SF Historical Assn Reacts to Presidio Trust's Actions on Donald Fisher's Art Museum

Feb. 27, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact:

Gary Widman (Presidio Historical Assn) 415/435-0360, gwidman [at] mindspring.com
Whitney Hall (Presidio Historical Assn) 707/778-6975, whithall [at] comcast.net
David Bancroft (Save The Presidio) 415/706-8779, dbancroft [at] sideman.com

http://www.presidioassociation.org // http://www.savepresidio.blogspot.com
http://www.savethepresidio.org//

Historical Assn Reacts to Presidio Trust Actions

The Presidio Trust Historical Association, a nonprofit group that has spearheaded the effort to keep a large, contemporary art museum, hotel and theater off the historic Main Post of the Presidio of San Francisco, today objected to the latest actions of the federal agency charged with overseeing the national park's real estate.

"We are very distressed by the Presidio Trust's decision to promote the construction of a massive contemporary art museum, large hotel and theater in the heart of the National Historic Landmark District on the Presidio's Main Post. The Trust has once again ignored the broad, nearly unanimous public opposition to its proposal," said Gary Widman, President of the Historical Association.

According to Widman, the amended Trust documents* (see below), released late Thursday, in which the Trust discusses their "preferred [construction] alternative" change little and fail to satisfy the Trust's own legislative mandate to promote, protect, preserve and restore the Presidio's historic structures and character as well as its duty to adhere to court decisions regarding adding new construction to the park.

"The Trust uses the word 'history' dozens of times in these new documents, but then inexplicably places more than 200,000 sq. ft. of new construction of non-historical, incompatible uses on this historically significant site rather than building in other locations that would not destroy historically 'sacred ground.'

"These projects do not enhance history; they derogate it. The new proposal to put the massive museum underground, in two buildings, still leaves it at the top of the old parade ground as a star urban attraction to be promoted by Don Fisher and the Trust in what instead should be a revered National Historic Landmark in a historic National Park," Widman said.

Yesterday, the Trust posted on its website (presidio.gov) its long-awaited, lengthy amended documents required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) including a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) and Presidio Management Plan Update after Fog City Journal (fogcityjournal.com) article revealed that Gap founder and billionaire Don Fisher, sponsor of the proposed art museum, had given the San Francisco Chronicle exclusive access to amended museum renderings in what some see as an attempt to manipulate press coverage of the highly controversial project.

Historical preservationists, open-space activists, environmentalists, veterans, and San Francisco neighborhood associations joined forces over the past year to strongly oppose the Fisher museum, which will house his private art collection and be managed by the Fisher family despite its being located within a national park, which is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). A large new hotel/restaurant complex near Fisher's museum is also being promoted by the Trust.

Questions regarding the financial deal Fisher has struck with the Presidio Trust remain unanswered. Fisher publicly offered the Presidio Trust $10 million to landscape the area around his museum in what appeared to many to be an attempt to influence the Trust's votes about its use of the public's park land. Many have found the Trust's process highly unsettling and too close to "pay to play" for comfort.

"These new documents give us no reason to think that the nearly unanimous opposition of the public, the San Francisco Planning Commission, nearly 50 neighborhood groups, and other civic, environmental and history groups, along with hundreds of negative comments expressed by private citizens, have had the slightest effect on the Trust's decisions," Widman added.

"By refusing to even respond to suggestions of concerned citizens that the Presidio Trust work with the public to shape an acceptable alternative, the Trust can expect the predictable result: continuing strong, broad and deep public opposition to these new plans. The Trust's Board and employees have set themselves on a destructive course, destroying the park, destroying the trust of the public and public organizations and perhaps in the end, destroying their own federal agency, the Presidio Trust.

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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.

*See http://www.presidio.gov for the updated documents (hundreds of pages long). Public meetings for comments are scheduled for April 2009.