Presidio Trust Honored by the California Heritage Council

Presidio of San Francisco (August 20, 2015) – The Presidio Trust (Trust) was honored by the California Heritage Council for its adaptive reuse of the Presidio Officers’ Club and the Inn at the Presidio. Craig Middleton, executive director, was also given an award in recognition of his accomplishments as the Executive Director of the Trust from 2001-2015. Long-time Trust employees Christina Wallace and Robert Wallace were recognized for their service supporting the preservation efforts of The Presidio.

“We are deeply honored to be receiving this important award from the California Heritage Council,” said Michael Boland, Chief of Park Development & Operations for the Presidio Trust and head of its Interim Leadership Team, “The Trust and its partners have rehabilitated over 300 of the park’s 433 historic buildings. I am very proud of every building we have done, but particularly of the Officers’ Club and the Inn at the Presidio, which have helped us to welcome new people to the park and enliven the Presidio’s historic Main Post.”

The 40,000 square foot Presidio Officers’ Club, located on the site of original Spanish settlement, El Presidio de San Francisco, underwent a three year rehabilitation and reopened October 2014. In 1834, the first official election to establish a civil government in San Francisco took place at El Presidio. Today the Club is a public facility used for a host of free community programming. It houses the 4,000 square foot Heritage Gallery, which displays artifacts, photos, murals, texts and exhibits. The one year anniversary of the Officers’ Club reopening will be celebrated the first week of October.

The Trust and Robert Wallace, Presidio Historic Architect and Project Manager, received awards for the rehabilitation of the Inn at the Presidio. Originally named Pershing Hall, the Inn was built in 1903 to house bachelor officers. Renovation of the three-story Classic Revival brick building included upgrading the original windows, doors, trim, walls, wood floors, and light fixtures. The Inn’s top floor boasts dramatic San Francisco Bay and Golden Gate Bridge views. It opened in 2012 and is popular with overnight guests.

The Presidio Trust’s former Executive Director, Craig Middleton, was honored for overseeing the transformation of the Presidio from a military post into a new kind of national park. Mr. Middleton, the Trust’s first employee, helped to attract more than 200 organizations to locate in the park and guided the renovation of 1,200 units of former military housing and five million square feet of built space.

The awards, presented by John Hodges, Chair of the CHC Board, also honored San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel, the newly restored Beacon and wilderness preservation efforts on Mt. Diablo in Walnut Creek, the reclamation of the USS Potomac in Oakland and the Marines Memorial Club in San Francisco.

The California Heritage Council is a non-profit, educational organization and the oldest historic preservation organization in California. Its purpose is to call public and professional attention to sites in need of preservation and to recognize, by bestowing annual awards, important historical sites and the people instrumental in their preservation.

The Presidio Trust, a federal ag​ency, is an innovation in the management of a treasured American place. The Trust was created to save the Presidio and transform it for a new national purpose. The Trust’s vision is that the Presidio will be forever a public place: vital to the Bay Area, important to all Americans, and recognized for achieving broad benefits for the nation. Today, the Presidio welcomes visitors, is home to a vibrant community of residents and tenants, and inspires greater good through programs that draw on its history and natural resources. The Presidio Trust serves the public with events, lodging, venues, and recreational opportunities. To learn more, visit www.presidio.gov.