San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center

San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center (SFWMPAC) is across Van Ness Ave. from City Hall. This complex of buildings includes the War Memorial Opera House, Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall and the adjacent Harold L. Zellerbach Rehearsal Hall, and the Veterans Building, which houses the Herbst Theatre and The Green Room. Resident companies at SFWMPAC are the San Francisco Ballet, the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Symphony.

The stately War Memorial Opera House, built in 1932, is one of the last Beaux Arts buildings constructed in the United States. Along with ornate decorative accents, the main lobby features a 38-foot-tall ceiling. In contrast, Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall has a contemporary look, reinforced by the abstract bronze Henry Moore sculpture at the corner of Grove Street and Van Ness Avenue. The Herbst Theatre is a jewel of a facility, graced with a series of elegant murals by Frank Brangwyn that were originally created for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition.

Guided tours of the SFWMPAC complex leave from the symphony hall's Grove Street entrance.