Onward and upward: Museum hits fundraising, construction goals

While the Golden Gate Bridge is undeniably the prettier of the two, the original Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge is the one that came in on time and on budget.

Yet officials at San Francisco's Contemporary Jewish Museum are hoping they can do all of the above all on dry land: produce a building within the allotted time and cost while also unveiling a looker.

So far, it appears the CJM is headed for success on all three counts. The museum last week announced it has amassed nearly $70 million of its $77 million fundraising goal. At the time of the museum's groundbreaking in July 2006, it had raised slightly less than $61 million.

And in January, museum construction "topped out," laying its highest beam.

The aesthetics seem to be in order, too. Residents and workers in downtown San Francisco have been gaping skyward over the last nine months as the faded red Jessie Street Power Station has been topped by a shiny, silver 1950s-era sci-fi rocket ship ready to blast off to parts unknown. Architect Daniel Libeskind's trademark jagged, geometric style is already emerging, even at this early stage in the construction.

The blue steel panels, which Libeskind designed to contrast with the red bricks, are scheduled to be installed over the gleaming, metallic exterior later this month. When the blue steel panels go up, the building will, at least symbolically, be a long way toward being complete in the architect's eye.

"Blue is the color of Israel," Libeskind told j. at the groundbreaking. "And it is not a coincidence the flag of Israel is blue. Blue is the sky, the water, the future. It is a mysterious and beautiful color,"

Apart from its unique color, the museum's unorthodox shape allows for "many experiences — you can't just see it once."

"We're on track, on budget, on time. It's been nice. It's been very nice," said Roselyne "Cissie" Swig, the museum's board president.

She was confident the museum would "take the building" in January of 2008 and hold its formal opening that May.