Posts Tagged ‘doyle drive’
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
Presidio Trust Executive Director Craig Middleton today announced a new partnership that will guarantee a long-term stewardship of the Yelp-rated Presidio Pet Cemetery.
All the deets, below
R.I.P. Tiger and Buddy Bird:
via prawnpie
SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETS TO HELP CARE FOR PET CEMETERY. VOLUNTEERS WILL TEND GRAVES OF BELOVED MILITARY PETS
Presidio of San Francisco (March 18, 2010) — The Presidio Trust and the Swords to Plowshares Veterans Academy, located on the Presidio, are kicking off a new partnership that will ensure long-term stewardship of the Presidio Pet Cemetery. The agreement provides for Trust staff to work with residents at Swords to Plowshares’ permanent supportive housing facility, the Veterans Academy, to maintain and improve the cemetery. Activities will include pulling weeds, removing invasive plants, picking up trash, trimming shrubs, and eventually restoring individual grave markers.
Located at the foot of McDowell Avenue, beneath Doyle Drive, and bounded by a white fence, the 450-square foot cemetery is the final resting place for hundreds of loyal animals owned by families stationed at the Presidio. The cemetery’s official record is spotty but, by most accounts, it dates to the 1950s when upwards of 2,000 military families lived on the base. There are numerous legends surrounding the cemetery, which some believe was originally a burial ground for nineteenth-century cavalry horses or World War II guard dogs.
“The pet cemetery gives us insight into family life at the Presidio. It is part of the fabric of the park and former military base,” says Craig Middleton, the Trust’s Executive Director. “We are grateful that the veterans of Swords to Plowshares have offered to care for this important part of the Presidio’s legacy.”
All the deets, after the jump.
(more…)
Tags: 18, 2010, animal, avenue, birds, Buddy Bird, cemetery, Craig Middleton, dogs, doyle drive, Executive Director, goldfish, graves, hamsters, headstones, horses, invasive, lizards, march, markers, McDowell, Michael Blecker, military, national park, partnership, pet, Pet Cemetery, plants, presidio, Presidio Trust, stewardship, supportive housing facility, SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES, tiger, trash, trust, Veterans Academy, VETS, volunteers, weeds
Posted in Animals, parks | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
San Francisco District 5 Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi gave a stem-winder to a crowd of 100 or in the Civic Center on the steps of City Hall yesterday. Why? Because he wants local hiring for the Doyle Drive replacement project (you know, the one with all that President Barack Obama / Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi federal stimulus money) up in the Presidio.
Here are some deets:
Resolution Urges Local Hiring for the Doyle Drive Replacement Project
On Tuesday, September 15th, the Board of Supervisors will consider a resolution authored by Supervisor Mirkarimi that urges Caltrans and its contractors and subcontractors working on the retrofit of Doyle Drive to hire from local workers, and in particular, workers from our economically disadvantaged communities. Federal stimulus funds will be used to replace the Doyle Drive approach to the Golden Gate Bridge.
Supervisor Mirkarimi has worked hard to strengthen local hiring requirements for City contractors. However, the Doyle Drive replacement project is managed by Caltrans, who is not bound by city policies regarding Workforce development. The non-binding resolution requests that Caltrans and its contractors and subcontractors actively participate in San Francisco’s Workforce Development Programs when pursuing projects within San Francisco.
A rally and press conference will be held at noon, Tuesday, September 15th to raise awareness on the issue and highlight the successes of the City’s workforce development programs.
Tags: 2009, 5, california department of transportation, CalTrans, City Hall, Development, district, doyle drive, federl, five, Golden Gate Bridge, hire, hiring, local, Mirkarimi, money, nancy pelosi, obama, presidio, protest, rally, ross, ross mirkarimi, san francsico, steps, stimulus, Supervisor, workers, workforce
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Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
Can you see the photo illustration below? That’s the future of Doyle Drive, whether you like it or not!
Parts of it are going underground soon, courtesy of Barack Obama stimulus money and your San Francisco County Transportation Authority, and a few others. Get all the deets of this Big Dig tonight, July 23, 2009 at Fort Mason – 6:00 PM open house, 6:30 PM presentation.
Can you see Doyle Drive in the background? That’s the way it looks today, all concrete and clay, and general decay.
Supervisor Bevan Dufty speaking at the recent ceremony announcing the acceleration of the project.
Here’s the meeting:
When: July 23, 2009 – Thursday
6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Where: Fort Mason Center (Marina Blvd. and Buchanan Street) San Francisco Landmark Building A Conference Center, Golden Gate Room, San Francisco
What: Discussion includes construction schedules, road closures and detours.
Lots more deets, after the jump.
Tags: 2009, 22, 22nd, barack, bevan dufty, bridge, cars, county, cut and cover, doyle drive, drive, dyle, earthquake, federal, fort, fort mason, freeway, ft, ggb, Golden Gate Bridge, information, july, marin, mason, meeting, money, nimby, nimbys, obama, presidio, project, public, San Francisco, stimulus, Supervisor, traffic, trust, underground
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Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Boy, it was touch and go for a few years there, but news comes today that our beloved NIMBYs have managed to preserve the Great Northern Parking Lot of San Francisco.
See it? 700 spaces, free of charge. It’s historic, you know. When the U.S. Army wasn’t out there killing a million or so Filipinos it managed to create the GNPLoSF. Therefore, these parking spaces are sacrosanct:
Now that that pesky modern art has been gotten rid of, a question remains over what to do with the upper end of the Main Post. You know the Burger King corporation had an outlet that served as an Army Mess on the Presidio for so many years, it would be only fitting to give it the right of first refusal to get a chance to replace the famous itty bitty bowling alley that’s up there now.
An artist’s conception, avec just one installation of evil modern art thrown in to see if the NIMBYs can tolerate it.
You see, that old, historic Presidio BK was a place “where a simple guy serving his country could get an inexpensive meal with a stunning view.” Wouldn’t it be nice to honor those memories with the biggest Burger King in the world? Put it right where the museum was supposed to go.
Either that, or a Jollibee. Your choice.
Tags: 2009, 22, 22nd, 6:30, 7th, analysis, Anthony, april, april 22, april 22nd, art, association, Bechtle, benz, Berkeley, bmw, board, california, camp, contemporary, contemporary art museum of the presidio, contemporary art museum presidio, cow hollow, Craig Middleton, Crissy Field, Curtis F. Feeny, Curtis Feeny, David Bancroft, David Grubb, David R. Grubb, directors, don, don fisher, doris, doyle drive, dyads, eir, eis, environmental, Executive Director, Family, Film Society, fisher, gap, Golden Gate Bridge, heights, hotel, impact, J. Michael Shepherd, landmark, lodge, Lori Brook, Main Post, marina, Mercedes, Michael Shepherd, military, modern-art museum, museum, nancy, Nancy Conner, Nancy Hellman, Nancy Hellman Bechtle, National Park Service, National Trust for Historic Preservation, nimbies, nimby, pacific, palace of fine arts, PM, porsche, presidio, Presidio Historical Association, report, Robert Burke, San Francisco, T. Robert Burke, texan, the gap, theater, theatre, tony, transportation, trust, Veerkamp, walking tour, William Wilson, workshop
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Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
This recent post here regarding the Presidio inspired a correspondent to take pen to paper (so to speak) and leave a comment. Below are the words of “PresidioPal” along with some queries. (Surprisingly, he’s not a NIMBY.) Anyway, enjoy.
The mighty, historic Great Parking Lot of the Presidio is jeopardized by the Main Post Plan. The Presidio Trust just might unpave this paradise and put up a…lawn. Heaven forfend. What happened was the Army put it in and then left. Are we bound to have it forever?
Says PP:
“If we are talking about the “decay” of the historic character of the Presidio, which is a rare national historic landmarks district chosen for the layer upon layer of American history visible on Main Post…”
What does that mean to people – landmark status? Why should people care about this? The historic character of the South was Jim Crow laws (not that we didn’t have James Crow laws outside the South, but that’s another story) - would the “historic character” argument be useful for maintaining segregation? Would you like to turn the Presidio itself into a museum, where nothing ever changes? Isn’t it an underpopulated Land of Wind and Ghosts now?
“…the Fisher art museum…”
Isn’t the name of the proposed museum Contemporary Art Museum of the Presidio (CAMP). Isn’t it specifically not called The Fisher? Isn’t that one of its selling points? Isn’t it going to have like a “b” as in boy billion dollars of art in it or something, that’s not otherwise available for public view?
”…a hotel…”
Or lodge, some people are calling it a lodge, in keeping with the whole “park” theme of the Presidio. What’s wrong with a lodge in a park?
“and a modern movie house”
Or “modernized,” I’ll give you that. Didn’t it used to seat something like 1000 GIs back in the day? Do you think your millionaire NIMBY allies would like to have all those blue-collar types back in the Presidio in “their neighborhood” near the houses they inherited from their parents fair and square? Isn’t it true that the Presidio Theatre seats zero people today and that’s the way the owners of competing theatres in San Francisco like it? Isn’t it true theater owners kicked in money to oppose the Main Post Plan because they don’t want competition? Is that a good reason to oppose opening up a small three-screener that would seat far fewer people than the 1000 it was built for back in the day?
“…ADD to the “decay” by introducing non-historic elements that detract from the historic site itself…”
Does the non-historic TransAmerica pyramid detract from historic San Francisco? Should nothing ever change in town? Did a collection of histrionic societies, millionaire NIMBYs and movie theatre owners object to the Louvre Pyramid in Cour Napolean? Probably, but isn’t the pyramid a good thing, despite its “non-historic” status?
“If you take “decay” to mean delaying needed repairs to historic structures, the new buildings have nothing to do with that.”
You and your NIMBY allies are fighting for the status quo, whether you realize it or not. Congress, in its wisdom, could have put your organization in charge of the entire Presidio. It didn’t though, right? Do you acknowledge that? Why should anybody pay attention to your unfunded mandates? Your half-baked if-we-had-some-ham-we-could-have-a-ham-sandwich, if-we-also-had-some-bread-but-only-if-five-million-dollars-fell-from-the-sky alternative plans? Back in the 1990s, Congress did something quite unique with the Presidio. Of course, it could have sold off a lot of land to condo developers. Would you prefer that?
“Let’s get it straight, the proposal is for three major new structures in a national historic landmark.”
Is that really an argument? Shouldn’t you go further and explain why people should care about national historic landmark status? And actually, it’s more than three structures, but I get what you mean. Is the 700-car parking lot historic? Was the Burger King historic? Should we bring it back to honor the military?
“Why not a contemporary museum on Alamo Square?”
The reason why is that millionaire NIMBYs and the Planning Commission would tear that one apart. That’s the short answer.
If I had any advice for the Main Post, it would be this – lively up yourself, mon! This may or may not happen, depending upon the lawyers, the judges and the juries associated with the forthcoming lawsuits.
We’ll see.
Tags: 2009, art, board, camp, chronicle, comment period, contemporary, contemporary art museum of the presidio, contemporary art museum presidio, cow hollow, David Grubb, directors, Disney, don fisher, doris, doyle drive, eir, eis, gavin newsom, hotel, june 1, landmark, lodge, Main Post, Mayor, military, modern-art museum, museum, museum nimbies, nimbies, nimby, nimbys, pelosi, presidio, presidio pal, presidiopal, San Francisco, socketsite, theater, theatre, trust, whit hall
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Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
The Presidio Trust has just announced a last call for comments about ending the arrested decay of the Presidio Main Post – so finish up your drinks and get your comments in by June 1, 2009.
END OF THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
June 1, 2009 is the end of public comment period for several key documents related to the Main Post planning process. Three draft documents have been circulating for public comment since February 27, 2009:
1. Revised Draft Main Post Update
2. Draft Supplement to the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Preferred Alternative
3. Revised Draft Finding of Effect
The Revised Draft Main Post Update reflects the land uses and improvements the Presidio Trust intends to pursue to re-establish the Main Post as the heart of the park. Through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, the Trust identified a “preferred alternative” that is detailed in the Revised Update and analyzed in the Draft Supplement to the SEIS. The Revised Update is also analyzed as the “undertaking” in the Revised Draft Finding of Effect; prepared under the provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) as part of the assessment phase of the Section 106 consultation.
In June 2008, the Trust released an earlier draft of the Main Post Update and a Draft SEIS which analyzed a range of alternatives. An earlier Draft Finding of Effect was released in August 2008, which analyzed the effects on historic resources of all the alternatives that were presented in the Draft SEIS. All documents can be found on the Trust’s website: www.presidio.gov.
Comments will be accepted on all documents, both current and past drafts. Commentators are free to organize their comments in any way they choose. They may comment separately on the different documents, or address all documents at one time. Commentators are also welcome to address specific issues or comment on specific proposals. The Trust will consider and respond to comments on all of the drafts when developing the final documents.
NEXT STEPS
NHPA Section 106 Consultation: Finalizing the Finding of Effect and Resolving Adverse Effects
A Final Finding of Effect will be issued early this summer, formally completing the assessment phase of the Section 106 consultation under the NHPA. The Historic Resources section of the Final SEIS will be consistent with the Final Finding of Effect. The Final Finding of Effect will be available on the Trust’s website and will be sent to all consulting parties.
The next phase of the Section 106 consultation process is the resolution phase during which consulting parties identify ways to avoid, minimize, or mitigate the effects presented in the Finding of Effect. The resolution phase results in an agreement document that establishes parameters for how projects can proceed. A schedule for the remainder of the Section 106 consultation will be issued to all consulting parties early in June.
NEPA: Finalizing the SEIS and Main Post Update
Over the course of the summer, the Trust will finalize the environmental review, issuing a Final SEIS and Final Main Post Update sometime in the fall. The Final SEIS includes a response to all comments. A notice of availablity will be issued once the final documents are released. The final documents will also be available on the Trust’s website. After the final environmental documents are issued, a 30-day no action period ensues.
Record of Decision
The Trust will issue a Record of Decision (ROD) only after both the NEPA and NHPA processes are completed. The ROD memorializes the decision made by the Presidio Trust Board of Directors and clearly articulates the actions that the Trust will pursue in the Main Post and the reasoning behind the Trust’s decision. Once the ROD is adopted, the Final Main Post Update will amend the Presidio Trust Management Plan for the Main Post District.
Tags: 2009, art, board, camp, chronicle, comment period, contemporary, contemporary art museum of the presidio, contemporary art museum presidio, cow hollow, David Grubb, directors, Disney, don fisher, doris, doyle drive, eir, eis, gavin newsom, hotel, june 1, landmark, lodge, Main Post, Mayor, military, modern-art museum, museum nimbies, nimby, pelosi, presidio, San Francisco, socketsite, theater, theatre, trust
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Monday, May 11th, 2009
Your Presidio Trust has just announced another two Open House sessions concerning the Main Post. Make note of the location at Building 105, that Brokedown Palace (but I can assure you that parts of it are excellent). It’s sandwiched between Lincoln (no, not THAT Lincoln), Taylor (no, not THAT Taylor) and Montgomery (no, not THAT Montgomery). Just pop open the Google Map here. See? It’s right near where the Google Maps car got busted (or not, if you believe a certain U.S. Park Police Sargeant, who, really, oughta know).
Just get to the Building 104 Mouse House and then go downhill a skosh. There’s probably not going to be a program or anything – just drop by and yickety yack a bit…
Main Post Open House with Presidio Trust Staff
Monday, May 18, 9 to 11 am
&
Wednesday, May 20, 6 to 8 pm
Main Post Information Center, 105 Montgomery Street
There’s always room for one more:
“Please join us for informal “open house” sessions at which Presidio Trust staff members will be available to respond to questions about proposed projects for the Main Post as well as questions about historic resources, transportation and parking, visitor use , and environmental sustainability. The public comment period for Main Post planning ends on June 1, 2009. Comments may be emailed to mainpost@presidiotrust.gov.”
Tags: 2009, 22, 22nd, 6:30, 7th, analysis, Anthony, april, april 22, april 22nd, art, association, Bechtle, Berkeley, board, california, camp, contemporary, contemporary art museum of the presidio, contemporary art museum presidio, cow hollow, Craig Middleton, Crissy Field, Curtis F. Feeny, Curtis Feeny, David Bancroft, David Grubb, David R. Grubb, directors, Disney, disney family museum, don, don fisher, doris, doyle drive, dyads, eir, eis, environmental, Executive Director, Family, Film Society, fisher, gap, Golden Gate Bridge, heights, hotel, impact, J. Michael Shepherd, landmark, lodge, Lori Brook, Main Post, marina, Michael Shepherd, military, modern-art museum, mouse house, museum, nancy, Nancy Conner, Nancy Hellman, Nancy Hellman Bechtle, National Park Service, National Trust for Historic Preservation, nimbies, nimby, pacific, palace of fine arts, PM, presidio, Presidio Historical Association, report, Robert Burke, San Francisco, T. Robert Burke, texan, the gap, theater, theatre, tony, transportation, trust, Veerkamp, walking tour, William Wilson, workshop
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Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
As promised, the Presidio Trust Main Post Planning Transportation Workshop went off on April 22, 2009. Look here later on to see when and if two more similar meetings will occur in the very merry month of May. (The first should deal with historic resources and the other is slated to be a kind of catch-all open-mike night.)
122 souls sat through a presentation of answers to a dozen key questions that people have been asking about concerning transportation – signalization, fees for parking, traffic loads, etc. I vowed to leave as soon as the public speakers veered off-topic – that took about ten seconds, so oh well. Regardless, this appeared to be a more-productive-than-average public yammer session. Assemblymember Tom Ammiano sent a representative (the well-informed Noriko Shinzato) as did Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, so it appears that interest in the plans for the Main Post remains strong.
Click to expand
Fully eleven Mercedes-Benzeses were out front, or in the lot up the hill, or in the overflow lot even further up the hill near the chapel. BMW was also well-repped, and there were a least three Porsches, including two expensive Porsche Cayenne minivans and one hepped-up Neunelfer.A richer group of parking-hungry NIMBYs would be hard to find. One bicycle.
All this Powerpoint stuff should be online in the near future, or maybe it already is.
Presidi-Go is already up to 300,000 trips per year.
Should the NIMBY’s, the people of means, be given more votes on this matter than tourists from Tempe? Only Time Will Tell.
So there you have it, To Be Continued.
Tags: 2009, 22, 22nd, 6:30, 7th, analysis, Anthony, april, april 22, april 22nd, art, association, Bechtle, benz, Berkeley, bmw, board, california, camp, contemporary, contemporary art museum of the presidio, contemporary art museum presidio, cow hollow, Craig Middleton, Crissy Field, Curtis F. Feeny, Curtis Feeny, David Bancroft, David Grubb, David R. Grubb, directors, don, don fisher, doris, doyle drive, dyads, eir, eis, environmental, Executive Director, Family, Film Society, fisher, gap, Golden Gate Bridge, heights, hotel, impact, J. Michael Shepherd, landmark, lodge, Lori Brook, Main Post, marina, Mercedes, Michael Shepherd, military, modern-art museum, museum, nancy, Nancy Conner, Nancy Hellman, Nancy Hellman Bechtle, National Park Service, National Trust for Historic Preservation, nimbies, nimby, pacific, palace of fine arts, PM, porsche, presidio, Presidio Historical Association, report, Robert Burke, San Francisco, T. Robert Burke, texan, the gap, theater, theatre, tony, transportation, trust, Veerkamp, walking tour, William Wilson, workshop
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
The Presidio Trust has replaced the cancelled April 16 meeting with a Transportation Workshop at 6:30 PM on April 22, 2009. There will be an overview of the transit issues being analyzed through the Main Post planning process, and staff will be on hand to answer questions about transportation issues.
Main Post Planning Workshop: Transportation
Wednesday, April 22, 6:30 p.m.
Golden Gate Club, 135 Fisher Loop
Some drivers strongly oppose losing this gigantic, historic 700-car parking lot:
Oh well.
How will the NIMBYs get to this meeting about having too many cars in the Presidio?
A short, pleasant evening stroll? No.
Or perhaps a bike ride? No.
Guess again!
Tags: 2009, 6:30, 7th, analysis, Anthony, april, april 22, april 22nd, art, association, Bechtle, Berkeley, board, california, camp, contemporary, contemporary art museum of the presidio, contemporary art museum presidio, cow hollow, Craig Middleton, Crissy Field, Curtis F. Feeny, Curtis Feeny, David Bancroft, David Grubb, David R. Grubb, directors, don, don fisher, doris, doyle drive, dyads, eir, eis, environmental, Executive Director, Family, Film Society, fisher, gap, Golden Gate Bridge, heights, hotel, impact, J. Michael Shepherd, landmark, lodge, Lori Brook, Main Post, marina, Michael Shepherd, military, modern-art museum, museum, nancy, Nancy Conner, Nancy Hellman, Nancy Hellman Bechtle, National Park Service, National Trust for Historic Preservation, nimbies, nimby, pacific, palace of fine arts, PM, presidio, Presidio Historical Association, report, Robert Burke, San Francisco, T. Robert Burke, the gap, theater, theatre, tony, transportation, trust, Veerkamp, walking tour, William Wilson, workshop
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Monday, April 13th, 2009
Here’s the news of the morn regarding developments at the Presidio.
“Please be advised that the Presidio Trust is cancelling the Main Post Public Meeting that was to be held on Thursday, April 16, at 6 pm at the Golden Gate Club. There will be no meeting on that date. Future meeting dates will be announced at www.presidio.gov as soon as the information becomes available.”
Here’s what you’ll miss:
Word from Tia Lombardi, Director of Public Affairs at the Presidio Trust, is that this meeting will be rescheduled to a date yet to be determined.
On it goes…
Tags: 2009, 7th, analysis, Anthony, april, art, association, Bechtle, Berkeley, board, california, camp, contemporary, contemporary art museum of the presidio, contemporary art museum presidio, cow hollow, Craig Middleton, Crissy Field, Curtis F. Feeny, Curtis Feeny, David Bancroft, David Grubb, David R. Grubb, directors, don, don fisher, doris, doyle drive, dyads, eir, eis, environmental, Executive Director, Family, Film Society, fisher, gap, Golden Gate Bridge, heights, hotel, impact, J. Michael Shepherd, landmark, lodge, Lori Brook, Main Post, marina, Michael Shepherd, military, modern-art museum, museum, nancy, Nancy Conner, Nancy Hellman, Nancy Hellman Bechtle, National Park Service, National Trust for Historic Preservation, nimbies, nimby, pacific, palace of fine arts, presidio, Presidio Historical Association, professor, report, Robert Burke, San Francisco, T. Robert Burke, the gap, theater, theatre, tony, trust, Veerkamp, walking tour, William Wilson
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The Pros and Cons of Progress at the Presidio Main Post – A Kind of Dialogue
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009This recent post here regarding the Presidio inspired a correspondent to take pen to paper (so to speak) and leave a comment. Below are the words of “PresidioPal” along with some queries. (Surprisingly, he’s not a NIMBY.) Anyway, enjoy.
The mighty, historic Great Parking Lot of the Presidio is jeopardized by the Main Post Plan. The Presidio Trust just might unpave this paradise and put up a…lawn. Heaven forfend. What happened was the Army put it in and then left. Are we bound to have it forever?
Says PP:
“If we are talking about the “decay” of the historic character of the Presidio, which is a rare national historic landmarks district chosen for the layer upon layer of American history visible on Main Post…”
What does that mean to people – landmark status? Why should people care about this? The historic character of the South was Jim Crow laws (not that we didn’t have James Crow laws outside the South, but that’s another story) - would the “historic character” argument be useful for maintaining segregation? Would you like to turn the Presidio itself into a museum, where nothing ever changes? Isn’t it an underpopulated Land of Wind and Ghosts now?
“…the Fisher art museum…”
Isn’t the name of the proposed museum Contemporary Art Museum of the Presidio (CAMP). Isn’t it specifically not called The Fisher? Isn’t that one of its selling points? Isn’t it going to have like a “b” as in boy billion dollars of art in it or something, that’s not otherwise available for public view?
”…a hotel…”
Or lodge, some people are calling it a lodge, in keeping with the whole “park” theme of the Presidio. What’s wrong with a lodge in a park?
“and a modern movie house”
Or “modernized,” I’ll give you that. Didn’t it used to seat something like 1000 GIs back in the day? Do you think your millionaire NIMBY allies would like to have all those blue-collar types back in the Presidio in “their neighborhood” near the houses they inherited from their parents fair and square? Isn’t it true that the Presidio Theatre seats zero people today and that’s the way the owners of competing theatres in San Francisco like it? Isn’t it true theater owners kicked in money to oppose the Main Post Plan because they don’t want competition? Is that a good reason to oppose opening up a small three-screener that would seat far fewer people than the 1000 it was built for back in the day?
“…ADD to the “decay” by introducing non-historic elements that detract from the historic site itself…”
Does the non-historic TransAmerica pyramid detract from historic San Francisco? Should nothing ever change in town? Did a collection of histrionic societies, millionaire NIMBYs and movie theatre owners object to the Louvre Pyramid in Cour Napolean? Probably, but isn’t the pyramid a good thing, despite its “non-historic” status?
“If you take “decay” to mean delaying needed repairs to historic structures, the new buildings have nothing to do with that.”
You and your NIMBY allies are fighting for the status quo, whether you realize it or not. Congress, in its wisdom, could have put your organization in charge of the entire Presidio. It didn’t though, right? Do you acknowledge that? Why should anybody pay attention to your unfunded mandates? Your half-baked if-we-had-some-ham-we-could-have-a-ham-sandwich, if-we-also-had-some-bread-but-only-if-five-million-dollars-fell-from-the-sky alternative plans? Back in the 1990s, Congress did something quite unique with the Presidio. Of course, it could have sold off a lot of land to condo developers. Would you prefer that?
“Let’s get it straight, the proposal is for three major new structures in a national historic landmark.”
Is that really an argument? Shouldn’t you go further and explain why people should care about national historic landmark status? And actually, it’s more than three structures, but I get what you mean. Is the 700-car parking lot historic? Was the Burger King historic? Should we bring it back to honor the military?
“Why not a contemporary museum on Alamo Square?”
The reason why is that millionaire NIMBYs and the Planning Commission would tear that one apart. That’s the short answer.
If I had any advice for the Main Post, it would be this – lively up yourself, mon! This may or may not happen, depending upon the lawyers, the judges and the juries associated with the forthcoming lawsuits.
We’ll see.
Tags: 2009, art, board, camp, chronicle, comment period, contemporary, contemporary art museum of the presidio, contemporary art museum presidio, cow hollow, David Grubb, directors, Disney, don fisher, doris, doyle drive, eir, eis, gavin newsom, hotel, june 1, landmark, lodge, Main Post, Mayor, military, modern-art museum, museum, museum nimbies, nimbies, nimby, nimbys, pelosi, presidio, presidio pal, presidiopal, San Francisco, socketsite, theater, theatre, trust, whit hall
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