there is an expectation that time will play itself out and we'll see how that occurs, but thisá>f is going to help with tt process. announcer: so, what's the biggest issue in america today? i don't think we're probably ever doing enough for our environment. the war in iraq religious yahoos freedom of speech i get angry about it, but it's like... ya' know, in my own apartment. i probably believe in all those causes, but i'm...i'm not really doin' anything.

>> in this fabulously beautiful persidio national park and near golden gate and running like a scar is this ugly highway. that was built in 1936 at the same time as the bridge and at that time the presidio was an army and they didn't want civilians on their turf. and the road was built high. >> we need access and you have a 70 year-old facility that's inadequate for today's transportation needs. and in addition to that, you have the problem that it wasn't for site extenders. >> the rating for the high

viaduct is a higher rating than that collapsed. and it was sapped quite a while before used and it was rusty before installed. >> a state highway through a federal national park connecting an independently managed bridge to city streets. this is a prescription for complication. >> it became clear unless there was one catalyst organization that took it on as a challenge, it wouldn't happen and we did that and for people to advocate. and the project has a structural rating of 2 out of 100. >> you can see the rusting

reinforcing in the concrete when you look at the edges now. the deck has steel reinforcing that's corroded and lost 2/3's of its strength. >> this was accelerated in 1989 when the earthquake hit and cal came in and strengthened but can't bring to standards. to fix this road will cost more than to replace. and for the last 18 years, we have been working on a design to replace the road way, but to do in a way that makes it appropriate to be in a national park and not army post. >> i would say it's one of the most ugly structure, and it's a barrier between the mar sh and

presidio. and this is a place and i brought my dogs and grandchildren and had a picnic lunch and it was memorable to use them when we come here. what would it look like when the design and development is completed. and we are not sure we want an eight lane highway going through this town. and it's a beautiful area in a national seaport area on the planet. >> the road is going to be so different. it's really a park way, and it's a parkway through the national park. and they make the road disapeer

to the national park. >> and the road is about 20 feet lower, normally midday, you go through it in two minutes. looking back from the golden gate bridge to presidio, you are more aware of the park land and less of the roads. and the viaduct will parallel the existing one and to the south and can be built while the existing one remains in operation. and the two bridges there with open space between them and your views constantly change and not aware of the traffic in the opposite direction and notice the views more. and the lanes of course are a foot wider than they are today. and they will be shoulders and if your car is disabled, you

can pull off to the edge. and the next area, the tunnel portal will have a view centered on the palace of fine arts and as you come out, you can see alkatrez island and bay. and the next area is about 1,000 feet long. and when you come into one, you can see through the other end. it's almost like driving through a building than through a tunnel. and noise from the roadway will be sheltered. and the traffic will be out of view. >> when you come out of the last sort tunnel and as you look forward, you see the golden dome of the palace of fine arts and what more perfect way to come to san francisco

through that gateway. >> it will be an amazing transformation. now you read it as one section, the road is a major barrier and then a wonderful strip along the water. all of those things are going to mesh together. >> right now the road really cuts off this area from public access. and with the new road, we will be able to open up the opportunity in a new way. >> this bunker that we see now is out of access for the general public. we are excited to completely rework this side and to open up the magnificent views. and what we want to do is add to this wonderful amenity and restore this coastal bluff area

and respect its military history and the doyle drive project is allowing us to do that recorrection. and this area is not splintered off. >> and we can see how dramatic a change it will be when doyle drive is suppressd and you have a cover that connects the cemetery to this project. it's historic on the statewide and national basis, but you could rush the project or put thought and time to create something of lasting public benefit. >> we really want this, for everyone to feel like it's a win situation. whether you are a neighbor that lives nearby or a commuter or user of the park. that everyone will experience a

much better situation than they currently have. >> the human interest to me is how people could work out so many challenging differences to come to a design that we believe will give us a jewel. landmark of a place. >> i am sure it will have refining effect like embark did. and there were people about that and no one would think of that today. and when you look at growth and transformation of the embark, the same with doyle. it will be a cherished part of the city and a worthy addition to what is there. >> it will be a safe and beautiful entrance to a spectacular beautiful city. it will be the entry to golden gate that san francisco deserves.

captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> is honor to bring you together as often as we can to celebrate the arts in san francisco. tonight is the night but we want to celebrate each other and not only our incredible honorees, but all of the artists in the community who give to the city of san consist of. one of the main reasons why san francisco is such a special place and remains one of the world's greatest destinations, the arts. we need to make sure that our leaders remember that. but tonight is not for talking about budgets, it is about

celebrating one of the greatest artists of any time, our time. how good is carlos santana [applause] -- as carlos santana of? -- carlos santana? [applause] an internationally renowned artist that lives his life with the generosity of a social worker, but is one of the biggest stars in the world today. he is also an international superstar who always keeps his heart here in san francisco and the bay area and we are so fortunate to have someone like him that always comes home to us to perform, held the community, just to be with us. he is an expert -- he is an incredibly special person and we

are honored to be able to honor him tonight. quickly i would like to bring up -- you cannot do this alone, we have the help of many city departments throughout the year, we needed sponsors from the private sector as well. we had a wonderful partner for the past few years, louise came on the scene with "the san francisco examiner, who has underwritten tonight's events half. without further ado of would like to invite the publisher, john wilcox, to come and say couple of words. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. like so many other nights in

this great city, tonight is special. not just because of the award being received, which honors otter this from generations who have made this city great and have been made great by the city. no city invites the hard to soar like san francisco does. and renowned san francisco and may have set a better when she said the some of them -- synonym for san francisco is inspiration. most people think that cities inspire leaders and leaders inspire cities, but i would like to add that artists inspired cities and cities inspire artists. who knows which in print -- which inspiration comes first? it does not really matter, what matters is that happens.

right here in our city, generation after generation. we are proud to participate tonight in the recognition of one of music's greatest artists. to continue to fulfill the pledge from one year ago to expand the coverage of the arts and support arts in our community. we want to thank you for allowing us to move out on this rewarding mission, thanking you for the opportunity to serve tonight on this stage and on the stage that is our city, every day of the week. we are honored to share this night with one of the musical greats of all time. we want to congratulate carlos on a wonderful, outstanding career and on his award tonight. thank you, everyone. [applause]

>> so, the first time that i saw carlos santana was when i graduated from high school in angels camp, he played some legendary shows there with the grateful dead. a lot of incredible memories followed, filling the auditorium, carlos's superstar status went through the roof in the 1990's and continues today. the last time that i saw him was at the amphitheater with 25,000 people. everyone in this room, mostly everyone in this room, has seen santana of at least a few times. i know that everyone appreciates what an incredible artists he is. it is really special to be able to acknowledge that, as someone who receives his fair share of

recognition but comes home to be with san francisco, a lot of the work that went into -- the mayor had the good judgment to recognize carlos, but staff did a lot of work to make this happen. no one more so than our executive director, louise, who has been the helm of this agency for the last two years. [applause] >> thank you. we could not ask for a better president of the arts commission published than dee jay johnson. [applause] let's take a moment to also thank john wilcox and staff at the san francisco examiner. they really have been partners

with many of the arts community and organizations, as well as the arts commission. many of you will remember that when we saw the installation, the examiner helped to spread the word throughout the city by printing 100,000 copies of the handouts that were distributed for an entire year while he got his sound insulation installed in city hall. they have been extraordinary partners on many occasions. thank you so much. i was blessed when i came to san francisco to have found extraordinary, talented, dedicated, hard-working, more than 40 hours per week staff. i would like to thank them, please join me in thanking this

hard-working staff. they really deserve it, they were -- will work tirelessly on behalf of arts and culture in the city, and they never punch a clock. they are extraordinary. this evening we have a double celebration. not only do we have literally a rock star robbery -- pottery -- honoree, but hundreds of arts organizations here in san francisco, in the year approved, 2009, we can celebrate the good fortune of these people calling at home.

we thank you, the artists in the art organization, for making san francisco your home. [applause] yesterday we had the privilege of starting the day with the chairman of the nea. we were allowed to give a cuff overview to the chairman of the creative committee of san francisco. in a way we were also the warm- up act for the mayor. the chairman wanted to meet with the mayor. you had the chairman of the national endowment, connected to many grants and initiatives we were competing for.

he decided to enter the larger meeting and join us. 15 minutes into that meeting i was starting to get worried because the conversation had not gotten to the talking points that the staff had worked on so hard. suddenly, an artist was revealed. he masterfully guided the conversation and spoke so eloquently about the importance of art in the city. by the time that the chairman left, hohe was totally convinced the sentences that would be one of the pilot cities. without stealing any of the limelight from the honoree, i wanted to thank the mayor for all of the support that he gives

the arts. [applause] >> a couple of more thank you's, the food has generously been so wide -- supplied by [lists names of restaurants] and check out the cake in the likeness of carlos santana. a hand for the generous donations of those sponsors. thank you. the next person needs no introduction, except to say that in the six years that the mayor has been heading this city, he has really looked out for the arts in this community.

the fact is that through the good times, the mayor expanded funding for the arts in san francisco. in the difficult times, he protected funding for the arts, which is hard to do, and brave, given the priorities that the city has to keep in mind. with that, i would like to bring to the stage, your mayor, gavin knew some -- nwsom. [applause] mayor newsom: i know that you are all asking when we will get to the main event. you do not want a long speech for me. first, let me think -- thank everyone of you for being here today. let me thank those wonderful musicians. for entertaining and reminding us why we are here. thank you to lease -- luis and

the arts commission for their stewardship in this process, for their outstanding recommendation of carlos santana. to all of you for making seven system such a special place. i was reminded a bit of the great room in this building, that this represents to me, as mayor, the city. also as a man that had the privilege to grow up in san francisco. reminding him and all of you that this is where the united nations was conceived. it happened right next door in the opera building. this is where the united nations was founded.

dow appropriate, founded in this city that understood it was right and appropriate to celebrate artistic differences, understanding that that is what makes this a special place. for that matter, it makes california and to this country of ours a special place, a remarkable capacity to live together, prospered together across every conceivable difference. at the end of the day at our best is our capacity for uniting around our common humanity. in so many ways today we are celebrating those values. celebrating the value of diversity, celebrating the value that has brought so many of you to the forefront in terms of your unique expression in sharing a city that is

constantly trying to allow people to live their lives out loud and become fully expressive. celebrating every single day, not tolerating every single day. a city that appropriated, a city where carlos was able to grow up, because his parents knew that there was something special about this city. allowing him to further his education, continuing a proud tradition that was instilled in him by a -- as a young boy. that was the stewardship an example of his parents and father in particular in terms of his artistic talents that he advanced and nurtured, promoting with his children. we have all been the beneficiary of that legacy.

our lives have been elevated and improved. we all talk about the end of the day and what it is all about. we all have unique stories that make up our lives. the idea is for each one of us to add value to other people's lives, helping them make their story just a little bit better. we have all had experiences where we have been elevated, our lives have been approved because of the challenge and fashion from the remarkable action of people like carlos. with that spirit and a tremendous amount of pride, i come here tonight to recognize one of our own. to recognize someone who has been recognized so many times, appropriately so. someone who is not just a talent on the surface, but has an

extraordinary heart and soul, someone who at the end of the day is someone that you want to cheer for, so when you want to support. -- someone you want to support. with that, i will conclude by all of you to appropriately put your hands together and to, with great intensity and purposefulness, allow me as i asked carlos to come to the stage, to introduce the awardee of the 2010 bears are award to our very own carlos santana. [applause] carlos, come on up. [applause]

>> thank you so very much. it is such a glorious, wonderful feeling to be validated. i love to validate as well. all of you, each one of you is significant and meaningful. we are interconnected and there is nothing you can do about it. first, i would like to thank my mother for her conviction, thinking my father for his charisma. i would like to thank my sisters, maria, lete, irma,

laura, and my brothers, gorge and antonio, for their prayers. coming to san francisco, witnessing for the first time it being filled with fruit, colors, serial, it blows you away. truly it is something to come to sentences go. the mayor is right, my mother did not want to live in los angeles. she wanted to live in san francisco. i am very