Parkgoers who prefer their park with a side order of military history will find plenty to love when the Presidio's Battery Bluff Park opens next month, bringing the public access to new trails, sweeping vistas and a close up look at old gun battery sites long off limits.
"I hope they get an experience of discovery and wonder since this is an entirely new area to the public," said Presidio Trust Federal Preservation Officer Rob Thompson.
The highlight of the new park, nestled on the Presidio's northern edge, is the remnants of four coastal artillery batteries built between 1898 and 1902. Batteries Baldwin, Slaughter, Sherwood and Blaney were designed as the last line of defense should the Bay Area come under attack from the sea. Any enemy combatants making it into the bay would have to contend with the batteries' numerous 5-inch rapid fire guns as well as a floating minefield.
"These were designed to protect the city of San Francisco and the people of San Francisco," Thompson said. "And they did that even for their very brief period."
The guns were removed by the 1920s and the concrete platforms of sharp geometric lines were eventually overtaken by weeds and brush -- ornamented with a gritty patina of decades-worth of graffiti. Though the military officially departed the Presidio in 1994, the area remained closed to the public.
But the removal of the old Doyle Drive and its replacement with the sleek Presidio Parkway signaled a new future for the area. Working with Caltrans, the Presidio Trust restored Battery Bluff's four batteries, cut trails and added some amenities, like picnic tables. The park is set to open to the public on April 23.
"It’s really a new landscape, a new way to look at the city," said Matt Naderi, the Presidio Trust's Doyle Drive Project Manager.
The 16-acre Battery Bluff park is an accompaniment to the Presidio's new 14-acre Tunnel Tops project, a separate park just east of Battery Bluffs that cloaks the parkway's new twin traffic tunnels. Unlike Battery Bluff, which has minimal added features, the Tunnel Tops site has a new amphitheater, a children's playground, space age-looking benches made of fallen trees and education facilities. The Presidio Trust announced this week it plans to open Tunnel Tops on July 17.
In contrast, Battery Bluff retains a restrained topography and historic elements that make a stroll among its grounds more of a living history lesson.
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"Our project, the Battery Bluffs, is more like the heart and soul of the Presidio," said Naderi. "It’s got the historic National Cemetery right behind you. It’s got the interpretive history, live history right in the front. And, of course, the sweeping views that tie it all together."
Thompson gave a tour of the four batteries, from the demur Battery Baldwin to the vast Battery Slaughter, the oldest and largest of the four. During the restoration, crews peeled away layers of graffiti, restoring metal doors and treating the concrete with anti-graffiti treatments. The public will be able to walk on Battery Baldwin while the other three batteries will remain fenced off for safety and to avoid having to make alterations to comply with current building codes.
The restoration of historic artifacts also included the Coincidence Firing Station, a small concrete cube once fitted with a sighting instrument called a rangefinder telemeter that soldiers used to target the large guns.
"It was the eyes of the site," Thompson said.
Taken together, the openings of Battery Bluffs and Tunnel Tops mark a massive remaking of an area that has never been in the public's hands. It will transform a vast swath of prime coastal overlook from military post into park land, with sweeping views extending from the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco's cityscape.
"This is all brand new, can’t say it enough," said Naderi. "It’s brand new, open to the public."
