Church and hotel The skyscraper at 100 McAllister began in 1920 with a plan formulated by Reverend Walter John Sherman to merge four of the largest Methodist Episcopal congregations in San Francisco, sell their various churches and properties and combine their assets to build a "superchurch" with a hotel on top of it. From their initial $800,000 they bought property at McAllister and Leavenworth streets and hired the architectural firm of
Miller and Pflueger to design the edifice. Timothy L. Pflueger was chosen as the designer. The new hotel, intended to be "dry" (serving no alcoholic beverages) in the "sinful" city, was to be named after
William Taylor, a Methodist Episcopal street preacher and missionary who formed the first Methodist church in San Francisco. The large church was named Temple Methodist Episcopal Church, or simply "Temple Methodist". A stained glass window was placed 80 feet above the sanctuary, representing Faith, Love and Hope in three tall, narrow panels. The combined congregation was very satisfied with their new place of worship. referring to Manhattan's
Rainbow Room which opened three-and-a-half years earlier.
Federal offices At the beginning of direct American involvement in
World War II, the U.S. government bought the building and converted it to federal offices, officer billets, spaces used by the
Army's Ordnance Procurement department, a passport agency and an induction center run by the local draft board. and local draftees were still required to appear there through the late 1960s. The San Francisco
Selective Service System offices were located in the lower floors of the building during the
Vietnam War.
UC Hastings In 1978, the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (now "UC Law SF") bought the building, the most prominent in the
Tenderloin district, The building, home to about 300 law students and their families, is casually referred to as "the Tower" by Hastings residents and faculty, who have but a one-block commute to the law school's main building at 198 McAllister. The old Sky Room with its spectacular 360-degree view reopened in 1999 as the James Edgar Hervey Skyroom, in honor of alumnus James Edgar Hervey, Class of 1950, a prominent San Diego trial lawyer. It is used as a space for student study by day (no alcohol allowed) and is available for special events in the evenings. Other floors of the building hold offices, apartments and residential conveniences. The mezzanine level contains a compact fitness center, the third and fourth floors contain classrooms and offices for political action groups and legal assistance organizations, and the 22nd and 23rd floors hold publishing headquarters for a number of scholarly journals. The Great Hall remains un-refurbished and has been judged by UC Hastings to be in need of substantial repair and improvement, including major architectural engineering work. The college has plans to create a 400-seat performing arts venue within the Great Hall. File:TempleMethodistEpiscopalChurch-entrance.jpg|Traces of the Temple Methodist Episcopal Church include the original three entrance doors and decorative windows, designed in the Gothic Revival architecture style File:UCHastings-BattleHastings1066.jpg|The
Battle of Hastings (1066) as depicted on a stained glass window over the main entrance. The French phrase (''l'action continue ... avec fureur'') translates to "the battle rages on". File:2017 McAllister Tower UC Hastings College of Law from Charles J. Brenham Place (7th Street).jpg|The building from the southeast ==See also==