for sure that originate in san francisco. it is a great place to have leadership about where we are going as a civilization in the future, this museum in many ways expresss that and offer its to all of our members and our public. that stuff is always been at the forefront. i think of so many different movements. and ahead of its time. the new works that we have done. and new idea and different ways of looking and seeing things. that is what this whole institution is about, and we will be doubling that capability and so it will be more and more fun for families and kids and so forth to come here and to be a part of that. and really thrilled to have that happen. but i want to also thank the leadership of the museum. getting that twinkle in their eyes that something in 2009,

and it just took a lot of asking people to help out with this, but there was a certain person in my life, don fisher who we were very close, don and he sort of put the challenge up to me and if we could really do something fantastic for this city. we all sort of got together and i said, don? and in his final hours, i said don, you got the guy here who is going to make this challenge a reality. and that is really what we have got going on here and so thanks to don, you guys really made this challenge. [ applause ] and we have to say, also, the community itself, our council people, supervisors, our mayor, our chief of police, the chief of the fire department, just like the fire department now, there say brand new one just a

couple of blocks over there and so he is really happy and the whole team is really happy. so he is with us today also, but our trustees thank you for all of your participation and fantastic and i just can't thank enough of the people who have been here working hard with me, side by side, and i have another fellow that i would like to introduce, our mayor ed lee is a fantastic guy and what this city always needs to have, just a guy that is going to make things happen. not all of the fan fair and you just see how this whole city is sort of coming to life. it is going to be probably in 20 and whatever, 16 we, have museums coming and it is unbelievable. mayor ed lee. [ applause ] >> thank you, chuck, and i was just about to rec meant chuck that you and i and charlotte

schultz buy the shoe polish and in a couple of years put that on and pose as 18 years and we can look a little bit like supervisor kim and get in for free, how about that? >> this is an incredible chuck, thank you for that enter did yousing, and i will be very brief because what i really feel today and in this particular ground breaking is a lot of sweat, a lot of good, hard, work, from chuck, from the board of directors and from robert and randy fisher. i want to thank you for your wonderful leadership and you have to raise an incredible amount of money for this to happen and it was for a great cause and i go back to our first lunch in, chuck that we had where you explained a little bit about our history to me and i did for you and we both talked about the old friendships that we had and you

expressed your friendship with don back and that this what ises partly in honor of that. well i want to also express the city's official thank you to doris and don and fisher, collection and the fisher family for your wonderful contribution for our city. and it is with that recognition that we do this ground breaking, plus a big huge thanks for the new fire station as well. but, as i will look forward to speaking to the graduating class at lowell high school this afternoon, i am going to talk about this because it is part of what we do in san francisco. it is for our youth, but it is also future looking, and it is about what we all do for our great city and that is what i feel about the fisher family, that you have contributed to our city. and you know, culturally, based tourism is now at about 2

billion dollars of income for the city. and it employs almost 20,000 people and this is what our city does, it celebrates culture and that is what draws so many people to this, and now i think, supervisor kim was so proud of these institutions that are coming into our district and that she and i have joined in so many ground breakings and we celebrate this with a very serious recognition of a people that have done this for us. and so, on behalf of the city and county, and with all of our hearts and gratitude, i want to thank robert and randy, i want to thank, doris and don fisher, the whole fisher family for the great, great contributions to our city. this is a gift that will keep on giving, and with this announcement for the youth to come in for free when the 10 million dollar endowment, i love anonymous gifts. one of these days i will try to do that myself.

but, this is incredible time for our city, but it is one that i think that this is another example why we take the opportunity to celebrate and to thank the people who have led this effort to do so and to just have everyone appreciate life in san francisco is very special. and this is one of the reasons why. thank you very much. maus plause [ applause ] >> thank you, mayor lee, i would just like to second chuck's remarks earlier that the support that we received from the city, from the mayor on down, has been nothing short of extraordinary, i have to say that it is probably unprecedented in the history of san francisco that we have had, universal unanimous support from staoet and to all of our processes and everything that we asked for it has all happened and it is credit to you and your amazing team. >> you know, about three years

ago, we formed chuck and i together formed a committee of our board and staff. to search for an architect for this ex-sxantion what we were looking for was an architectural firm through the work and the attitude through the work through the resume of experience, would express the values that this museum holds and that we want to address going forward, values of openness and generosity and sharing and welcome and transparency. and we also want to have a great building and obviously that would show all of our collections off to the best possible advantage and great public spaces and we have a really exciting search and on the last day, of our last tour of duty, traveling around we were in oslow and we met with craig and his partner and at the end of that day, we knew and there was... we knew in no uncertain terms that this was

the firm that we wanted to work with and i can only say that as i welcome craig up to the podium the last three

thought and it actually does, this is followed by a creative phase, and the creative phase is really the fun part, and then there is the pass that will move along. somehow this is a case of construction. and we will deliver this child. happily, at the end of this, there is the miracle of birth, when the doors open and there is hopefully plenty of hugs and smiles when our guests enter the new sf moment and as of this great day, the building will mature slowly at first and will experience many challenges in its life alongside the days of joy and celebration >> while this metaphor was pretty good there is a difference that i would like to

point out. unlike many marriages and births, the making of the building is not a monogomous relationship, it is a poly amorous relationship because there is a great deal of partners in this effort and we know how sticky that can be. >> there are a number of partner to consider along the way and each of these has a wedding ring so to speak and i have the privilege of representing this group of lovers here at the podium and the architects often receive a great deal of attention and that is important but it is also tremendously large team that we represent, so i wanted to share with you rather quickly the names of our partners in this relationship and it is a wonderfully rich list representing groups from california and the united states and the interests abroad and here it goes in alphabetical order, we are going to start with afp and they are going to install the sprinklers and arab engineers are working with the av and the

lighting. there is csi, group, and our friends, don and terry young were the managers who keep this ball around and rolling as the consulting group and the partners, and the architects and some of them are here in the audience today and the great partner to work with and closed and the hoert culture and we work with the green wall and jw, and the local projects and mka engineers and san anderson architects you are here too so some of us are here today and my great friends and team members, some of you may have met. graphic design, tailor engineering and i suppose that the winner of the most apt name in this group is the fire consultants can anybody guess what job they have? and there is technology and finally the friends at web core are building this project and this is just a partial list, to give you some idea of the

complexity that this project represents and the enormous amount of teamwork that goes into making it, all of these people are working together to create a museum for modern art that will be without equal. its collection is exceptional and the mission is generous and it is a gift for the youth of our future and its walls will signal a new direction for now we as the audience interacts with great works of art and with each other and how artists interact with museums and 2016, standing where we are right now we would have to look up 200 feet above us, twice the height of that parking garage, before we could see the top of the new sf mona, there will be over 160,000 square feet of space that is dedicated to experiences connected to art. that is more than triple just this area between mina and tona that we are standing in. all of these places are designed with the standard of

lighting and environmental control coupled with a bold sense of planning to protect the environment and signaled by a 50-foot high and 150-foot long green wall that we planted on the side of this parking garage adjacent to us. the museum will be, which was once intraverted will be open f

helps us appreciate the sublime and the meaningful moments of our existence. we have been driven by the vision of so many here in san francisco, to make this happen. and we look forward to the next stage of our work together with you. a sincere thank you to neo, and ruth and the board and the members of the planning committee that are here today and the city officials that have brought us altogether to make this possible. thank you from the design and construction planning team. [ applause ] >> the board and the staff leadership and team and the key community leaders and actually have the ground breaking. so i would like to begin with brooks walker and we are going to make our way down to like hollywood down the red carpet, brooks was the ground breaking, 20 years ago and brooks was our chair at that time and led the

effort to get us to the third street. >> bob fisher who is our board president and the partner in this project and dennis wo ng and the trustee of the oversight committee. and january kim, the district six supervisor who has been such a great supporter and partner in this project and then i also would like to introduce special members that we like to serve into the enhanced education programs. the class of third graders from carmichael school here in the neighborhood. >> as a member of the board

since 2003 and the board president for the last three years, i am incredibly excited to be able to kick off this ground breaking. on a personal note, kie not be more pleased that our families, art collection has found a home at sfmoma. and i would now like to

introduce... thank you. >> i would now like to introduce a partner who has been with us every step of the way in leading this transformation, district six supervisor jane kim. >> thank you, bob. >> i just asked craig if he was looking forward to working on his next non-controversial project here in the city and county of san francisco? >> i always like to say this, that i do represent one of the oldest parts of the city. but in many ways it feels like the newest neighborhood and the newest kid on the block here in the city, but i think that we take for granted the neighborhood that exists now and what it was like over 20 years ago and actually one of the first tenants that helped

to transform the city wassan francisco mona and we are so glad that you took the chance to invest in the neighborhood and you helped with so many of our partners that are here today to transform it into what it is. >> it is particularly important for us to be here today to celebrate the moma for what it is and will continue to be in the future. i was dedicated to public education and i am warmed that sf mona has made an incredible announcement that it is going to be opening the museum to those that are 18 and under for free. having grown up in a different city that had so many cultural and arts institution, new york, i actually grew up going to museums as part of my life as a school child and how important that cultural experience was to my development and as we continue to cut arts in

particular, in our public schools, this will be such an important part of their curriculum in their lives, so i am excited that we can welcome another tenant of the south of market here as well and that is our betsy car michael k-8 elementary school that is here today. [ applause ] >> so i believe that it is a principal here today? >> lauren? well have a first grade class that will be representing the south of market community. so are you guys ready? >> are you ready for the count down? >> all right, so we are going to get our shovels and then we are going to begin.

>> 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. >> plause [ applause ] i'm nicole and lindsey, i

like the fresh air. when we sign up, it's always so gratifying. we want to be here. so i'm very excite ied to be here today. >> your volunteerism is appreciated most definitely. >> last year we were able to do 6,000 hours volunteering. without that we can't survive. volunteering is really important because we can't do this. it's important to understand and a concept of

learning how to take care of this park. we have almost a 160 acres in the district 10 area. >> it's fun to come out here. >> we have a park. it's better to take some of the stuff off the fences so people can look at the park. >> the street, every time, our friends. >> i think everybody should give back. we are very fortunate. we are successful with the company and it's time to give back. it's a great place for us. the weather is nice. no rain. beautiful san

francisco. >> it's a great way to be able to have fun and give back and walk away with a great feeling. for more opportunities we have volunteering every single day of the week. get in touch with the parks and recreation center so come >> thank you very much, we are in a construction site. and the work is under way, we want to make sure that we not only celebrate, but celebrate safely, but i am here to welcome you all in the morning, and thank you so much for coming my name is ed riskin and i am the director of transportation and i could not be happier to see all of you here today to celebrate what is pretty a tremendous milestone in the advancement of phase two of muni light rail project, otherwise known as the central

subway, it is really just such a tremendous effort, and a cap stone of many, many years, and for some of you decades worth of work, to get to this point. certainly something worthy of celebrating. we have got a lot of people who in one way or another, themselves or through their organizations are a part of how we got to this point i just want to acknowledge some of them. besides the people, some of whom you will hear from that are up on stage including on you mayor, members of the board, the supervisors members of the sfmta board of directors, we also are pleased to be joined by our lead federal funder, of the u.s. department of transportation administration, and leslie roger and give him a hand of the regional administrator. and he is the one that started delivering that big check to us. back in october.

i don't know that he is here and another important partner and we are sit ng his right-of-way underneath the structure, cal trans, region four director bj sartepi. we also have one of the central things that the subway does is bring connection to the transit including the upcoming high speed rail. so we have ben from the high speed rail authority, let's give him a hand, thank you for being here. we have a number of the our communities supporters as well, karin floods from the union square bid, very strong partner and they have been putting up with us as we have been working through her neighborhood, carlin diamond from the market street association. cathy, and andrew from the (inaudible) cvd and jim lazares that i was just talking to and he is already working on the

next phase and we have the china town and many of our china ton including in the front row miss rows pack and mr. gordon chin. and we have a number of members of our community advisory group for the central subway. people who have volunteered their time as everyone else just mentioned has year after year to suffer this project through to make sure that we are doing it well and doing it right. and finally, there is a lot of leadership and support from the communities, from the federal partners and from the government and from city hall that makes all of this happen, but at the end of the day, everybody has to drive this project forward and so i want to acknowledge the subway director, john sungi, since 2006 john has been working day and night living and breathing this project to make sure that it happens, i think that he has a central subway tattoo on his arm.

i think that the tunnel manage machine down stairs has spent more time with tom than his family has. he has been bringing expertise and commitment to improving the transit in san francisco to bear in this project day in and day out for the last seven years now. so i know that this is a big day for him and i want to thank him and his excellent team and the sfmta staff and dpa staff and the contractors and all of whom have been working hard to get us here today. and then i also want to acknowledge some of the political leadership, that is really been a part of bringing this project forward. the significant federal commitment to this project between the first and second phase is nearly half of the funding has come from the federal government recognizing the regional and national significance of this project and so of course our senators and their offices have been behind us all of the way and

then a particular our leader the leader of the house of representatives nancy pelosi, has been one of the strongest supporters for this project and we are delighted to have the new chief of staff joining us if we could, give a round of applause for all of the officials fed and state that have been behind us. and we also have mike here and we are putting a lot of people to work with this project and it is not just a transit benefit that we get in 2019, when we turn on the switch and open the revenue service, but this immediate economic benefit that this project is bringing now to get people to work. and while the economy is a little stronger now than when we started work a year or so again it was not so much and we were getting people off the benches and in their booths working on the ground. and an important benefit of this project for the economy of san francisco today and not

just tomorrow. and ultimately this is about public transportation and it is about investing in the future of public transportation in the city and we are a transit first city and we need to better move the people who are trying to get around san francisco today, as well as those who will be coming to san francisco tomorrow. so this is really about building for the future, strengthening the transit system that we have today and i think that i am going to stop now because i have talked too long and bring up the people that you want to hear from starting with the leader in san francisco, a man who not only understands transportation and jobs, and i think that you have heard of him talk about jobs but understands the importance of infrastructure and investing in the economy and san francisco has pleased to follow him as public works director and i think that having been a public works director he really

gets this stuff and as the mayor he has a bigger view of this and has done a great job in leading it in infrastructure and please join in welcoming mayor ed lee. [ applause ] >> thank you, ed and thank you to you and your staff again, to your board of directors, tom, and the rest of the commissioners, thank you for your leadership. i also want to thank the board of supervisors for working so closely with us and a couple of them up here, i think that this is a really good reason to celebrate supervisors, that we have this great project, also i want to say a big thanks to our former mayers and i had the individual of being here at this time. but, i think back, and i know rose knows what i am talking about, two and a half decades, you know,