Hi Jason...I happened to be there yesterday with all the pomp going on. Military standing at attention, area roped off for invited guests, Board members and Nancy, of course. I had forgotten about the celebration so it was a wonderful surprise to show my group. And the day and clarity of the sky and warm sunny weather could not have been better. I love showing the tunnel tops to visitors and locals too who do not know about it. It is truly the best view in the city. We have to give the Board credit. We were so suspicious of them in the beginning and look how beautiful the Presidio is now!
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
Remember McDonald's at Haight and Stanyan?
San Francisco elected officials and community members gathered Tuesday in the Presidio to commemorate 30 years since the former military post joined the national park system while also recognizing House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s efforts in creating the federal agency now responsible for overseeing the land.
The Presidio was transferred to the National Park Service on Oct. 1, 1994. Pelosi introduced legislation two years later creating the Presidio Trust and requiring the park to become financially self-sufficient by 2013 or risk being sold off. Trust officials said the park attracts 9.5 million visitors each year, with the Tunnel Tops — the site of Tuesday’s ceremony — having brought in 2 million since opening in 2022.
“The Presidio has now taken its place as a great national park site for all of the people and one of the most beautiful, most surprising, most-visited and most-welcoming parks in America,” Mark Buell, the Presidio Trust board of directors chairman, said.
Officials said the Presidio has become a functioning San Francisco neighborhood of its own, even as it attracts visitors from throughout The City. Both the Presidio’s commercial and residential buildings are 95% occupied, according to data from the Presidio Trust, with more than 3,000 residents and 200 businesses calling the area home. Hotels within the park sit at 85% occupancy.
“It demonstrates that if you provide the right kind of environment, you can have a very living community,” Buell said.
Park officials said the conversion of historic buildings into museums, restaurants, homes and offices allowed organizers to honor the Presidio’s historic military background while modernizing it.
SF celebrates Presidio’s 30th anniversary as national park
Greg