S.F. Board of Supervisors intrudes on Presidio fight
By: Joshua Sabatini
Examiner Staff Writer
November 17, 2008
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Revitalization: Presidio Trust is working to improve the Main Post area, and one idea involves Gap founder Don Fisher’s plan to build a museum, below, for his art collection. (Cindy Chew/The Examiner)
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SAN FRANCISCO — Gap founder Don Fisher’s vision of building a museum in the historic Presidio to house his private art collection could fall apart under opposing political pressure that’s on the verge of becoming amplified.
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on a resolution making it city policy to oppose the project. The legislation, introduced by board President Aaron Peskin, says the project would ruin the historic integrity of the Presidio and violate demolition restrictions.
The City has no jurisdiction on Presidio decision-making, but the resolution would indicate its feelings on the proposal and may apply enough pressure to ensure the Presidio Trust does not approve it.
The Presidio is a former military base that was designated a national park in 1994. As a condition of its preservation, the federal government requires the 1,491-acre park, governed by the seven-member Presidio Trust, become financially self-sufficient by 2013.
The trust is exploring ways to revitalize the Main Post, an area comprising historic buildings and a large parking lot on land that was previously used as military parade ground.
Fisher has offered to fund construction of a museum — one of several development proposals, including a theater and a hotel, under consideration by the trust — to house his private art collection on the grounds. But his proposal, which Mayor Gavin Newsom supports, has generated controversy.
Peskin’s resolution states: “The massive modern art museum and bulky hotel complex proposals likely violate the Presidio Trust Act, because they fail to preserve and protect the cultural and historic integrity of the Presidio for public use and further fail to recognize its significant role in the history of the United States.”
Alex Tourk, spokesman for the Fisher museum project, acknowledged that Peskin may have his concerns, but said, “The reality is it’s not in [the Board of Supervisors’] jurisdiction.”
He said the Fishers remain “very committed to the Main Post and very committed to this gift of a world-class museum for generations of San Franciscans to come.”
Tourk said it would be “preliminary” to posit whether the Fishers would consider another location for the museum.
“They want this process [at the trust] to play out,” he said.
The trust is holding a public meeting on the proposals Wednesday, and is accepting public comment on an environmental review until Dec. 15.
The draft of the trust’s management plan to revitalize the Main Post proposes a 100,000-square-foot museum and a 95,000-square-foot hotel complex, and would result in the demolition of about 150,000 square feet of existing buildings.
Last month, the recently re-established Presidio Neighborhood Representative Working Group, a coalition of 13 neighborhood groups and other organizations, opposed the museum proposal. The group said it would be more appropriately placed downtown by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and other cultural institutions, where a transit system could support it and The City could collect tax revenue it would generate.
jsabatini@sfexaminer.com.
Examiner Staff Writer Katie Worth contributed to this report.
Modern marvels
Elements of the proposed art museum in the Presidio:
- Predominantly white, two-story glass, stone and steel building that will be partly embedded in the sloping ground
- The 100,000-square-foot building would include 55,000 square feet of gallery space
- The height of the building would not be higher than the rooftops of nearby barracks buildings
- Photography studio and ceramics workshop
- Art lessons and art lectures
- Green, energy-efficient building design
- Underground parking for 100 vehicles
- Admission would be charged, but it might be free on some days
- More than 1,000 pieces by such artists as Gerhard Richter, Richard Serra, Alexander Calder, Ellsworth Kelly, Richard Diebenkorn, Cy Twombly, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Chuck Close, Willem de Kooning, Brice Marden, Agnes Martin and Anselm Kiefer.
Sources: Don Fisher, Singer Associates Inc.
