The relocation of a museum in San Francisco offers a model for how private developments can create quality public space, writes John King.
The kid-focused science museum The Exploratorium is moving to a new site on San Francisco's Embarcadero. With it will come a new public space that King says will create a real benefit to the public.
"Encircling the ticketed portion of the Exploratorium will be 1.5 acres of publicly accessible space, starting with a plaza along the Embarcadero. We'll be able to stroll the "apron" along the south and east edges of Pier 15 and ascend to a second-floor perch in a new glass observatory building on the end of the pier. A 12-foot-wide causeway will span the inlet and take us to Pier 17, where there will be a walkway along the south edge back to the Embarcadero.
...this is how we connect to "our" bay: the Port of San Francisco finds developers who, thanks to long-term investors or deep-pocketed fans, can absorb the enormous costs of pier restoration and endure the existential review process."
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