History is for rewriting

Like his post last year of the picture of a backhoe demolishing one of the pedestrian tunnels, Chris Duderstadt's pictures of the flooded pedestrian tunnels on the Concourse are deceptive. 

In fact the tunnels will not be open for use until the Concourse rehab job is done in the Spring. The drains to the tunnels are covered during construction to avoid being clogged with construction debris. Hence, the heavy rains have left some standing water in the tunnels. So what?

Speaking of "stupidity and spite," why Warren Hellman is dragged out for periodic public floggings by "progressives" is a mystery to me. Using only private money, this guy built a new underground garage in the park that will provide easy access to the Concourse for the public, especially for families, the old, the young, and the handicapped. 

And once the construction loan is paid off with revenue from the garage, it will belong to the city, a $55 million gift to San Francisco. 

Hellman also pays for the free bluegrass concert in Golden Gate Park every year, which costs him $1.5 million. Seems like a good deal for the city. We should be thanking the guy, not hammering him.

From: Chris Duderstadt
To: home@prosf.org

Subject: History in the making.

Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2005

It has been most obvious for years that Warren Hellman and his Music Concourse Community Partnership don't like pedestrian tunnels and only replaced 2 out of 3 of them after a huge public outcry. In what looks like either stupidity or spite, we now have a new lake in Golden Gate Park. History is for making, not for saving!

Chris D.