it was done by arthur brown. designed by arthur brown, who came up with this concept. people thought for years that this, and i kid you not, and i know the chief will talk a bit more about some of the legacy and the hysterics and a lot of the rumors about what this was purported to be designed on behalf but i'll leave that -- and no, it's not what you were thinking. that is shameful, really. just not right. but the fact was there were a lot of rumors about this, including the rumors that it was filled, i kid you not, this is a true story, and if san francisco, all of you that love those san francisco stories will probably believe it, they thought it was filled with tomato sauce. it was a big part of the rumor and folklore around coit tower and that it had secret pipes -- this is a true story -- secret pipes that would be pumped into all the restaurants in the north beach area. >> that's not true? >> that's not true. >> see, the italian speak've of the house is -- speaker of the house is shocked to hear that may not be true. but it's again part of that narrative of this

arthur brown, noted architect in the city, wanted for a while to build a tower. he had become very interested in persian towers. it was the 1930's. it was all about machinery and sort of this amazing architecture, very powerful architecture. he convinced the rec park commission that building a tower in her memory would be the thing to do with her money. >> it was going to be a wonderful observation place because it was one of the highest hills in the city anywhere and that that was the whole reason why it was built that high and had the elevator access immediately from the beginning as part of its features. >> my fear's studio was just down the street steps. we were in a very small apartment and that was our backyard. when they were preparing the site for the coit tower, there was always a lot of harping and griping about how awful progress was and why they would choose this beautiful pristine area to do them in was a big question. as soon as the coit tower was getting finished and someone put in the idea that it should be used for art, then, all of a sudden, he

arthur brown, noted architect in the city, wanted for a while to build a tower. he had become very interested in persian towers.