Treasure Island Museum

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I was told that the Treasure Island Museum was brought down by Willie Brown. Is there any plans to open this museum again? If so... would it be located in the same place it was before? I would love to see it back in it's past and rightful place again. It was a great museum and sorry to see it no longer operating.

-- Jim Holub (ke6uns@gotnet.net), March 07, 2004

Answers

I don't know if Willie Brown brought down the Treasure Island Museum but from what I remember, there was hardly anything in there and it was very small and reminds me of the Beach Chalet museum. So if he brought it down, he didn't bring down much.

What I do remember that was far more interesting and glamorous was being on the movie set of Nash Bridges which was right next door.

-- Harry Murphy (harrymurphy*@bigmailbox.net), March 09, 2004.


The Navy closed the museum in 1997 before returning the property to San Francisco in 2002. Although the Treasure Island Museum Association had proposed to continue operating the museum during the transition, the Navy decided otherwise. It closed the museum exhibits and offices. The collection and archives were placed in storage on Treasure Island. Eventually, the Navy planned to turn the collection over to another exhibit facility. However, as the Navy wound down its transition operations in 2002, those plans fell through. Typical military bureaucracy.

Interesting, one could make the argument that Willie Brown was responsible for its closing by not stepping up and wielding some of his fabled political clout to keep the museum open.

Harry, in nautical terms, What ever floats your boat. I first saw the Museum in 1976 and thought it was kinda neat. The military portion was OK (hard to compete with the Maritime Museum or the Presidio Museum), but the other parts that were unique to Treasure Island were great. I liked the exhibit about the 1938-39 Worlds Fair and the portion that told of the Pan Am China Clipper story was fantastic. Remember, Treasure Island has had a short history compared to the rest of the city and the museum only opened in 1975 - it was still growing when it closed.

-- will (willstaiger@yahoo.com), March 09, 2004.


The first order Fresnel Lens from the Farallon Islands Light, formerly on display at Treasure Island, is now in the visitor center at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. The VC is located at Hyde and Jefferson Streets.

-- Judy Hitzeman (jmhitzeman@aol.com), March 10, 2004.

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