Last night at the Palace of Fine Arts theater, Presidio Trust executive director Craig Middleton trotted out a gem of a letter from the people of CAMP. Maybe not so much humbled by the tidal wave of NIMBY venom as by the Trust's recent findings, CAMPers wrote that the new plan "necessitates a completely new building design," and therefore "humbly withdraw" their current proposal to go back, quite literally, to the drawing board. Whoa. We assume it's not become Mark Horton & Co. hurt their feelings.
Having been upstaged by Fisher, the kvetch session that followed was a bit softer than usual. While a bunch of speakers spoke vehemently against the museum, more comments were in fact neither pro nor con (with a handful pro-CAMP), focusing instead on how "bewildered" many were by the Trust's planning process— how they invited the public to comment on a plan that's yet to be released in full, and so on and so forth. More importantly, many asked the Trust to "take a break" from the planning process and to engage in an open dialog with the community— which either means reasonable people got lost and wandered into a Presidio Trust hearing, or the NIMBYs are beating a tactical retreat.
The rest is mostly old news: conspiracy theories, an anti-vaccine crusader (really), and haters of the Gap's "butt-ugly clothes." A sampling though, perhaps. There was the pro-CAMP commenter advising the Trust on the nature of public hearings in San Francisco: "What you've got here is you're inviting everyone who opposes you. That's all this is." And the anti-CAMPer on drive-in architecture: "Let's try to prevent the Los Angel-ification of the Presidio." But first let's cut back on the name-calling, shall we?
And finally, a surprise constituency that turned out in force: the folks of the Presidio Bowling Center, fighting not for or against the art museum, but for the Presidio Trust not to run roughshod over what they considered to be an invaluable community gathering place— just ask the teens who nervously testified that the bowling center kept them out of trouble, or the newly married couple who met at the lanes. (Cue awww.) Their impassioned pleas inspired one man to say he was "probably the only art curator in favor of a bowling alley tonight." Feeling sheepish yet, Mr. Fisher?
· Considering CAMP: Reconsidered [Curbed SF]
· Another Nail in CAMP's Shiny Mod Coffin [Curbed SF]
· CAMP Hate-apalooza: Another Group Joins The Lineup [Curbed SF]
· Presidio to Fisher: Move It Or Lose It [Curbed SF]
· Curbed Reports: Last Night's Presidio Trust Shitshow [Curbed SF]
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