Presidio Plan for Preserving Park Receives Six Major Awards

Presidio of San Francisco (August 21, 2003) — In a joint announcement, Sasaki Associates and the Presidio Trust announced that the land use plan guiding how the Presidio evolves during the next three decades has received six prestigious land use and planning awards.

The Presidio Trust Management Plan (PTMP) contains the Trust’s vision for the park and its responsibility to protect the Presidio as a National Historic Landmark District and as a national park site. It establishes a framework by which the Trust will undertake individual implementation actions and prepare future site- and area-specific development plans for the restoration of historic landscapes and buildings as well as limited new construction.

The awards include the following:

• California Association of Environmental Professionals (CalAEP) 2003 Award for Outstanding Planning Document
• California Chapter, American Planning Association (APA) 2003 First Place Award in the category Planning Implementation: Large Jurisdiction
• Northern Section, California Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA) 2003 First Place Award winner in category Comprehensive Planning, Large Jurisdiction
• The Association of Environmental Planners (AEP) 2003 Award for Outstanding Planning Document
• National Association of Environmental Professionals 2003 Presidents National Environmental Excellence Award
• American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) 2003 Merit Award for Planning and Analysis
• The 2003 Showcase of Print Excellence Gold and Silver awards for excellence in graphics and printing from the Printing Industry of Northern California

The plan is unique in its need to balance the requirements of preserving and restoring historic, architectural, and cultural resources through the leasing of buildings and housing units. It outlines the planning principles to be utilized by the Trust in its decision making; the cultural, natural, and scenic resources to be preserved; the planning and urban design guidelines to be followed within each of the seven planning districts within the Presidio; and an implementation plan for financing the park and maintaining self-sufficiency and long-term sustainability.

A major objective of the management plan is the concept of spatial consolidation of resources with natural resources in one or two districts and cultural resources in others.Consolidation of the natural resources enhances the park experience for visitors and enables restoration of natural systems such as the stream corridors.Consolidation of the cultural resources lessens the impacts of human activity on the natural resources and creates a more desirable, live/work environment for residents and workers, lessening off-site vehicular transportation impacts.

Its principles and concepts were generated and conveyed through a wide spread public participation process, both formal and informal, over a two-year period. The plan was formally adopted in 2002 after several standing room only public hearings.

The PTMP is the result of an extensive planning effort by Presidio Trust staff and consultants with expertise in planning, landscape architecture, historic preservation, archeology, botany, economics, transportation, and other specialties.

It involves the analysis of historic, cultural, and environmental resources, the balancing of competing and complementary values, and the careful consideration of improvements that enhance park resources, visitor experience, and the financial bottom line.

Working from both coasts, Sasaki’s two offices worked in close collaboration with the Trust, providing planning and urban design services in the preparation of the Presidio Trust Management Plan.

The Presidio is a former military post where flags of three nations flew, including Spain, Mexico and the United States. The U.S. Army left the Presidio in 1994. The property contains the largest number of historic buildings recorded on the national register. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962 and part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the park spans 1,491 acres from the Pacific Ocean to the San Francisco Bay and offers impressive views, a diverse ecosystem, a dynamic shoreline and historic forests.

Sasaki Associates, with offices in Watertown and San Francisco, enjoys a broad reputation for award-winning design. The firm, known for designing many landmark projects both nationally and internationally, provides interdisciplinary design including landscape architecture, architecture, interior design, planning, urban planning, civil engineering, and graphic design.

Created by Congress in 1996, the Presidio Trust is charged with preserving the Presidio’s natural, cultural, scenic, and recreational resources while achieving financially self-sufficient by 2013. Six presidential appointees and the Secretary of the Interior, or her designee, sit on the Board of Directors and oversee the management of 80 percent of the Presidio lands.