On October 17, 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake caused widespread damage to the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. San Franciscans reacted decisively by approving a bond measure of $332 million to repair and seismically upgrade a number of civic buildings, including $49.5 million for the Opera House. Key elements involved in the restoration of this historic landmark were the seismic retrofits, assessibility, upgrading of all theatrical systems with state-of-the-art technology and restoration of the historic finishes to the facility. The War Memorial Opera House project is an example of a very successful public-private partnership where the coordinated joint effort of the three funding groups was able to bring about vital improvements and restore this landmark.