Nancy Goldenberg

Growing up, Nancy didn’t know exactly what she wanted to be when she grew up, but knew she wanted to help people. She eventually expressed an interest in architecture but was told that girls couldn’t be architects. Luckily, she learned that was not the case by the time she went to college. Today, Nancy is a veteran architect and architectural historian who guides historic building owners through their projects, honoring both the place and the people represented.

Nancy has worked on notable architectural projects such as the San Francisco City Hall, the War Memorial Opera House and Veterans Building, the Palace of Fine Arts, the Stanley Mosk Library & Courts, and the California State Capitol. She has also assisted numerous building owners with smaller rehabilitations of treasured historic structures built for the community, such as Bing Kong Tong, a Chinese American community center, and Kezar  Pavilion in Golden Gate Park. As an architectural historian, she prepared National Register Nominations for the Union Iron Works Shipyard at Pier 70 and the South San Francisco Sign.

The Nevada Test Site—a prolific Cold War nuclear testing site—is one of her noteworthy projects. It was an experience she’ll never forget. Nancy spent more than 20 years as a consultant there, documenting many structures. She was once held at gunpoint by guards because her colleague forgot to bring her paperwork.