Presidio out more than $2 million on dropped museum proposal
By: John Upton
Examiner Staff Writer
July 3, 2009
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| Donald Fisher, left, with architect Richard Gluckman of Gluckman Mayner Architects, stand with a conceptual design for the proposed Contemporary Art Museum at the Presidio during an unveiling of the design. (Cindy Chew/The Examiner) |
SAN FRANCISCO — Presidio officials say they do not intend to recover the taxpayer dollars spent helping San Francisco billionaire Don Fisher develop plans, which he recently abandoned, to build a museum in the national park.
In 2007, the Gap Inc. founder announced a proposal to build a two-story contemporary art museum for his private collection in the history-steeped Main Post section of the former military base.
In the wake of community outrage — and a finding by the National Park Service that the project could violate national historic preservation laws — Fisher decided against building the museum at the Main Post.
His spokesman, Alex Tourk, would not say why his client walked away from the proposal. Fisher is now considering four alternative locations within the Presidio, including inside existing buildings, Tourk said.
On Thursday, an official with the Presidio Trust, which manages the former military post, said the park’s status as a federal historical landmark led to Fisher’s decision.
“Building anything contemporary in a sensitive landmark like this is difficult,” Trust spokesman Clay Harrell said. “It appeared that we would have to compromise the needs of the museum program to an unacceptable degree.”
The Trust does not have plans to try to recover money it spent working on the thwarted proposal, according to Harrell. That includes $327,000 for planning efforts, according to a park budget update published last month.
Additionally, the Trust spent $1.8 million analyzing the environmental impacts of the proposal and a related effort to build a hotel at the Main Post, according to the budget update.
The Trust will forge ahead with plans to allow the hotel to be built, in addition to other Main Post enhancements, he said.
Park preservationists who opposed construction of Fisher’s museum said on Thursday they will continue to battle against plans for new and expanded buildings in the Main Post.
jupton@sfexaminer.com
