were outdated and would require replacement if the space were used for anything other than storage or parking. Current and proposed uses , Brooks Hall has not reopened as an exhibition site. Since the new Main Library has opened, Brooks Hall has been used to store library books. It has also been used to store historical artifacts, including the Exposition Organ, a 7,000-pipe organ originally manufactured for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exhibition. Plans to move the organ, which had been installed in the Civic Auditorium until it was damaged during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, to a new pavilion near Embarcadero Plaza and the San Francisco Ferry Building were announced in 1999. The site is also used by the San Francisco Department of Elections to stage ballots before they are distributed to polling places. It is also an alternate site for counting vote-by-mail ballots and dispatching poll workers. Although access to unvoted ballots is intended to be limited, workers have complained the fencing surrounding their area is not secure; access to Brooks Hall is difficult, as the main pedestrian stairway is steep, slippery, and often unsanitary due to public urination; restroom plumbing is inadequate; and electrical circuits are often overloaded. In 1998, the San Francisco Department of Public Works released A Program for Renovation and Revitalization, a report that explored concepts to renovate and reuse existing city assets in Civic Center, including Brooks Hall. Four conversion alternatives were brought forth: Parking garage, costing $11.3 M Public storage, costing $1.3 M Public access television studio, office spaces, and exhibit areas (with parking), costing $15.4 M Multi-media production center with parking, costing $14.9 M In 2000, a report to the San Francisco Library Commission proposed renovating Brooks Hall and converting it into the city archive at a cost of $10 million. Other ideas proposed for its reuse included a computer museum, an antiques mart, an expansion of the nearby parking garage, a food hall, a performance hall, a farmer's market, or a city-run television studio. In 2018, CMG Landscape Architecture unveiled three proposals to redesign the entire Civic Center open spaces, including a Culture Connector design variant that would open public access to Brooks Hall through a canopy-covered set of stairs just north of Grove Street. References External links Photos of opening day from SF Public Library Photos of construction from SF Public Library Further photos of construction from SF Public Library