December 8 Meeting of Presidio Trust Board is Crunch Time

At 6:30 p.m., December 8, the Presidio Trust Board of Directors will hold a business meeting at the Golden Gate Club (near the National Cemetery) with an opportunity for the public to speak. This is our LAST CHANCE to tell the Trust that they have no understandable excuse to knowingly harm the historic landmark that Congress told them to protect by building a commercial hotel in the center of the most sensitive historic heart of the Presidio. The commercial hotel chain that offered a proposal has disappeared. The Trust gives no economic reason for this damaging project. Competition from 33,000 hotel rooms in San Francisco makes building 100 more in an urban national park ridiculous.

The Board will formally approve the project shortly after this meeting unless YOU, the public, makes it clear that this turkey won't fly. We did it with the proposed modern art museum, and we can do it again on Wednesday night.

For details, go to the Presidio Historical Association website at www.presidioassociation.org. For more, go the the Presidio Trust website - Major Projects - View the Documents. Find the latest Main Post Update dated November, 2010, and see pages 36 and 37 for their sanitized description of the "Lodge." An earlier analysis of the damage Trust plans will do to the historic integrity (that's what makes it a NATIONAL Landmark) is in a document titled "Finding of Effects," also on the Trust web site. It is written in National Historic Preservation Act language, but we all can see that even the Trust admits it is screwing up if it builds this hotel.

Why does the Trust Board persist in this scheme that started as an arts district based on the now-defunct "gift" of a mega art museum? Hubris perhaps? Top staff's careers invested in getting something out of this mess to save face? No, the Trust Board is made of very prominent and well intentioned people accustomed to the sort of power no one says "NO!" to. They aren't used to reexamining their assumptions or backing off under pressure. They don't question wayward staff judgments, and they have staff that does not challenge them. YOU, the public, have to make that challenge. Wednesday, 6:30 p.m., Golden Gate Club (next to the National Cemetery. Signs will be posted.) BE THERE!

APOLOGIES TO FOLLOWERS OF THIS BLOG

As you can picture, there are too few of us in the trenches and Presidio issues have been flying fast and furious. My day Presidio volunteer job is eating up most of the time. (Don't ask). Presidio Pal has not responded to over 80 posts. In fact, I missed finding them until today. This cybergeezer has much to learn about blogging. Thanks for your patience and support. We are in the midst of redesigning our web/blog/social networking methods. Until then, stay tuned, but above all, keep up your wonderful presence in supporting the richly historic Presidio and Golden Gate National Park. Thanks, Presidio Pal

Turn Out to Tell the Tone Deaf Trust Board What You Think about an Art Museum and Hotel Near the Heart of the Presidio's Most Historic Area

The meeting will be on April 7, at 6:30 PM, Palace of FIne Arts Theater. Come prepared with a short comment about what bothers you most. Be specific to say why what the Presidio Trust is planning is wrong or why the enviromental review process has confused you and the public. Has any information been misleading or incomplete? Give an example.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AT THE PRESIDIO

The very modern contemporary art museum proposed for the Presidio of San Francisco National Historic Landmark District viewed from in front of an 1890's barracks at the intersection of Sheridan and Montgomery Streets looking toward the 1776 "El Presidio." (Officers Club.) Is this the right building at the right place in a national historic landmark?


Despite official words of welcome for the 100,000 square foot art museum by Presidio Trust officials and the Mayor, and the premature praise of some newspapers, it is becoming clear that the proposal for an out of place, oversized, inappropriately designed art museum on the Presidio is not going to be a "slam dunk." The National Historic Preservation Act calls for a formal consultation process that includes representation from the Park Service, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the State Historic Preservation Officer and the Presidio Historical Association. The first meeting of this group recognized many difficulties with the art museum proposal as it stands now and with the hurried process that an environmental review is scheduled to take. The protected status of the Presidio as  one of fewer than 2,500 National Historic Landmark Districts in the nation brings close scrutiny when a proposed action, such as the art museum, would have severe adverse effects on the national landmark. We also are encouraged by public opposition to this project that has been expressed in letters to the Trust and by e-mails to the newspapers that have reported on the art museum. The weight of public opinion is leading to an atmosphere in which - just perhaps- reason will prevail and a redesigned art museum would be located elsewhere on the Presidio, while a suitably designed history center might be established somewhere near Main Post. That would be a win-win situation for everyone, including the public that a national park is meant to serve and the values the park represents.

TIME FOR YOUR ACTION CONCERNING 100,000 SQ. FT. CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM IN THE HISTORIC CENTER OF THE PRESIDIO

Written comments from the public are very important in the environmental review procedures that must be done prior to any large new construction in an historic district. The previous post on this blog has the address and details for you to take action.

In your letter, we suggest that you ask yourself:

Is a contemporary art museum a compatible "cultural institution" for the Presidio's historic setting?

Is new construction larger than the Museum of Modern Art and more than twice as large as any nearby building possible at the Presidio without destroying its distinguishing historic character?

Will the review process include consideration of other current or proposed actions around Main Post, such as hotel lodging, a promenade down the length of the Main Parade Ground, eliminating parking from the large Main Parade Ground, the Walt Disney Museum, and finally establishing the long-delayed permanent Park Service Visitors Center? All these will be importantly affected by a large art museum close by.

Should there be a comprehensive review of all changes around the Main Post, past, current and proposed? (There is no specific plan for the most sensitive historical area of the Presidio other than general platitudes in the Presidio Trust Implementation Plan of several years ago.)

Are other locations on the Presidio being considered for the proposed contemporary art museum?

How "public" will the proposed privately funded and directed art museum be? Will governance of the museum be responsive to public input and interests, as is appropriate for a National Park? What will be the mechanism for public input and influence concerning the proposed art museum?

Are alternative uses being considered for the proposed art museum location at the head of the parade ground, near the flag pole and historic Spanish Presidio? This is the most central, visible, and character defining location on the Main Post. Shouldn’t alternatives other than a contemporary art museum be considered for this site, if there is to be any new construction there at all?
Add other matters that concern you most for inclusion in the environmental review.

YOUR WRITTEN COMMENTS BECOME A PERMANENT PART OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW RECORD. PLEASE MAKE YOUR CONCERNS KNOWN. YOUR VOICE WILL DETERMINE THE FUTURE OF THE PRESIDIO AS A PARK.