The Tonga Room

The proposed demolition of the 1961 addition to the Fairmont, a survivor of the 1906 earthquake, will mean an end to the iconic Tonga Room with its one-of-a-kind "rain shower."

Big Blue rises again!

Somebody's cwazy idea... but not mine

It has been through sheer luck and perhaps divine intervention (and the Earthquake and Fire of 1906) that most of the peaks in San Francisco are in (close to) their natural state. I hope this gets consigned to the collection of dumb ideas that were never realized ...like filling in San Francisco Bay.

Go ahead and build your multi-million dollar mansions above the Hollywood sign, why don't you?

To my chagrine, I learned as did millions of Angelenos that the land around the Hollywood sign is not only not owned by the city of Los Angeles, but has been put up for sale to be developed as multi-million dollar estates.

I knew it wasn't officially a part nearby Griffith Park, but because of the telecommunications towers along the ridge of Mt. Lee, I'd always assumed it was owned by some government agency or another.

It might be just some kind of power play to force the city's hand in purchase negotions, but I can't believe anyone would be so stupid as to actually seriously consider building a home up there. Well, yes, I can believe that someone would be so stupid.

I also believe that even if they could get anti-terrorism insurance, they wouldn't get a moment's sleep knowing that they live in the most visible targets to terrorists on the entire planet --moreso than even the White House or Buckingham Palace, given the potential media windfall. Then there are all the twisted pranksters from stoners to pyromaniacs who would just love to see the houses built on the site go up in flames. No amount of private security in the world is gonna keep those homes from being targeted. And then, too, there's Mother Nature to contend with.

All of LA would probably come to a halt to watch as whatever might get built there burn to the ground, as would the rest of the world via satellite. And few --if any-- would be sad to see them destroyed.

There's a golden once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here for some corporation or individual to purchase the site and donate the land --with or without naming rights-- and perhaps even get some good civic pr out of it. They wouldn't even need the deep pockets of, say, an Eli Broad to do it.

Whither goest the Presidio of San Francisco?

The debate swirling around a proposed art museum for the Presidio of San Francisco is but the latest chapter in a story as old as The City regarding land use and abuse that makes for an engaging study for urban historians, urban planners, students of architecture and urban geography and anyone interested in San Francisco. Being that it is about San Francisco, a city which sparks an emotional chord with people the world over --even if they have never been there-- makes this all the more intriguing.

For the purpose of keeping these thoughts at less than book length, I'll refer you to the AIA Guide to San Francisco, which should give you the proper backstory and context for this latest incident in the City's cultural history.

The issue, in brief, is the donation of the funding for the construction of the Contemporary Art Museum of the Presidio to house the priceless and peerless art collection of Don and Doris Fisher. The proposed site for the museum is at the end of the parade ground of the Main Post of the Presidio --in effect, the prime locus of the entire 1,491 acres of the Presidio nearly as prominent as the Lincoln Memorial in relation to the Mall in Washington, D.C. The proposed museum site would entail the removing of a less-than-historic bowling alley; yet its modern design will bear no architectural relationship to the historic structures which line the parade ground. While Fisher has gone to great lengths to keep the museum from bearing his name directly, it will serve as his personal monument to the City for generations to come. Don Fisher also has a longstanding connection with the Presidio Trust, responsible for the future of the park.

For more than a century, how the history of the Presidio would be preserved for future generations has been studied, discussed, argued over, and committeed possibly more than any other piece of urban space in the United States.The byzantine politics concerning the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and its mandate unique among national parks to become financially self-sufficient has a role in this little drama. There are passions and egos at play --of developers, civic-minded leaders, and a billionaire or two. The person responsible for the landscaping of the Presidio can't even so much as propose the chopping down of a single tree (even to save the forest) with raising the ire of some citizens of the City.

I should disclose that my family has long, personal ties to the Presidio as well. Two of my siblings were born at Letterman Hospital, now the main campus for George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic. A cousin once lived in one of the Officer's Quarters that are now leased to the fortunate few. For most of my life, I have hiked its trails, shopped at the commissary, wandered among the decaying barracks and marveled at the breathtaking views of the Golden Gate.

Plans for fully realizing the potential of the parade ground, as with so many other well-intentioned projects, were curtailed by the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. Many other projects are already in various stages of planning, negotiation or actual construction. The design of the museum is actually quite nice and well received in principle by museums, architects and urban planners nationwide. It is inconceivable that the Fisher collection should end up anywhere but in San Francisco, yet it has been argued that real estate to house a site suitable for the collection is prohibitively expensive anywhere else in the City.

In time, the controversy around the proposed museum will find a place among so many similar changes to the urban landscape in so many cities the world over, wherein a reviled project becomes an integral part of the City's landscape. Perhaps the citizens of the city will declare this a worthy project in the perfect location (although the decision is decidedly less than democratic; most residents of the City probably don't even know or care who the current members of the Presidio Trust are).

I would only suggest that for those who are able to waste no time visiting the Main Post of the Presidio, and wander around the stately buildings, listening to the whispers of ghosts from the past. To delay a visit will result in a lost opportunity to experience the Presidio as it presently is. Of course, the Presidio as with all corners of the City, has undergone constant change since the earliest days of the City's existence.

I myself don't claim to have a direct say in the outcome of this debate, as I currently live in the city far to the South of San Francisco that dare not speak its name. Yet I, as with anyone who who has ever considered themselves a San Franciscan, would be remiss in my fidelity to the City were I not to chime in; and I will, as will all San Franciscans past, present and future, live with whatever consequences result. It is scarcely the worst that could happen to the site, given the past history of the City. As with the Sutro Tower or the Transamerica Building --or even the grid of the City's streets once thought illogical-- there may well come a day when it will be will inconceivable for San Franciscans to not imagine having the museum grace the Presidio in the proposed form.

Visions of the Presidio in the future

There was a reason that the Presidio was saved from developers

If you didn't get to see the fireworks over the Golden Gate on the Fourth of July, you can still catch some tonight at the Presidio Officers' Club when the designs for the 100,000 square foot pile of sugar cubes that will house the museum for the Don and Doris Fisher collection will be discussed.

They might as well tear down the last of San Francisco's 14,000 Victorians while they're at it --not that developers haven't tried.

A shoulda-woulda-coulda I'll regret for a long time

I made my list of some 80-odd favorite landmarks on both sides of the Bay, and ran from one to the other in a mad attempt to win my own scavenger hunt of memories...

One place I didn't make it to, but assumed would be there the next time I was in the City, was Red's Java House.

Now comes word that the Port of San Francisco is raising their rent five times over, thus ensuring that the best darn burger and cuppa coffee (and one of the best secret places to watch a sunrise when the East Bay is clear of fog) will be, no more.

There just wan't enough time to revisit all the places I knew in the City, I tried to tell myself. Choices had to be made; priorities to be followed. How was I to know?

If you've never been to Red's, or if you have, but not lately, you better get down there quick and enjoy one of those quintessential local experiences that is all too soon about to become a part of the past. And you'll get a damn good burger, too.

Then you will have the dubious honor of belonging to that illustruous club which can say with pride, "Ah, you should have been here back when..."

Greetings from the police state of Los Angeles!

Whatever gripes I might have about the current state of journalism, at least I don't go around clubbing reporters or shooting them with rubber bullets. The LAPD veterans still don't seem to understand that their behavior looks like it came from the worst of the dictatorships around the world.

Kudos to Beth Dunlop for her inimitable insight into the saga of the Coconut Grove Playhouse, on the heals of her riff on the Carnival Center, in the March and April editions of Ocean Drive. Few and far between are the architectural critics who can so knowledgeably champion responsible development. Architectural criticism is so much more than commenting on the veneer. In Miami, to be against the construction of yet another crass condo tower in a flat real estate market ...well, it's nothing short of treason. Barbara Capitman would be proud.

If you still had dry eyes at the end of last night's Gilmore Girls, then get outta my kitchen! And Veronica Mars is back, too! How cool is that? Gee... am I allowed to be watching this? VM has been one of the best written programs on television as far as I'm concerned, so excuse me if I don't watch anything where a contestant can get voted off.

Que bom! I KNEW this day would come back when I had my first set of Legos!

To think I gave up Legos before they actually started showing up as cutting edge buildings... This is just too cool. Maybe now that my nephew Miku is the logophile in the family, we can take a field trip down to Rio de Janeiro to visit this... assuming it gets built, that is.