Nautical-themed murals that were concealed inside the Aquatic Park Maritime Museum have been restored as the structure marks its 80th anniversary.
The one-time bathhouse, located on the San Francisco Bay's edge near the Hyde Street Pier, was constructed in the shape of a ship and opened in 1939.
Lynn Cullivan, San Francisco National Historic Park spokesperson, explained that the ground floor is intended to look like the bottom of the sea, as if visitors were walking on the ocean floor.
The second floor depicts an underwater scene, with murals of fish, mermaids and mermen. And on the third floor, where the latest restoration has been completed, there are murals of things above the water such as ships, rigging and ship cranes.
"Really when you are up here, you can look out these big giant glass windows and see the bay and the ships coming by and you do feel like you are standing on the water," Cullivan said.
Construction of the building was funded by the Federal Works Progress Administration, established during the Depression to provide jobs. It's a lasting imprint of the New Deal featuring art of the era.
Restoration took more than a decade.
Windows and the roof were fixed and then attention turned to the murals, some of which were boarded over, others were covered with plaster or paint.
Cullivan said art conservator Anne Rosenthal stripped off the paint and then matched the original paint when she could.
"It took a lot of time and energy and money," Cullivan said.
The Aquatic Park Maritime Museum is open to the public for free, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week.
