Fed'l Agency Seeks Independent Report on San Francisco Presidio Proposals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sept. 3, 2008

For more information, contact:
Gary Widman, 415/435-0360, gwidman [at] mindspring.com
Whitney Hall 707/778-6975, whithall [at] comcast.net
http://www.presidioassociation.org // http://www.savepresidio.blogspot.com

Federal Agency Seeks Independent Report on Presidio Development Proposals

The federal agency charged with advising the President and Congress on historic preservation has asked the Secretary of the Interior to prepare a report on the Presidio Trust’s plans to build a modernistic art museum, hotel, movie multiplex and other structures in the Presidio of San Francisco, a National Park and National Historic Landmark.

On August 19, John M. Fowler, Executive Director of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), sent a letter to National Park Service Director Mary Bomar citing “many unresolved issues” regarding the Trust’s proposals and their impact on the Presidio’s historic areas.

Invoking the rarely used Section 213 of the National Historic Preservation Act , Fowler directed the Secretary of the Interior to prepare the report within 60 days “detailing the significance of [the] historic property, describing the effects of [the] proposed undertaking on the affected [Presidio] and recommending measures to avoid, minimize, or mitigate adverse effects...” The letter focuses on impacts “posed by the proposed volume, design, and location of the new construction upon [Presidio’s] Main Post Historic District.”

ACHP was established by the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), which requires federal agencies that manage National Historic Landmarks to report to the Council before taking action affecting those sites.

The Main Post’s history dates back to 1776, when Spanish settlers founded a garrison and community there that became San Francisco. Later, Mexico and then the American military took over the post until it closed in 1994. The Main Post is the park’s most significant historic site, though the entire Presidio is designated as a National Historic Landmark.

Many critics of Gap stores founder Donald Fisher’s proposed contemporary art museum, a three-story hotel, and expansion of an historic theater into a movie multiplex, coupled with related demolition of other buildings, have raised serious concerns about incompatible, modern structures threatening the park’s status as a National Historic Landmark.

“We are thrilled that the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation has taken steps to assure that a full, independent analysis of the Presidio Trust’s proposals and their impact upon the Presidio’s historic integrity will be completed,” said Presidio Historical Association President Gary Widman. “Only by objectively assessing the true extent of damage inflicted by these development proposals can the public know what is best for this historic national park.”

San Francisco neighborhood associations -- particularly those near the Presidio -- have raised other concerns about impacts on parking, transit and traffic from the Trust’s proposals. In June, the Board of Supervisors established the Presidio Neighborhood Work Group to address those issues.

Other strong critics of the Presidio Trust’s proposals include the National Trust for Historic Preservation, National Parks Conservation Association and the Sierra Club.

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Founded in the 1950s, the nonprofit Presidio Historical Association (PHA) has worked in cooperation with the National Park Service and Presidio Trust since 1994 to advocate for preserving the integrity of the Presidio’s National Historic Landmark District, located within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). PHA created a museum for the Army when it was based at the Presidio. Earlier, PHA helped restore historic Fort Point at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge.