To Our Valued Patrons and Friends:
As proprietor of the Presidio Bowling Center for the past thirteen years, I hope you have enjoyed coming to our facility as much as I have enjoyed running it. I call it “our” facility because along with 25 of the best employees in San Francisco, you have helped to make this a special place in the Presidio.
On Wednesday August 8th 2007, the Presidio Trust announced that Donald and Doris Fisher, founders of The Gap, offered to build a world-class contemporary art museum for our city. They have an incredible collection that is said to be valued at over a billion dollars. The Fishers would like to endow the costs for the design, construction and operations of the museum to the Presidio. One of the proposed sites for that museum is the current location of the bowling center.
While the preferred museum plan calls for the demolition of the bowling center, I believe with the help of the Fishers, and the Presidio Trust we can build an even better bowling center than the current center. The city of San Francisco deserves a world class bowling center AND a world class museum.
Our current lease is set to expire December 31st 2008. I personally hope to plan, build and manage that world-class bowling center somewhere on the grounds of the Presidio. We will need your support to ensure this happens in a timely way, with minimal disruption to the services we provide to our community. Closing the bowling center for even one day should not be an option.
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We are currently preparing a proposal to move the bowling center to a Crissy Field location. It is our hope any project that would cause the current bowling center to be demolished would be compelled to finance the rebuilding of the bowling center elsewhere in the Presidio. This Presidio Trust has done this in the past.
On June 9th 2008, the Presidio Trust released a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement concerning the Main Post area of the Presidio. It can be viewed at Presidio.gov. The Statement has several alternatives which call for the demolition of the bowling center. You can make comments in person at a public hearing July 14th 2008 at 6:30PM at the Presidio Officers’ Club. You may also make electronic comments via email to Mainpost@Presidiotrust.gov until July 31st 2008. Please send a copy of your electronic comments to Savebowling@presidiobowl.com.
We will make every effort to keep you up to date on our progress. Thank you again for your past and future support.
Sincerely,
Victor Meyerhoff
savebowling@presidiobowl.com