We must act to safeguard the Presidio, Fort Mason, Palace of Fine Arts, and Ghirardelli Square
If we are going to preserve what’s so special about this stretch of shoreline — its historic neighborhoods and natural beauty — we must join together to help them continue to thrive.
San Francisco’s Northern Waterfront is part of what makes our District 2 neighborhoods amazing. Up against the Bay, the bustle of urban life washes away and we are taken up by the natural majesty of this special place.
But right now, this roughly 3.5-mile stretch of shoreline from Fort Point under the Golden Gate Bridge to Fisherman’s Wharf suffers from congestion, unsafe streets, and a lack of public transportation options to take us to the rest of the City. Governed by 6 different agencies, there is no coordinated plan to confront the huge threats from sea-level rise and the hundreds of millions of dollars of infrastructure at risk to seismic events. And there’s no integrated vision or plan for how to find the neighborhood-serving tenants needed for the Palace of Fine Arts or to buttress Fort Mason’s arts and culture nonprofits. For too long, the City has failed to confront these threats. We must act now to preserve what we love most about the Northern Waterfront.
We must act now to preserve what we love most about the Northern Waterfront.
As your Supervisor, I will make preserving what is special about the Northern Waterfront a top priority. I will also fight against the commercialization of the Northern Waterfront. Leaning on my experience bringing together the community with diverse stakeholders, I will drive the necessary public-private and interagency partnerships that will be needed to confront the threats to the Northern Waterfront.
Teaming Up to Activate Our Historic Venues
There are three key venues along the northern waterfront that are currently underutilized and all looking for similar tenants: Fort Mason, the Palace of Fine Arts, and the Presidio. There’s no reason that the best we can do with the Palace of Fine Arts is a temporary and sparsely attended “Hunger Games” exhibit in 2017, while spaces sit empty at the Palace of Fine Arts despite its noble mission to provide subsidized space for arts institutions and local non-profits. High quality neighborhood-serving tenants are needed to help defray the significant cost of seismic upgrades, prevent these buildings from falling into a state of disrepair, and ensure these institutions continue to serve the neighborhood.
High quality neighborhood-serving tenants are needed to help defray the significant cost of seismic upgrades
For too long, finding high quality tenants has not been a priority for City Hall. As Supervisor, I will work to create a coordinating council for these cultural institutions so they can work together to find good neighborhood-serving tenants and nurture the non-profit and arts communities that they should serve.
Housing at Ghirardelli Square
Besides being on the National Register of Historic Places, Ghirardelli Square no longer serves the neighborhood as was once envisioned. Even a celebrity chef couldn’t bring enough traffic to the Square to make it a viable business venture.¹ Out of the limelight, the upper floors have been converted into corporate timeshares that provide little use to the neighborhood.
As Supervisor, I would work to turn these corporate timeshares into much-needed housing affordable to working San Franciscans, including housing for essential workers like teachers and cops that can no longer afford to live in the City.
As Supervisor, I would deliver housing affordable to working San Franciscans.
These new tenants would help revitalize the Square, and I would work with the community to develop a new plan to deliver vibrant community serving spaces on the ground floor that would replace the dying retail in this historic landmark. Ghirardelli Square has been a feature of San Francisco since Domenico Ghirardelli purchased the entire block to make it the headquarters for his chocolate company. It’s now time to rethink the 1960s Ghirardelli Square renovation, and ensure that we can preserve this most historic of places and ensure it continues to serve our community for the next hundred years.
Public Art for the Public
The natural beauty of the Northern Waterfront has always been the location for some of San Francisco’s most majestic public art shows, from the original Palace of Fine Arts during the Panama-Pacific Exhibition of 1915 to the Mark di Suvero exhibit Crissy Field in 2013². With the help of SFMOMA, the local artist brought 8 massive sculptures to the Presidio that were absolutely stunning against the backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge and Bay.
As Supervisor, I would work to convene our City’s world class art institutions — from MOMA & the Fine Art Museums, to the Symphony and the Opera, to Yerba Buena and ODC — with the six government agencies who manage the waterfront, and representatives of the neighborhood to program public art from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Palace of the Fine Arts. This would help provide one of City’s most glorious canvasses to local and international artists, enhance our shared public space, and do so in a way that is accountable and responsive to the needs of the neighboring communities.
As Supervisor, I will work to preserve what we love most about the Northern Waterfront
As Supervisor, I will work to preserve what we love most about the Northern Waterfront while confronting the challenges of today and dealing with the threats of the future. I will work to ensure the continued vibrancy of the Presidio, Ft Mason, the Palace of Fine Arts and Ghirardelli Square. I would deliver badly needed housing that is affordable to working families in one of our City’s most historic buildings. And I would work to deliver a public art program that responds to the natural beauty of this special place and is responsive to the needs of residents.
Note: This is the third in a three-part series on how we can address the challenges facing the Northern Waterfront from Aquatic Park to the Golden Gate Bridge — transportation, sea-level rise, seismic safety, and ensuring the great institutions of the Presidio, Golden Gate Park, and Fort Mason remain vibrant neighborhood hubs. Read Part 1 about transportation here and Part 2 about sea-level rise and seismic safety here.
UPDATE: This story has been revised to clarify my position on the Northern Waterfront after receiving feedback from members of the community.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: To protect what we love most about the Northern Waterfront we must come together, as a community. I want to know how you think we can best confront the great challenges we’re facing. Send ideas to NickJ@NickJosefowitz.com.
Over the coming months leading up to the November election, I will be sharing stories and data about the top challenges we face in San Francisco — from homelessness and property crime to street safety and neighborhood-specific priorities for District 2. I’ll explore tactics used in other cities and whether they resulted in any meaningful changes. And I’ll present datasets that offer insights into what can be done differently by our city government.
Paid for by Nick Josefowitz for Supervisor 2018. Financial disclosures are available at sfethics.org.
