[2] It was named after Thomas A. Brooks, a chief administrative officer of the City and County of San Francisco, who retired the same year the building was dedicated.

[9] Brooks Hall was built with a tunnel underneath Grove Street, connecting the exhibition space to its neighbor to the south, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.

[9] The prime contractor for Brooks Hall was Theo G. Meyer & Sons; the architects were Wurster, Bernardi & Emmons collaborating with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; engineering was provided by H.J.

[2] However, just six months after opening, Saul Poliak, an innovator in industry trade shows, called Brooks Hall "distressingly inadequate" and had left "San Francisco unprepared for major conventions and exhibitions" while providing some faint comparative praise: "Your chief competitor out here is Los Angeles, of course, and right now they’re in worse shape than you are.

[10][11][12] During its operating history, Brooks Hall became home to events such as the Harvest Festival, the San Francisco Gift Show,[13] and the West Coast Computer Faire,[14] credited as the first microcomputer convention, which drew 12,700 visitors its first year (1977).

[17][18] By October 1958, the original architect/engineer design team had prepared plans to expand the facilities at Brooks Hall with an additional exhibition building to be built in the block west across Polk from the Civic Auditorium.

"[20] For instance, the Show Manager's Office was accessed through the vestibule of the men's restroom,[20]: 24  which had "excessive odor" due to the use of absorptive grout,[20]: 32  and a storage space was used for food service, rather than a dedicated kitchen.

[13][26] A survey of existing conditions in 1998 concluded that the electrical, lighting, plumbing, fire alarm, and telecommunications systems, all of which dated to the original 1958 installation, were outdated and would require replacement if the space were used for anything other than storage or parking.

[2][5] Plans to move the organ, which had been installed in the Civic Auditorium until it was damaged during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, to a new pavilion near Embarcadero Plaza and the San Francisco Ferry Building never materialized.

[25] Four conversion alternatives were brought forth:[25]: 67–71 In 2000, a report to the San Francisco Library Commission proposed renovating Brooks Hall and converting it into the city archive at a cost of $10 million.