Neighbors join forces to save historic UC Laguna St. Campus from the wrecking ball

For many years when I lived in San Francisco, as I walked past the old UC Extension campus building in the Lower Haight on my way to the Muni station in the Castro district, I'd admire the handsome urns, the palm trees and the ornate Spanish Mission-influenced frescos. Like most people who walked past at street level, I had no idea that behind those pink stucco walls is one of the oldest buildings in the City, a historic treasure built in 1855 with ornate handpainted murals, graceful archways, fireplaces, and an inner courtyard garden with towering palm trees and a stunning view of the city and the bay.

When the building shut down a few years ago, weeds grew around it, and it became covered with unsightly graffitti. Like many in the neighborhood, I started to wonder why the city wasn't cleaning up this unsightly eyesore. Now I know why.

UC Regents have quietly engaged a private developer, AF Evans, to convert this historic 19th century site into high density condo and retail shopping center -- solely in the name of profit. It's tantamount to saying: "Let's tear down Coit Tower and build a mall. Or, why not pave over Golden Gate Park and put up a parking lot?" Yet the building has remained boarded up so long that new residents in this high turnover neighborhood might not even know what treasure is inside. Two full city blocks of San Francisco with a stunning bay view, the parcel could easily be worth a billion dollars. Yet the land and the campus, lest we forget, belongs to residents of California, who paid for it with their taxes.

UC Regents are seeking to rezone the campus, which if approved, will permanently end its 150 year history of public use. The building was originally the first college in San Francisco, the San Francisco Normal School, and later became the campus of San Francisco State University. Most recently it was used for adult education and continuing education for UC Berkeley Extension.

Eliza Heminway's poignant film, Uncommon Knowledge: Closing the Books on UC Extension, gives a revealing look into the behind the scenes politics behind this event, which surprised even the staff and teachers, who were stunned when they lost their jobs. The campus has remained in limbo, empty and hollow, despite the fact that it was extensively renovated just before it was closed down. A local citizen group, Save the 1800, is organizing to save the campus and hopefully return it to public use, ideally as a university campus and public park.

Heminway, a six year employee at the facility kept a camera in hand during the closure, and captured a rare glipse into the politics behind the scene at the University (at times, the screen goes black as Heminway hides the camera under a desk.)

Her film is a personal, poetic journey behind the scenes as plans unfold to close its historic San Francisco campus and convert this billion dollar land parcel into a lucrative private development. It's a revealing look into higher education and culture, as well as a hauntingly beautiful portrait of a campus and the community it served. It has a fog shrouded San Francisco feeling, and is accompanied by an edgy urban soundtrack written and performed by locally acclaimed musician Tim Barsky and Everyday Theatre with additional music by The Toids.

A free film screening and public forum will be held: Saturday, February 24 from 4:15 - 5:30 PM, at San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin St. (at Grove), Koret Auditorium, located on the library's lower level. Enter at 30 Grove St. and proceed down stairs.

A Public Hearing on the Draft EIR will be held Thursday, March 8, 2007 in Room 400, City Hall. Call 558-6422 the week of the hearing for a recorded message for the exact time of hearing. A request has been
made to hold the hearing at 6:00 PM. This is the only public process planned regarding the re-zoning of the campus.

For more information about the film, Uncommon Knowledge: Closing the Books at the UC Berkeley Extension" visit http://www.hemenwaydocs.com