Pelosi Announces $200 Million Investment for the Presidio
Funding will modernize the park's utility systems.
San Francisco – Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi announced today that the Presidio of San Francisco is set to receive $200 million from U.S. Department of the Interior: one of the largest single federal investments in the Presidio Trust since its establishment. Secured by Speaker Emerita Pelosi in Democrats’ historic Inflation Reduction Act last summer, this new funding will meet many deeply needed, long-deferred maintenance needs: bolstering the Presidio’s climate resilience and ensuring that the park remains free and open to the public for years to come.
“These federal dollars reaffirm what San Franciscans already know: the Presidio is a national treasure,” Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said. “This critical federal funding will ensure the Presidio’s spectacular front window to the Bay is maintained by renewing and replacing aged utilities and their infrastructure.”
“The history of the Presidio is a tribute to the greatness of America’s future and our commitment to renewal and progress,” Pelosi continued. “For centuries, the Presidio has stood as the Guardian of the Golden Gate. After years as a military post, the people of San Francisco claimed this landmark – and transformed it into an iconic public space, now inseparable from San Francisco’s identity. This new federal funding will preserve the beauty and accessibility of the Presidio – now and into the future.”
“We are extremely grateful to Speaker Emerita Pelosi for securing this one-time funding for the Presidio,” said Jean Fraser, Presidio Trust CEO. “We can now bring the Presidio’s Army-era infrastructure into the 21st century and lay the foundation for the Presidio to be a ‘zero climate impact’ park.”
In 1996, then-Congresswoman Pelosi championed the law that created an innovative public-private partnership, the Presidio Trust, with the twin mission of preserving the essence of a magnificent national park and providing a cost-effective structure for the American taxpayer. This unique structure has allowed the Presidio to thrive – welcoming millions of visitors each year while covering its own annual costs of operation.
After years of deferred maintenance, the Presidio currently faces several critical maintenance needs – and addressing them is crucial to keep the park free, open and sustainable in the long-term. This new funding will help upgrade and expand the capacity of the park’s outdated electrical system, as well as power the Presidio’s transition from gas to electric utilities to reduce its carbon footprint. This new funding will also go toward rehabilitating historic buildings around the Tunnel Tops: spurring further economic development and generating new revenue to support park operations.
Passed by the Democratic Congress without a single Republican vote, the Inflation Reduction Act was signed by President Biden on August 16, 2022. This transformative legislation takes the most consequential climate action in history: delivering nearly $370 billion to strengthen America’s energy security, build resilience to climate impacts and reduce carbon pollution by roughly 40 percent by 2030.
View this release in Congresswomen Pelosi’s Press Room