Thursday, November 7, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined civic and community leaders, project partners and philanthropists to celebrate a “groundmaking” event on the Presidio Tunnel Tops project, kicking off the 2-year construction period and celebrating the fundraising milestones to date.      

200 guests gathered behind the construction fence by the Presidio Visitor Center to hear heart-felt remarks, enjoy music by the Burton High School Choir, and to share in a “groundmaking” moment, all lead by MC Renel Brooks-Moon, the voice of the San Francisco Giants. Bill Grayson, Board Chair, Presidio Trust welcomed the audience, followed by Linda Yamane’s traditional Ohlone prayer specifically aimed at chasing the fog away. The following speakers were Michele Gee, Chief of Interpretation and Education, National Park Service; Michael Lambert, City Librarian of San Francisco; Youth leader Dylan Nepomuceno, I-YEL Intern, Crissy Field Center; James Corner, Landscape Architect, CEO & Founder, James Corner Field Operations; Lynne Benioff, Co-Chair, Presidio Tunnel Tops Campaign Committee. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, took the stage at the end for an inspiring speech on both the past and future of the Presidio. Said Pelosi, “This is something quite spectacular and it takes us to a new level. This park is an example for the rest of the country, for a new level of beauty, new level of inspiration and new level of involving young people.” 

An excavator rumbled across the site towards the audience and dumped a load of clean dirt, and eight preschoolers came with little buckets to distribute it to speakers and agency leaders and board members, who ceremoniously tossed the dirt onto the tunnels. The audience was then welcomed to participate. 

Tunnel Tops Campaign co-chairs Lynne Benioff, Mark Buell and Randi Fisher, have raised $86.7 million, or 88% of the $98 million campaign goal to date. A public campaign begins in spring of 2020.

About the Partnership for the Presidio

The Partnership for the Presidio works to sustain the Presidio’s natural beauty, preserve its history, maintain its funding, and create inspiring national park experiences for visitors. Two federal agencies manage the Presidio jointly: the National Park Service and the Presidio Trust, with support from their non-profit partner, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. Together, the partnership has transformed America’s most coveted military posts into the centerpiece of one of its most visited places in the national park system.