Nation's Leading Voice for Historic Preservation Opposes Contemporary Art Museum and Hotel on the Presidio

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which is the most prominent national organization for preserving the architectural heritage of America, has written a strong letter condemning construction of a contemporary art museum on the Presidio National Historic Landmark. The Presidio Trust that manages the Presidio has publicly supported this proposal and has selected a developer for building a 80,000 square foot hotel near the art museum and the 200 year old site of the Spanish Presidio in the center of the historic district. 

The NTHP stated in a letter to the Presidio Trust "This project would not conform to the Secretary's (of Interior) standards, and indeed, would be inconsistent with the Presidio Trust's own planning guidelines and analysis." 

The NTHP elsewhere in the letter makes this strong statement: "Taken together, the diminished historic integrity of the Main Post that would result from the proposed undertaking is profoundly disturbing. Given the Main Post's role as the historic heart of the Presidio, the degradation of its  historic integrity would be fundamentally contrary to the Presidio Trust's mandate, and must be avoided at all costs." 

The National Park Service and the National Trust for Historic Preservation now are on record along with the people of San Francisco to demand that the historic character of the Presidio be preserved. How can the developers on the board of the Presidio Trust be so deaf to the voice of the people and the authority of the nation's top historic preservation organizations that they plunge ahead with the reckless idea of a contemporary art museum and a hotel in the center of an historic national park?

IF  YOU HAVE NOT CONTACTED THE PRESIDIO TRUST WITH YOUR OPINION ON THIS DESTRUCTIVE PROPOSAL, DO IT NOW. E-MAIL: Mainpost@presidiotrust.gov.