Presidio Historic Preservation 2013 Report
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January 31, 2014 Carol Roland-Nawi, Ph.D State Historic Preservation Officer Attention: Mark Beason Office of Historic Preservation 1725 23rd Street, Suite 100 Sacramento, CA 95816 John Fowler, Executive Director Attention: Katherine Kerr Office of Federal Agency Programs Advisory Council on Historic Preservation 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 809 Old Post Office Building Washington, DC 20004 Christine Lehnertz, Regional Director Attention: Elaine Jackson-Retondo National Park Service – Pacific West Regional Office 333 Bush Street San Francisco, CA 94104 Frank Dean, Superintendent Attention: Abby sue Fisher Golden Gate National Recreation Area Building 201 Fort Mason San Francisco, CA 94123 Reference: 2013 Annual Report on Activities under the 2002 Presidio Trust Programmatic Agreement, the Presidio of San Francisco National Historic Landmark District, San Francisco, California Pursuant to Stipulation XXI of the Presidio Trust Programmatic Agreement (PTPA), enclosed is the 2013 Annual Report of activities conducted under that PA. 2013 marked the first year that the Presidio Trust (Trust) did not receive appropriations from Washington, DC, relying instead entirely on income generated here in the park. Between 1998 and 2012, the Trust has leveraged over $300 million in public money to attract more than $500 million in building investment, while generating over $700 million in leasing revenue. These funds have been reinvested back into the Presidio in order to upgrade ageing infrastructure, build public programs, cover operating expenses, and continue to rehabilitate the Presidio’s remarkable historic resources. Looking ahead, the Trust is confident in its financial position, and its ability to continue stewardship of the Presidio at the highest level of professional preservation standards. In 2013 we reaffirmed this commitment by organizing our activities into three key initiatives: Initiative I: Welcoming the Public – attracting diverse audiences and engaging them through exceptional places, activities, and experiences Initiative II: Creating Broad Impact – actively sharing our knowledge, promoting leadership and service, and fostering innovative problem solving Initiative III: Stewarding the Presidio – enhancing the Presidio’s physical, natural, and historic resources as a cherished public place and national landmark While this report focuses on the third initiative, our preservation program is integrated across the agency’s core activities such that it also directly supports the other two initiatives. For example, in 2013 we began welcoming the public to building 51, an 1889 officer’s family home that was sensitively rehabilitated to accommodate a four-room annex to the Inn at the Presidio (located in building 42 - bachelor officer’s quarters, 1903). Trust staff has continued to dedicate their efforts to the building rehab and exhibit design aimed at reopening the Officers’ Club (building 50) as a history, interpretive and special events venue in 2014. Additionally we have planned for additional visitor serving amenities on Montgomery Street, with the anticipated opening of a full- service restaurant and mercantile food store in the ground floor of building 101 (enlisted men’s barracks, 1895) in the spring of this year. Visitors will enjoy the newly rehabilitated landscape surrounding the building, including restoration of a historic street tree row and characteristic ornamental foundation plantings. Our efforts to create a broad impact through leadership and service training at Fort Scott were advanced this year with the completed rehabilitation of building 1202 and its associated landscape. The 1910 barracks building will now serve as meeting venue and tenant space in support of the Presidio Institute, the Trust’s initiative to develop and train exceptional leaders to solve the great societal challenges of our time. Among the other highlights of 2013 was the opening of the National Japanese American Historical Society’s (NJAHS) Military Intelligence Service Historic Learning Center on Crissy Field that was the product of a long-held vision of the NJAHS, the Trust and the NPS. This important event followed a lengthy rehabilitation, tragic accidental collapse and triumphant reconstruction of the former learning center housed in building 640 (air mail hangar, 1928). Finally, the year was capped by the Trust’s acceptance of the National Trust/ACHP Award for Federal Partnerships in Historic Preservation for the rehabilitation of the Public Health Service District at the National Preservation Awards ceremony in Indianapolis last fall. Compliance department staffing remained unchanged in 2013, with Rob Thomson continuing his role as Deputy Federal Preservation Officer, holding the responsibility for carrying out the terms of the PTPA on a day-to-day basis. Michelle Taylor completed her first full year as the Trust’s Historic Compliance Coordinator, helping oversee the administration of our environmental and historic preservation review process, and acting as a liaison with our residential, building maintenance and project management teams on historic preservation issues. Michelle also lent her considerable research and writing skills to support rehabilitation planning for several projects ii (including completed and pending projects at buildings 51, 210, 1818 and 1819) and documentation of the Presidio’s post-War buildings (such as buildings 644, 387, and 63). Also over the course of the year, compliance staff continued consultation on the revision and renewal of the 2002 PTPA, which is on target for completion by April 2014. Executive Director Craig Middleton remained in the role as Federal Preservation Officer. Throughout 2013, the Trust continued to successfully employ Stipulation VII of the PA, a process that is supported by a highly experienced team of reviewers specializing in all aspects of historic preservation practice. As it has since 2002, the Trust’s compliance program combined both the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) into a single review process to better implement the principles outlined in 36 CFR §800.8, Coordination With the National Environmental Policy Act, of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s Section 106 Regulations and the recently-released Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and ACHP “Handbook for Integrating NEPA and Section 106 Reviews”. This program, known as “N2”, reviews all projects that may affect historic properties. A full accounting of projects reviewed under Stipulation VII is included in this report as Exhibit C, and a detailed description of the process is included as Exhibit B. The N2 team that participates in the above process is comprised of nine preservation professionals that meet the Secretary of Interior’s standards for Archaeology, Historic Architecture, and Architectural History. This team of reviewers includes several Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-accredited professionals (LEED-AP), supporting the Trust’s commitment that all large-budget historic rehabilitations achieve, at minimum, a LEED Silver certification. This commitment is further supported by LEED-AP staff on the construction and project management teams at the Trust. The team of historic preservation professionals regularly involved in full N2 reviews in 2013 is composed of historical architects Rob Wallace and Chandler McCoy; historical landscape architect Michael Lamb; conservator and preservation project manager Christina Wallace; archaeologists Eric Blind, Kari Jones and Liz Clevenger; and historic compliance staff Rob Thomson and Michelle Taylor. As in years past, the historic compliance staff collaborates closely with the Trust’s operations and maintenance crews, who work with the NHL’s buildings, landscapes, roads and forests on a daily basis. These crews are composed of journeymen carpenters, masons, electricians, plumbers, gardeners and foresters, many of which have been trained in preservation maintenance practice, and/or have multiple years of experience working with historic resources at the Presidio. The enclosed report documents all compliance decisions, including Appendix A, administrative and full compliance reviews. Between January 2013 and December 2013, 47 projects were reviewed by Trust preservation professionals through Stipulation VII of the PA. Of these, 24 were reviewed at the administrative level and 23 at the full level of review. Undertakings reviewed typically include projects ranging from full building rehabilitations and seismic upgrades, landscape rehabilitations, program implementation, parking and traffic planning, and natural resource management. The Trust also continues to review a substantial number of “repetitive or low impact activities” through Appendix A of the PA. Appendix A includes actions such as cleaning, painting and minor repairs to buildings, replacement in-kind of deteriorated roofs, road and parking lot maintenance, mitigation or abatement of hazardous materials, and other such low impact activities. iii The Trust Archaeology Lab’s busy year included research to promote an understanding of El Presidio de San Francisco, youth education and post-graduate internship programs, in addition to monitoring and assessment to support Trust stewardship efforts. The Lab authored five Archaeological Management Assessments (AMAs) in 2013, which serve as key tools in support of a variety of activities at the Presidio such as environmental remediation, habitat restoration and accessibility improvements