>> the san francisco parks alliance is to inspire and promote civic engagement and philanthropy to protect the city and enrich san francisco parks, recreation, and green open spaces. today i think that you'll find that the and rincon hill is no exception to that. you might know that back in the gold rush era, rincon hill where we're standing right now was one of the poshest addresses in san francisco.

this was the place to be ~ . and then pacific heights took over and rincon hill fell into decline. then came the bay bridge and rincon hill really for decades was something of a back water. well, look at it now. we're surrounded by high-rise development, the presidential towers, built, getting built, and more of them planned. so, once again, rincon hill is one of the most sought after popular places to live in san francisco. but where are the parks? where are the public open spaces? where are the places where all of these thousands of residents can gather and reflect on the meaning of life and make connections and form community? there's no public open space within nearly half a mile of where we stand today. that is about to change. so, it's now my honor to welcome to the podium alleyster

mctag bert, the president of the emerald fund. the emerald fund is the owner of the department building at 333 harrison street. they're also the owners of this park we're standing in right now. the emerald fund is one of the bay area's premiere real estate developers. their focus is on developing and managing high-quality properties including residential, retail, mixed use, hospitality, and office spaces. as president, alastair identifies a new project, design, financing, approval, sales and marketing. i suspect a little bottle washing as well. all i stair received both bachelor's degree and mba from harvard university. alastair. (applause) >> thanks, matt. as you heard, my name is all i stair mctaggert.

along with my partner who isn't here unfortunately, we developed this apartment building and this park. not private, but park is the operative word. i am please today announce emerald fund via a conservation easement donated to the san francisco parks alliance is donating this beautiful park to the people of san francisco to be known as emerald park. emerald park will be open to the public every day of the year. and importantly, it will cost the city nothing. the city won't have to buy the land. it won't have to build the infrastructure. and it will not have to pay the city upkeep going forward. emerald park will be a unique arrangement between the san francisco parks alliance and emerald fund. with an agreement known as the conservation easement that will ensure that forever this remains the public open space.

and emerald fund by this agreement will forever give up its right to develop this land. park alliance will be a steward to make sure this remains a public open space. i moved to san francisco 16 years ago. i met my lovely wife here. we had both of our children here. and we used to live right in this building right behind us for many years. and i can tell you from firsthand experience there are very few parks around here, very few parks for children to run around in. and that's why saline and i decided to make this gift. when all these buildings we talk about are complete, there will be thousands of new families around here, thousands. and this park is needed now and will be even more needed then. one of my favorite is the word respondent.

which began, the world is too much with us. late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers, what we see in nature, that is ours. we hope it will make the busy urban space, emerald park, will remind us of a nature which is ours and provide a respite from a world which too often is too much with us. today my wife and i feel enormously blessed. san francisco has given us the best years of our lives and has given us the best in our live. and we feel so fortunate to be able to give something back to the city wherein deed we've left our hearts. thank you. (applause)

>> thank you, alastair. all of you are gathered here today should know that this gift was alastair's idea and that he and his family are the majority donors of the park. alastair and i and our partner peter started working on this park seven years ago. isabelle wade, one of the founders of the san francisco parks alliance, handled our community outreach and she did a great job. we had meetings with hundreds of neighborhood residents including one of our wonderful supporters jamie whit a kerr, right there, jamie, wave. these residents working with landscape architects cliff low and katy taylor designed this park. later kirsten -- where is kirsten? a city planning and don of parks and rec as well as tradection professionals studied the park to ensure it

met all the professional standards required of a san francisco city park ~. thank you, don. and kirsten, thank you, parks and rec. thank you, jamie, and thank you, cliff and katy for all your hard work. the children's play structure will be coming in the next few months. construction of the park is finished. the original plan for emerald park called for cities to buy the land and all the improvements as well as pay for the ongoing matesv. in these times of great stress on the city's budget, this solution proved difficult and we are so pleased to say today, let me reiterate alastair's words, that our arrangement with the wonderful parks alliance, allows us to make a donation so that the people of san francisco, particularly those in rincon hill, will be able to enjoy emerald park 7 days a week forever with absolutely no cost to the city or to the people of san francisco. speaking for me as well as

peter who couldn't make it today, this gift gives us an enormous amount of pleasure. i am also speaking as i rarely do for my wonderful wife, dr. rio, who is an equal donor with me. over the last 38 years, san francisco has been incredible to us and it is truly marvelous to pay back a little bit of our debt. we love the city and are so honored to be able to help in this small way. thank you. (applause) >> thank you. and now it is my pleasure to welcome to the podium rosemary cameron the founding president of the board of the san francisco parks alliance. rosemary has pep her entire career in the public sector working in a regional and municipal parks and recreation, city management, legislative affairs, and communication.

she continues to consult on marketing, branding, communication, social media, and fund-raising. rosemary has served as the president of the board of the parks alliance ever since its founding two years ago. rosemary. (applause) >> thank you, matt. and thank you all for being here today. this is a beautiful day in san francisco and it's a really special day in san francisco. what i would like to do is offer on behalf of the entire board of directors of the san francisco parks alliance confirmation that on tuesday evening, by unanimous vote, we agreed to accept the easement from the emerald fund for this beautiful half acre park in the center of a neighborhood on the rise here. really central to the mission of the san francisco parks

alliance is the promotion of the expansion of parks throughout san francisco for all san franciscans to enjoy. and what we are really especially humbled by and appreciative of and wish to say that emerald fund for this incredibly unique, generous, and creative way to provide a brand-new public open space in the middle of this rapidly developing neighborhood. we especially want to thank mr. mctaggert, and mr. erickson, and all from the emerald fund for really understanding the importance of parks, for understanding how important open space and green space is for everyone in san francisco, but most especially for families and families with children who are rapidly moving into this area. and i understand there is going

to be more and more of them over the years. so, getting this park in place at this point in time is truly significant. their commitment to providing the park is very significant. they spent over $2 million designing and building the park. there is a playground to come very shortly. and as you heard, they've agreed to provide the maintenance for it in perpetuity. this is a big win for san franciscans, a very big win for san franciscans. so, i really do want to offer my very special thanks to the entire emerald fund for this wonderful gift. and i'd like to turn it back to matt. (applause) >> thank you, row mary. and now it is my special honor to welcome to the podium the mayor of the city and county of san francisco, mayor ed lee. (applause)

>> thank you, matt. good afternoon, everybody. you know, i've been thinking about how special this announcement is today and it's just july. i've been trained all my life not to expect gifts until the end the year when it's closer to the holidays. but looking at this unique relationship of the parks alliance, with the emerald fund, and with the city and county of san francisco, it is very special. it is indeed a smart, very special gift to the city as a whole. and let me say why it is. you know, we used to and we have been always talking about public-private partnerships. well, now there's three ps. it's public and then it's private, and then it's semi private. the parks alliance has been a

semi-private entity ever since isabelle wade stepped in my doorway and said, we've got to do more. and matt owe grade i brought in the park avenue katz following and we've honored as much of the promises to them ~ because they work so well on behalf of the rest of the citizenry of san francisco. and, so, i suggest to you that the emerald park as it is announced today in a public-private and semi-private partnership that is occurring will be, i think, the signalling of a new model going forward for the rest of the city. that as we proceed with this incredible investor confidence that the emerald fund has that the housing and development has, we'll also be asking for new types of partnerships to be created because it is no longer just the city that has to run the park system. we have to run it in a better and smarter way.

and what can be better is that alliance that we have with the parks alliance. i think -- and i want to thank again the leadership and the private sector oz and alastair, and to your particularly spouses today, that you signal that this means so much to the city and to the families that we want to invite and the increasing populations to want to enjoy our city, that it is led by the park system. the parks are so valuable to the world class status of the city. and open space is incredibly important to us and we're going to continue to have those wonderful conversations and make commitments along the way that indeed signal that, and continue to be the best urban park system in america that we earned last year and we want to continue earning for the rest of america and keep putting forth those models for the rest of the country to see so that my friends, be they the mayor of new york or the mayor of

chicago can envy us on the eve of my going to the white house to receive, with the giants, the 2012 world series championship, recognition that we continue to also receive the world class recognition they would have for our park system. this is what it means. but it also means that challenges that were signalled literally just a few months ago when this park was established. how do you maintain a gift? how do you look the gift horse in the mouth and say, well, we can't accept it because we can't maintain it, for them to come up with one of the most innovative models for the rest of the country to follow is an important part of this everlasting gift. because not only do we receive this half acre with great appreciation, but we will take care of it with our other partners for years and years to come as part of the system, maintain it as well as to receive the newness of it.

going forward, we can't maintain every gift that we get. we can't maintain all the things that we want to have for the rest of our city as we expand our park system. so, you're going to hear more and more of this model being created, but it is wonderful to announce this type of gift and to announce the figuring out of its maintenance for many generations to come. this is why i think the city of san francisco is so pleased with so many smart minds in the business community, in our nonprofit community, of course, in the city. congratulations to everybody. congratulations to the supporters of the emerald park. and when the noise turns down from the construction all over this area, you're going to be blessed even more with this great park for every generation to come. thank you and congratulations to everybody. (applause) >> thank you, mr. mayor.

well, they say the devil is in the details, but sometimes there is an angell in the details as well. let me walk you through a few of the specifics of how this actually will work. so, this is a conservation easement that is a legally binding attachment that will go onto the title of this property. once it is filed, it cannot be revoked. this is forever. under this conservation easement, the emerald fund gives up its right to the development of this site also forever. it dictates it will always be a park and always be open to the public. the conservation easement also dictates that the emerald fund assumes full responsibility for the maintenance and the upkeep of this park. the conservation easement spells out clearly defined standards for the maintenance of this park and these standards define this park to maintain essentially to be in

the beautiful condition you see it in today. it also spells out the emerald fund agrees to pay for the installation of a new children's play structure which will go upright behind us here today. that structure is on order. i understand it's a few weeks to get it delivered and they'll go forward with the installation as soon as possible. after that, once that installation is complete, this park will be open to the public. the parks alliance will be the steward of this conservation easement and that means it is our duty to monitor this easement, to make sure that this remains a park, remains open to the public, and remains in this beautiful condition that it's now in, also forever. it bears repeating that within a few weeks emerald park will open to the public forever at no cost to the city or to the people of san francisco. so, i want to give special thanks here to the people who

helped to make this happen. first off, i want to acknowledge since 1971, the san francisco parks alliance and its predecessor organization have been supported through the legal counsel of the law firm [speaker not understood]. and the executive director for the past two years, i have trouble imagining any possible way that the parks alliance could exist and has not been for the pro bono legal counsel that we've seen over the years. that has continued in this day in the form of board member lynn iceder blurbing behind me. glenn is a partner with pillsbury and he took the lead role himself in personally drafting this conservation easement, making sure that the parks alliance ~ role as steward is well articulate and had well reflected in this. we're also joined today by bill hutton who is the attorney representing the emerald fund and they put together an

incredible deal for us, incredibly quickly. glenn, i cannot thank you enough. (applause) >> thank you. finally, of course, we cannot conclude without giving a special thanks to [speaker not understood] and alastair and saline and peter for their incredible generosity in making this special arrangement to provide a public park to san francisco forever. let's have a big round of applause and thanks to all of them. (applause) >> it's quite a noisy setting, but i think why don't we take a try at -- if there are any questions from the media for just a minute or two, we'll take a stab at that and we'll also be available for individual interviews after that. do we have any questions from any members of the media that would like to try in the group

setting? >> [speaker not understood]. >> question about what will be the cost for the maintenance and will that be handled. alastair, do you want to take that? >> we estimate around $45,000 a year. >> we're guesstimating somewhere around $45,000 a year. once we run it for a while, we'll know much better. >> additional questions? we'll see you, then. let's call this press conference to a close. thank you all for coming. we'll remain available for individual interviews on an as call basis. thank you all. ...

>> all right, everyone, want to say thank you all for being here today at balboa park and want to say, first off, thanks to the trust for public land who played a key role in renovating balboa park and to put it to be where it is today. and i want to thank you all for your efforts. you know, one of the best parts about being an elected official is the ability to effect change in san francisco in a very positive way. and today i'm very proud to announce that after two years of incredibly hard work on behalf of a lot of people, we are announcing a new project in san francisco to bring free

wi-fi to 31 different parks, plazas, and open spaces across our city. from areas such as the marina green to washington square park to sunset playground, all a moe square, civic center, bernal heights to right here in balboa park, this project is going to touch parks and plazas across all of san francisco in every corner of our city. san francisco has been a leader in our technology community and our technology economy across our country and now we get to continue to play a role in being a leader bringing technology solutions to improve the lives of our residents here in our city. it's been a privilege to work on this project and to lead this effort the last two years and look forward to bringing the broader vision of free wi-fi across san francisco in the next few years with all the partners behind me today. this has been a strong collaboration on behalf of a lot of partners.

in particular, google, sf city, our recreation and park department as well as our department of technology, and i want to thank all of those involved. this project started a little over two years ago with a conversation i had with an old family friend from google. and i want to take a moment to thank the entire google team that worked on this project. it's been two years, so, it's touched a lot of desks and had a lot of approvals and in particular want to thank veronika bell who is here from google for stepping p. up. google is providing a financial gift of $600,000 to turn this into a reality. this is with the recreation and park department. i want to thank phil ginsberg, katy, so many people from the rec and park team that really brought this project forward. we selected locations throughout san francisco on a number of levels. first of all, we wanted to make sure that we continue to bridge

our digital divide that exists not only throughout our country, but here in san francisco, to place free wi-fi networks in under served communities and across different parts of san francisco. but also to make sure that we provide wi-fi access in some of the most heavily trafficked parks and plazas in our city so we can have the greatest impact throughout our great city. i want to thank sf city for their strong partnership in this project. we started working together a little over a year ago. they are not only the leading effect knowledge jai voice in san francisco, but they really stepped up to the plate to be the project manager here who are going to oversee the installation of this project. and i want to thank in particular alex turk for his leadership during this effort. i certainly want to thank our department of technology and its new leader mark tuitu for also stepping up to the plate. mark is such a visionary and i think we have years of great things to come out of our department of technology and

this is just the first step. and lastly i want to thank my staff and in particular wherever margo is, mar co-kelly. -- margo kelly. margo spent the last two years quarterbacking this project. she spent so many hours of her life dedicate today bringing this to the residents of san francisco and we shall all be incredibly thankful. the benefits of free wi-fi in san francisco are many. not only will it further open up our parks and our city to innovation, to education, and includetionthv i. for all san francisco residents, but it's also as i mentioned before a significant step towards bridging our digital divide in our city. it provides local groups and community residents access to the internet they might not have had before, as well for our rec and park department as phil knows all too well many rec centers still use dial up service.

when we think about registering our children for camps and play grounds, what we need to do in our daily lives, but also our government on a daily basis to use technology, this will be an incredible boone to our rec and park department and something we should all be very excited about. in terms of the details of the gift, google is providing a $600,000 financial gift to our city with no strings attached. i think a lot of the prior debate around free wi-fi in san francisco that never moved forward was because of different questions about business models or so forth, to emphasize this is a free gift of financial benefit to the city of san francisco with no strings attached. the money will come through sf city which will manage the installation of the wi-fi network from beginning to end, and our department of technology will accept that gift on behalf of the city and county of san francisco. and ultimately rec and park will be the host of the wi-fi network on their properties. and at the end of the day, it's going to be all san francisco

residents who benefit from this. after going through all the necessary steps in city hall, the timing right now is that we believe installation will start in december of this year and should be completed by the spring of next year. so, this is going to be a project that will become reality very, very soon for the residents of san francisco. again, on a personal level, i'm incredibly proud to have led this project over the last two years. it's very gratifying that when you see an idea from the initial conversation to the project itself to now bring it to reality, to a city and park where i used to play ball in high school, to announce a project, this is something i've been incredibly proud to work on and something we started years ago and finally bringing to reality today. i again want to thank everybody who has been involved. this has been a complete team effort. and certainly want to thank mayor lee for his support during this process. mayor lee has been an incredible friend to our technology community as doing

incredible things for our great city. and, mayor lee, i want to thank you and introduce our great mayor, mayor ed lee. (applause) >> thank you, mark. welcome, everybody, to balboa park. and i know we have a couple of hosts and i want to meet and recognize of course our recreation and park department. phil is here. he'll speak in a minute. also recognizing john avalos, our supervisor for this district. but often a voice at the board in this city about issues of equity, and that is why i think it's important that we announced it at a place like balboa park. i live here just literally two minutes away, so, i often see this park completely crowded with so many families, especially with all the great improvements that rec and park has put in, in collaboration with the supervisor, because i know that some of his discretionary funding has often gone in to support efforts here