In 2001, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors made City Lights an official historic landmark, citing the organization for “playing a seminal role in the literary and cultural development of San Francisco and the nation.” It recognized the bookstore as “a landmark that attracts thousands of book lovers from all over the world because of its strong ambiance of alternative culture and arts,” and it acknowledged City Lights Publishers for its “significant contribution to major developments in post-World War II literature.” The building itself, with is clerestory windows and small mezzanine balcony, also qualified as a City landmark because of its “distinctive characteristics typical of small commercial buildings constructed following the 1906 earthquake and fire.” The landmark designation mandates the preservation of certain external features of the building and its immediate surroundings. From
Wikipedia
