SF Presidio Critics Prepare for 4/7 Public Comment Meeting

News Release

April 6, 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

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

Presidio Critics Prepare for April 7 Public Comment Meeting

Critics of highly controversial construction plans for an art museum, hotel/restaurant
and movie multiplex in the Presidio of San Francisco, a national park, are preparing for the Presidio Trust's Board and public comment meeting set for tomorrow [Tuesday, April 7] at 6:30 p.m. at the Palace of Fine Arts
Theatre, 3301 Lyon St. in San Francisco.

The public is urged to attend Tuesday evening's meeting and provide feedback on the
Trust's proposals.

Presidio Historical Association President Gary Widman says that the Trust's recently
amended plans for a large contemporary art museum, hotel complex and theater "utterly
fail" to address major problems cited in earlier proposals.

"The Presidio Trust continues to push for the unnecessary, permanent destruction of the
Presidio's most significant historic site, the Main Post. The Trust ignores the impact of
the projected 500,000 new visitors to this park annually (in addition to 350,000 expected
to come to the newly completed Disney Museum), offering virtually no transit solutions
except to rely on a bankrupt MUNI," Widman said.

An alert sent out today by the Cow Hollow Association states that, "The [Presidio]
Trust's plan will create an urban mall with auto congestion, traffic lights and parking
problems, converting this National Park into a 'city within a city', contrary to San
Francisco's needs, contrary to good planning practices, contrary to the Presidio Trust
Act and contrary to the Presidio Trust Master Plan, which promised that the historic Main
Post would always remain protected."

For these reasons, Widman called the Trust's proposal a "betrayal of public trust,"
noting that the Presidio is a National Park owned by citizens who have overwhelmingly
opposed the Trust's plans.

"The Presidio Trust refuses to do its job to protect the heart of this unique National
Historic Landmark from new construction," Widman added. "Alternate sites which would not
alter the most important part of the Presidio's landmark district are available within
and outside of the Presidio," he said.

###

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.

RENDERINGS ATTACHED