By Luke Thomas

February 27, 2009

District 6 Supervisor Chris Daly said today he is open to considering a location in his district for the development of Gap Founder Don Fisher’s contemporary art museum (CAMP).

Fisher, who is committed to erecting his museum in the historic Presidio national park, faces an uphill battle in overcoming a ground swell of resistance from residents and preservation groups.

District 6 includes downtown San Francisco and Civic Center where several museums are located.  Like the city of London, San Francisco’s museums are clustered within easy walking distance and are accessible via several mass-transit systems. The Fisher museum could be a valuable source of recurring revenues for the city which faces a $576 million budget deficit.

Though Daly voted against a non-binding resolution in January that expresses support for the museum’s construction within the City and County of San Francisco, he said his personal feelings toward Fisher would not color his considerations.

“I would judge any new proposal on its merits,” Daly said, responding to FCJ inquiry.  “With that said I don’t know that a new downtown museum would be ‘worth millions’ to the City given the existing museums.”

Responding, Ground Floor Public Affairs consultant Alex Tourk said: “The Fisher family is completely committed to the Presidio and is pleased with the collaborative process that has led us to this point.  The CAMP team looks forward to continued dialogue in the hopes of building consensus amongst the community, key stakeholders and the Board of Directors of the Presidio Trust.”