UPDATE AND CALL TO ACTION

There will be a Presidio Trust Board meeting Sept. 22, Wednesday at 6:30 at the Golden Gate Club (next to the Presidio National Cemetery.)

Be there. It is your last chance to speak directly to the Trust Board before they approve a large hotel in the middle of the parade grounds. If they can explain why a commercial hotel is needed in a historic National Park surrounded by 33,000 hotel rooms in the city, I would be surprised. If they can explain why the Trust plans to build this hotel which its own studies admit will have an "adverse effect" on the historic integrity of the 220 year old site, integrity that the Trust is required by law to protect, then they will speak with forked tongue. It's crunch time. Come and speak your mind.

There will be more interesting and, I hope, good stuff at this meeting. The Park Service and Trust agreed in a formal document months ago to work together to get a real visitors center on the Presidio, so people can understand the richness of its layered history from the birth of San Francisco to the Pacific Coast in World War Two. Finally, we will get an update at this meeting and hear from the new person who has been hired to lead this vital program.

By the way, did you notice that Dave Grubb, the Trust Board President who led the charge for the Fisher Museum Fiasco and then was replaced by the Secretary of the Interior is now REAPPOINTED to the Trust Board. Do those folks on the Trust contribute big time to politicians? Are they tight with Pelosi?

I apologize to the many who have commented on this blog without a response. Presidio Pal has been up to his what'sit writing and researching tangled historic preservation laws and regulations to write the documents that have made a difference. We got the hotel cut back from 95,000 square feet (humongous) to 70,000 of new construction (merely huge). Best, the height is now 30 feet instead of a towering 45 feet. But, there is no place for a nonessential commercial hotel in a National Historic Landmark District...NO WAY, NO NEED !

If you enjoy self-abuse, go to the link to our formal statement about the hotel and other technical stuff. It is in the press release on the first page of www.presidioassociation.org. Important but dull technical matters we have been slaving on for the past months explain the process and who's who.

See you Wednesday, 6:30, Golden Gate Club

Put Up or Shut Up, Says the Presidio Trust

Groups including the Presidio Historical Association have been working in a consultation being conducted according to the National Historic Preservation Act. This process has reduced the size of the commercial hotel that the Trust wants to build 150 yards from the flagpole from 140,000 square feet of two story building to 70,000 square feet - sort of like trying to make us happy because only one half of our house burned down.

Our right to be part of these discussions may be denied soon. The Presidio Trust has notified all public groups that we cannot participate in these historic preservation talks after May 10, unless we agree to sign a statement that the legal requirement of the Act have been followed. In effect, we are being told to Put Up or Shut Up. The same demand was made of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Cow Hollow Association, Marina Homeowners groups and many others. It will take more time than allowed for us to find out if this demand is legal, and if so to decide what to do about it. It is inconceivable that any group would waive its legal rights in order to sit at the table to talk about the final design features for a commercial hotel that will have adverse effects on a historic landmark.

Another problem is a dispute over whether or not to keep the two ugly WW II barracks in front of the Officers Club. They are important because they tell a story. The barracks were for junior officers who crowded the Presidio during WII. Those officers slept near the original Spanish adobes where the Americans later slept. For almost 200 years, the officers of Spain, Mexico and the United States ate in the same building, and the barracks outside the officers club were there so the young officers would live near the officers mess. This is a neat story to show the layering of story on top of story at the Presidio. I think that the old barracks should stay, become used as an education space for school kids about the El Presidio site, and remain part of the story.

The hurry on this is probably related to changes on the Trust Board that are waiting for a White House decision. It's long overdue. I guess that the White House does not place the same importance on a Presidio Trust Board member as it does a Supreme Court Judge!

See the Presidio HIstorical Association website presidioassociation.org for the details.

MAYBE GOOD SENSE WILL WIN AND THE PUBLIC WILL BENEFIT

So, what's going on now in the long-lasting struggle over the Presidio: will the 230 year old historic site become a great national park for all the people, or will it become an office and arts park for the few? The struggle is taking place in two arenas.

One, a formal federal process requires consultation about plans to build a commercial Larkspur Hotel near the Spanish El Presidio and the U.S. flagpole of the historic site. Most recently, two leading agencies in the consultation, the National Park Service and the State Historic Preservation Officer have sent detailed objections to the Presidio Trust concerning procedures and mishandling of information. The core concern is that the review of the hotel is taking place without the larger context of what is planned where being brought up to date. The last update on the larger plan (draft Main Post Update) was February, 2009. That plan included the monstrous modern art museum idea that the Trust supported. Removing it from the picture - thanks to your public opposition- changes the game, so the hotel plan is being evaluated in a vacuum. Both the Park Service and the Historic Preservation Officer, the chief "deciders,"have stated that they will not agree to any hotel without having a full plan for the heart of the Presidio - the historic Main Post. Key to this is having a firm location and plan for a Park Service Visitors Center. It has to be a valuable service for the public to expand their appreciation of the park, and it cannot be located near a commercial hotel. We strongly support the official agencies that are insisting upon a complete plan before any decisions will be approved.

The second arena of the struggle for the Presidio's future is with the Board of Directors of the Presidio Trust. Some of them see the Main Post as a development opportunity, a place for buildings to increase income. Others see it as an opportunity to satisfy their personal interest in contemporary art. Recently, the "Goldsworthy Spire" appeared. Soon, there will be ten more "art installations" on the Presidio. These could be interesting, but art of any kind has to be very carefully weighed against the distraction it will cause from the natural and historic values of the park itself. There isn't modern art at Yosemite Falls or Gettysburg for good reason. Google "Goldsworthy Spire" to see what I am talking about. Under pressure to justify the defunct modern art museum, the Trust promised to make the former Hispanic headquarters that became the Officer's Club into a "heritage center." To date, there is nothing to say what that means. The Park Service and Trust are talking, but the Trust does not have a qualified person on its staff to credibly lead such an effort. We don't know if the Trust Board has its heart in paying for a "heritage center."

The members of the Trust Board of Directors can make the right things happen to benefit the public, or they can continue to pursue ideas that damage the park and leave the Presidio's historic stories unknown to visitors. That will be decided this year. The new Board President, Nancy Bechtle, has a lot of experience leading the Symphony. Can that talent be shifted to serve the broad public that visits national parks?

Thanks for recent comments. Some have provided useful information. Others are answered on the web sites of the Presidio Historical Association or the National Park Service. Watch this blog for updates.

Looking Ahead to 2010: Promise and Problems

The coming year will prove to be the turning point for the Presidio's emergence as a great national park. Let's look at the promise, then the problems.

THE PROMISING OUTLOOK. Defeat of the monstrous proposal for a contemporary art museum in the center of a National Historic Landmark has brought new realism and strong support to oppose other destructive ideas. A 70,000 square foot, 30 feet high hotel right in front of the flagpole is being fought by the Park Service, the State Historical Preservation Officer, and many community groups, including the Presidio Historical Association. The hotel project is being examined and changed in a process carried out in accordance with the laws that protect national historic landmarks. The final result will be only advice to the Trust: the Trust can ignore recommendations. The Trust never has made a case why this hotel is needed beyond spin such as "every great national park needs a great lodge." We believe the hotel will be moved, greatly redesigned, or abandoned.

Another favorable development for 2010 is the recent election of Nancy Bechtle as Chair of the Presidio Trust. She conducted the open meeting on December 8 with a new tone of civility and respect for the public. Mrs. Bechtle is a social leader, former President of the Symphony Board and longtime patron of the arts. She was Vice Chair of the National Parks Foundation. The year ahead will tell if she has the leadership needed to take a clear eyed look at the Presidio and change its direction.

Finally, there is movement after ten years for the Park Service and the Trust to collaborate on "interpretation." which is NPS language for receiving and educating visitors to the history and ecology of the park. The Acting Superintendent of the GGNRA, Frank Dean, appeared at the December 8 meeting and both he and Mrs. Bechtle promised to work together on a visitors center and interpretation plan. This would be wonderful news, but we have heard such promises many time before. This time, however, I believe good things will happen. Congresswoman Pelosi earmarked 5 million dollars of the recent Defense budget for a history display in the Officer's Club. That is not enough to rehabilitate the building and design and install displays. That will be at least $ 20 million. Nevertheless, this has to be made part of the overall interpretation plan that is sadly missing. The Presidio will benefit from the new collaboration and focus.

THE PROBLEMS. The Trust seems to be moving by inertia by continuing to push for the hotel. It has staff that have spent most of their careers at the Presidio developing the plans and starting the process for the contemporary art museum, while ignoring public opposition. The hotel was conceived in its proposed location in front of the flagpole as an "edge" to the Main Parade, which was to become a grand lawn in front of the museum that extended almost to the Bay. Why this ill conceived hotel continues to waste thousands of hours and many more dollars is beyond understanding, unless it is mere inertia and hubris. The hotel company that wanted to build it isn't even sure if it wants to continue the project without the art museum and in today's financial climate.

The notion of a heritage center in the Officers Club is attractive, but how will the Trust and NPS collaborate to do this? The Trust does not have a senior manager to design history exhibits or to manage a mini-museum. The Park Service is woefully understaffed, and its idea of a visitors center is basically a carbon copy of every other park visitors center. Where will the needed imagination and leadership come from?

Finally, there is the basic challenge of a changed Main Post Plan introduced when the contemporary art museum was driving the process. It has been fought over under the process laid out by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in a environmental impact report. The "revised Main Post Update" includes many elements that are destructive to the purposes of a national park and that threaten a national historic landmark district. The process has experienced many procedural and substantive errors. If radical changes are not made in the document prior to the Trust Board approving it, then continued struggle by public groups with the Trust will make 2010 a bleak experience.

I would rather see, as would you, the Presidio's rededication to serving and educating the general public on the history of America at the Presidio, rather than fight over real estate development or art museums in a "cultural center." The public would rise in support and be overjoyed to put years of contention to rest. It would be the best holiday gift of all.

Happy New Year!

December Looking Ahead

December 8, the Trust Board will hold a public meeting at the former Officer's Club at 6:30 p.m.. There will be a chance for the public to speak. The business includes to provide a Main Post Update, to Provide an update of the Visitor Center Planning Process, and update on Doyle Drive. Be there to express your views.

Sometime in December there will be a meeting of the consulting parties, including pubic groups, the Park Service, the State Historic Preservation Officer and the federal Advisory Council on HIstoric Preservation about the latest version of the Trust's building proposals, including the 70,000 square foot hotel in the middle of the historic Main Post. The three federal agencies have written to the Trust with strong concerns about the project as it stands now.

So, the fight goes on. Get ready to support efforts to change the Trust's mindless continued enthusiasm for an obsolete building plan that was based on an art museum that no longer will be built on the Presidio. In fact, we have heard rumors that the proponent of the hotel, Larkspur, has lost interest in project.

Meanwhile, have a joyous holiday season .

Looking Ahead

Looking Ahead