Presidio Trust Announces 16 Concepts Proposed for Former Commissary Building, Including Museum from George Lucas

Mar 08, 2013 Joe Kleiman Museums, News 0

San Francisco, CA, USA — The Presidio Trust has announced that it has received 16 concept proposals for repurposing a stunning site on Crissy Field in the Presidio of San Francisco, a national park site and national historic landmark district just south of the Golden Gate Bridge.

“We are encouraged with the number and quality of responses and look forward to engaging the public and evaluating concepts over the coming months,” said Craig Middleton, the Trust’s executive director. “Finding a new purpose for this incomparable site clearly has stirred the imaginations of teams from around the country.”

The 16 concepts are:

Antenna International — Audio/Media tour provider
Chora/WRNS — The Bridge/Sustainability Institute
Jay Claiborne/Jerry Goldberg — Presidio Regional Center
Color Foundation — The Color Lab
The GO Team — Global Observatory
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy — Presidio Exchange
Jane Clark Chermayeff & Associates LLC — Presidio PlayLabs
Mark Kitchell — Green Museum & Environmental Center
KV+Associates in collaboration with Mark Cavagnero Associates Architects — Altered Lands
The Living New Deal — National New Deal Museum
George Lucas — Lucas Cultural Museum
Mycotoo — The Innovation Center
Larry O’Reilly Associates — Michael Heyman Jouneys Center
Organic Architect — Crissy Field Cultural Center
Presidio Historical Association — History Center of the Golden Gate
Transmedia SF — San Francisco Media Technology Center

The former Commissary site has unobstructed views of San Francisco Bay, the Marin Headlands, and the Golden Gate Bridge. The Presidio Parkway, which replaces the 1937 Doyle Drive, will be finished in 2016. Once completed, the site will become the dramatic intersection of Crissy Field and a new bluff that connects the Presidio’s Main Post to the waterfront.

The proposals were submitted in response to a request issued by the Presidio Trust for concepts that meet the following goals:

Enhance visitors’ experience of the Presidio
Provide programmatic offerings that are fresh and vital, that connect to broader themes, and that stimulate imagination and creativity. Offer cross-disciplinary programming that can be effective in advancing knowledge that has broad and lasting relevance
Be compatible with the natural and cultural setting along Crissy Field and San Francisco Bay and conform to the Trust’s Mid-Crissy Area Design Guidelines and LEED requirements
Complement current uses and activity in the Presidio, and integrate well with plans for Crissy Field and the Main Post
Welcome a broad cross-section of the community in a manner that reflects and reaffirms the public nature of the Presidio. Be transparent and active in engaging the community.
Be economically viable

The Trust, the federal agency that oversees the interior areas of the Presidio, including areas of Crissy Field, issued the request for concept proposals on November 15, 2012. All proposals are available for public viewing on its website, www.presidiotrust.gov/commissary. The Trust will also schedule opportunities to engage directly with the public as the process moves forward.

The Commissary was built by the US Army in 1989. The 2002 Presidio Trust Management Plan identifies the building as the preferred location for a museum or cultural center. Sports Basement, a popular athletic retailer, has occupied the site and hopes to relocate to the historic warehouses at the east end of Mason Street in the Presidio.

The Presidio Trust (the Trust) is a federal agency created to save and transform the Presidio of San Francisco, an historic American place steeped in service. The Trust was established by the United States Congress in 1996 to administer the Presidio, a former army base and new urban national park site located at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. Today, over 3,000 people live in the park’s former military housing, and more than 200 organizations have located in Presidio buildings, attracted by the Presidio’s beauty and historic significance. Under the Trust’s management, the Presidio has been transformed into a stunning visitor destination with an extensive system of trails and scenic overlooks; rehabilitated historic buildings; programs that teach about the Presidio’s military history and natural resources, and tenants and residents who help to sustain the park. To learn more about the Trust, visit www.presidio.gov/about.