SAN FRANCISCO PRESIDIO

A new concept in distance learning

The San Francisco Presidio hardly falls into the bailiwick of the College of the Redwoods, but rehabilitating those historic buildings is just the latest pursuit of CR's risk-taking president, Casey Crabill.

It may seem "a high-profile, risky endeavor," as one CR prof calls it, but in the eyes of Crabill it's "an exciting risk."

"I'm so taken with that program," she told the Journal. "Bill Hole developed the historic preservation program (at CR), so when this opportunity came up, I said, `Why are they calling on us?' Well, we're the only accredited historic preservation program west of the Mississippi. I was stunned to learn that. The National Park Service was very interested. I said, `Well, you know it's almost 300 miles away and in another college's district.'"

College of the Redwoods receives Governor's Historic Preservation Award in October 2001. From left, Knox Mellon, California State Preservation Officer; Bill Hole, CR Historic Preservation and Restoration Technology program coordinator; Casey Crabill, CR President; Frank Trocki, CR Dean of Professional and Technical Programs; Alex Stillman, historic preservation advocate and Cherilyn Widell, Presidio Trust Preservation and Compliance Officer.

But City College of San Francisco graciously bowed out, clearing the way for CR. The upshot is that the Presidio is contracting out the work to CR, and Bill Hole, professor of construction technology, along with Dane Cowan and Jill Macdonald, fellow teachers of historic preservation at CR, have been working down south since early November.

Hole, who started teaching at CR in 1991, calls the project "a new concept in distance learning." He notes that the first approach came from Cherilyn Widell, historic preservation compliance officer with the Presidio Trust, who knew Hole through the CR preservation program. Hole gave Crabill "an overview" of what the project involved, "and without hesitation she said, `Let's do it!'"

About 110 employees of the Presidio Trust are now students working with CR teachers. "We're teaching them hands-on techniques, and theory of historic preservation, rules and laws." The Presidio was always a military base, from the time the Spaniards ran it in 1776, and the buildings were soldiers' quarters. Now, they are being turned into housing to be leased out. Presidio tour

Hole speaks of historic preservation as "a love, a passion." He said, "It's global, something we pursue to help future generations. That's really all it's about. We're stewards."

As Casey Crabill observes: "I think he's in heaven with the Presidio project. It was hard to get him down off the clouds after they approached us."

College of the Redwoods students record the condition of the Pilots' Row buildings at the Presidio in San Francisco.