Presidio rebuttal

I will leave it to someone else to write a letter or op-ed that restates the case for a continued federal role in the stewardship of a post-Army Fort Monroe that remains undivided and in the public domain, rather than being sold off for short-term gains that destroy the context of a National Historic Landmark. However, just for the record, there needs to be a point-by-point rebuttal of the wrong-headed and inaccurate portrayal of the Presidio by Bob McFarland of Yorktown, which is what follows. Having visited the Presidio for a week in October 2006, spoken extensively with Presidio staffers, including executive director Craig Middleton, and having read the annual reports of the Presidio Trust, I offer the following comments.

H.O. Malone's annotated version of the McFarland letter:

Presidio no model for Fort Monroe

Daily Press
December 20, 2007

I was stationed for 14 months in 1955-56 at Fort Scott (Presidio of San Francisco). Being a Pittsburgh native, it was like being in heaven.

When the Base Closure and Realignment Commission deactivated the Presidio [[1994]], the left-wing tree-huggers forced the state into turning it into a national park with private interest sections.  [[Actually, Congress passed legislation in 1972, twenty-two years before the BRAC closure of the Presidio, mandating its incorporation into the National Park System.]]

I have visited it a number of times since that disaster. The federal government could have paid off the national debt if they had developed that gorgeous property. [[Congress created the Presidio Trust in 1998 as a partner of the National Park Service (NPS), to preserve, restore, and manage the Presidio's real estate holdings in excess of NPS mission requirements, while at the same time generating income to  transform a traditional national park site into a largely self-sustaining park for the 21st Century.]]

Known as The West Point of the West, under the U.S. Army it was spotless.  [[Not quite. The Army was responsible for serious pollution, whose remediation will require many more millions of dollars and years to complete.]]

Today, it's a dump with weeds, trash and deserted buildings.  [[An absolutely misleading representation of this wonderful site that stands out like a green and inviting oasis in the densely developed city of San Francisco that surrounds it.]] My old barracks is only partially in use.  [[There is a waiting list of tenants for both commercial and residential property.]] The hospital where my son was born is lifeless. [[The Presidio Trust has plans for reuse of the abandoned Public Health Service hospital, but all areas cannot be made whole at once.]]

This post has some of the most gorgeous views in California.  [[Indeed it does!]] If properly developed it would have become [[???]] the most prestigious address in the country. [[The Presidio IS one of the most prestigious addresses where anyone could live. (Remember the waiting list?) For example, the house originally assigned to the senior officer at the Presidio (commanding general of Sixth Army) is leased out to a tenant paying $12,000 per month! Other mansions are leased out for correspondingly handsome prices and the Lucas film studio pays $6 million for its annual lease.]]

The abandoned military sites would have been replaced by functional buildings.  [[That is the beauty of the Presidio solution, that that did not happen. Instead of replacing historic buildings, the Presidio Trust has restored and adaptively reused the existing structures.]] The old air field along the bay shore would be priceless. [[Precisely!. That is why San Francisco developers, who had plans for high rise condominiums along the bayfront airfield were so disappointed when the site was instead turned into a beautiful waterfront park with educational programs benefiting the school children of the area.  Hundreds of visitors each week make Crissy Field one of the most popular places for visitors to the 1500 acre Presidio.]]

Any decision on Fort Monroe should include a review of the tragedy of the Presidio.   [[Virginia's Fort Monroe Federal Area Development Authority heard Presidio Trust Executive Director Craig Middleton's presentation on the Presidio at their meeting of October 22, 2007, largely because important stakeholders (including the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Virginia Director of Historic Resources) said that any reuse plan for Fort Monroe should give serious consideration to the Presidio model. UNFORTUNATELY, THE DAILY PRESS REPORTER SENT TO COVER THAT MEETING, COMPLETELY MISSED THE MAIN ITEM ON THE PROGRAM FOR THAT DAY, MR. MIDDLETON'S PRESENTATION ON THE PRESIDIO, AND REPORTED NOT ONE WORD ABOUT IT IN HIS ARTICLE, FOCUSING INSTEAD ON THE SUPPOSED IMPRACTICALITY OF A TRADITIONAL NATIONAL PARK AT FORT MONROE, BUT IGNORING ONE MODELED ON PARTNERSHIP WITH A FEDERAL TRUST, INSPIRED BY, BUT NOT NECESSARILY IDENTICAL TO, THE PRESIDIO.]]

When has government ever rendered the right decision over private experts? [[The decision to create the Presidio Trust was driven by private interests. The seven trustees themselves are largely composed of San Francisco area developers.]]

Bob McFarland

Yorktown