50 years. In restoring and structurally improving the Old Art Gallery building to house the new Switch Station #8, the small brick building that began its storied life as a powerhouse more than 100 years ago will become a key component in UC Berkeley's clean energy future.
Restoration of the Old Art Gallery building began in April 2023, starting with restoring the Works Progress Administration murals that were added on the east facade in 1936 and 1937. After the mural restoration was completed, they were subsequently covered for protection during the remainder of the overall building restoration project.
Additional restoration work on the exterior and interior of the building began in April 2024. A portion of the adjacent Sproul Parking Lot was be closed for this portion of the project. Exterior restoration included the brick facade, the roof, and the large central skylight. Inside, structural improvements were made so that the building meets the requirements of the UC Seismic Policy. Finally, the new switch station equipment was installed in the building. Work was completed in July 2025.