State Historic Agency Criticizes Presidio Trust's Actions

[John G. Millar]

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 9, 2008

For more information, contact:
Whit Hall, 707/778-6975,  whit...@comcast.net
Gary Widman, 415/435-0360, gwi...@mindspring.com
www.presidioassociation.org // www.savepresidio.blogspot.com

State Historic Agency Criticizes Presidio Trust’s Actions

San Francisco....The California Office of Historic Preservation has sharply criticized the Presidio Trust for suspending its evaluation of the impact on historic integrity arising from the Trust’s proposal to build a large art museum, hotel and other structures on the Presidio’s historic Main Post.  The Presidio Trust manages the real estate within the Presidio of San Francisco National Park.  

The Trust had originally announced it would release simultaneously a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)  and analyses of effects required by Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). In early June, the Trust released only the draft EIS for public review and comment.

In a letter sent July 3 to the Trust’s Executive Director Craig Middleton, State Historic Preservation Officer Milford Wayne Donaldson said that by releasing the draft EIS prior to completing and circulating its finding of effects upon the Presidio, the Trust has “denied the public the ability to appreciate the effects of the undertaking on historic properties...”  and that “...the public would have been better served had the [findings] and my response to it been included within the DEIS [Draft Environmental Impact Statement].”

Gary Widman, President of the Presidio Historical Association, said that his group strongly agrees with Donaldson’s criticism, adding that, “ The parties who were invited to comment on the combined NEPA/NHPA process before July 31  -- including our organization -- must now do so without the benefit of the Presidio Trust’s NHPA findings, and the analyses by other agencies and organizations.”   

A public hearing on the Presidio Trust’s EIS will be held on Monday, July 14, 6:30 pm at the Herbst Exhibition Hall, 385 Moraga Ave., one block west of the Presidio Officers Club.  Members of the public are invited to attend and comment on the Presidio Trust’s proposal to build an art museum, hotel, and movie multiplex on the historic Main Post of the Presidio.   

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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.