From the Mayor’s Office by way of a plugged-in tipster (and SFAppeal):
Mayor Gavin Newsom announced today that the City has reached a proposed agreement with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) for the exchange of the City’s existing fire station on Howard Street in return for a newly constructed, replacement fire station on Folsom Street. The agreement allows for SFMOMA to proceed with a $480 million campaign and expansion on Howard Street, while providing the City with a modern replacement for its outdated fire station.
The agreement translates to a gift from museum leadership to the City of over $10 million. Under the terms of the agreement, SFMOMA will acquire the land for the new fire station and will design, fund and construct a new state-of-the-art station to the Fire Department’s specifications. The City will deed to the SFMOMA the existing Fire Station No. 1 and a portion of Hunt Alley directly behind the station.
The new fire station will be located at 935 Folsom Street, between 5th and 6th Streets and is expected to cost over $14 million to develop.
Construction of the new station is expected to begin in 2011 assuming San Francisco’s Fire Commission and Board of Supervisors approve. We will now hold a moment of silence for the previously proposed 935 Folsom Street project.
As we wrote about the site a little under two years ago:
In the news “five years ago when the U.S. Department of Justice raided the property as part of a multi-agency investigation into illegal sweatshop operations,” 935 Folsom served as “a squat for about 30 punk rock anarchists” in the early 1980’s. Ah, the good old days.
Once again…ah, the good old days (of unbridled condo development and easy sales).
∙ Mayor Newsom Announces Agreement with SFMOMA for Fire Station [sfmayor.org]
∙ Deconstructionist Or Cubist? MOMA To Design, Build A Fire Station [SFAppeal]
∙ From CAMP SF To CAMFS? (Contemporary Art Museum Fire Station) [SocketSite]
∙ SFMOMA Snags The Fisher Contemporary Art Collection [SocketSite]
∙ From Warehouse, To Squat, To Sweatshop, To Condos: 935 Folsom [SocketSite]
A museum donates 10 million to the city of San Francisco. How pathetic?
That’s good and bad news. I really was hoping the proposed condo at 935 Folsom would have eventually been built as it was one of the better designs (mainly because it wasn’t designed by a local firm) in the area.
At first blush this seems like a great idea. Time will tell if there are any gotchas in the deal, but at the moment it seems like the kind of creative development solution the city should be doing more of.
I’m just waiting for the city to [F@*%] up this rather sweet agreement. Between the board of stupidvisors and an archaic fire dept (trust me on this one, I’ve delt with them on bldg issues) there is little chance of smooth sailing; and guaranteed future posts for socketsite to file under “ironic” and/or “stupid.”
yeah, spitpalm, because if there’s anything we really need right now in SOMA, it’s more condos.
Damnit, completely jealous of your headline.
You’d think a “state of the art” firehouse wouldn’t cost so much, seeing as the best design for an urban station in earthquake country would be pretty lightweight… soft of like a big courtyard with a bubble-wrap roof.
talk about eye candy for the gulch patrons!
Does anyone find it funny they include a billboard of a phone ad in the mockup (replacing the Jack Daniels ad)?
That mockup picture is from a long time ago; that wall had a Helio ad for quite a while (iirc).
If the big condo complex proposed directly across Folsom Street ever gets built, let’s hope it has good soundproofing for the sirens.
This proposal is interesting because it relocates all the fire truck’s noise away from SOMA’s museum & convention area to 5th street. All the businesses around there must be happy about this!
Having stayed numerous times in the St. Regis and the Paramount…. the move of this Fire Station must be sweet news indeed to the mucky muck residents. I’m actually suprised King Willie or Mr. Gore hadn’t arranged such a quieting before.