Bridge may seek corporate sponsors (Golden Gate Bridge)

[Rapcw]

The Golden Gate Bridge district's board of directors is expected to hire a consultant Friday to seek corporate sponsors for San Francisco's revered landmark to help lower the district's $87 million deficit.

The consultant's recommendations could include installing signs at the south visitors area or on benches and sidewalks at the ends of the bridge.

"This is not a naming rights deal," cautioned bridge spokeswoman Mary Currie. "It's more of a behind-the-scenes, low-key corporate partnership, much like the Proud Partners Program in the national parks."

Currie said board members have been adamant that corporate-sponsored signs not go directly on the bridge or tollbooths.

The district has an $87 million deficit, largely because of post-Sept. 11 security staffing, according to budget reports. In addition to the bridge, which 40 million vehicles cross every year, the district oversees the Golden Gate ferry and bus systems that shuttle 11 million users annually.

The sponsorship proposal is intended to generate $4 million over five years, Currie said.

Bartram and Currie said the district's plans follow the lead of the National Park Service's "Proud Partners Program," which has raised $100 million from corporations such as Discover and Ford Motor Co. Currie noted that signs at trailheads in some parks greet hikers with: "This trail brought to you by Ford."

Since then, to raise money, the district has leased some of the land it owns near the bridge, increased tolls to $5 from $3, raised parking fees in visitors' areas, and even sold commemorative holiday ornaments. But a large deficit remains.

"When we raised tolls in 2002," Currie said, "we heard back from the public that we needed to come up with new ways to generate revenue. This is one of them."

Maureen Middlebrook, president of the board, said if it weren't for the deficit, the district would not be in a position to consider such corporate sponsorship deals.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/11/16/MNGMFMDVGA1.DTL

[AIJ Alom]

1. "The Golden Bill Gates Bridge?" n/t

[Donnachaidh]

2. please don't do this!

putting advertisements on the Golden Gate? A FREAKING landmark?

What's next? P Diddy advertising his bling on the Statue of Liberty?

Make WASHINGTON pay the deficit -- they put the rules on you!

[aquart]

3. Another unfunded mandate?

[OKthatsIT]

24. As states lose money, they seek to privatize

very very scary.

[Gregorian]

4. Sickening.

I think this country is doomed. It's governed by the love of money.

Just looking at a newscast on a flea market in France. They suspect that ten percent of all items sold there are hot. But this flea market is not the kind you are thinking. It's full of antiques. One of the owners of a stolen item was being interviewed. In France, items of antique and cultural nature are to be certified and noted with the country. These items are not to leave France because of their value to France. I thought it was fantastic. They value their culture.

Here, it's off to the highest bidder. I can't remember if it's Candlestick park or if the name has been changed to Pac Bell stadium. Or was it Verizon? Now the GG Bridge will have signs advertizing who it is that makes the asphalt you're driving on possible. YUCK.

I'm still just coming to my senses with respect to Arnold Swojneorneirnwhatever his fucking name is, being governor. That's also making me want to hurl. But that's perhaps a different subject.

[KamaAina]

5. Candlestick actually became Monster Park

not the jobs website but a cable manufacturer. Now we hear, the Niners are looking towards greener pastures in Santa Clara, which would render the empty hulk "The Park Formerly Known As Monster". :-)

Pac Bell was the new Giants stadium near downtown; subsequent mergers made it first into SBC Park and now into AT&T Park. I actually had to go to Wiki to straighten that out.

[Vorta]

16. Orlando sells street names.

[KamaAina]

6. The Golden Gate Bridge presented by Volkswagen?

It floats! :evilgrin:

[Tom Joad]

7. Maybe if the US spent less for its own terrorism abroad-- Iraq, Lebanon,

and so on, we would not have deficits.

[Vorta]

8. $4 million hardly seems worth the argument.

If they are running a deficit, they should simply stop spending more money than they take in. Problem solved. If something happens to the bridge, tough. It's not like it's a wonder of the world. It can be replaced.

[pinto]

10. I disagree with the apparent off hand dismissal of the Golden Gate.

It is an engineering icon, a beauty in and of itself and a symbol of the West.

I have some qualms with corporate "sponsorship"...that said, the article makes a couple of points you may have overlooked. Some of the deficit is due to post 9/11 security measures and the managing agency also runs a a bus line - a notoriously deficit generating, but much needed transportation component in any large city.

Yeah, it could be replaced. And at what cost? At what deficit to an obviously strained budget? Someone would have to spend *lots* more money than the bridge takes in for a replacement.

Thanks.

[Vorta]

14. It's going to have to be replaced eventually. IS it not? Why spend more than it's worth to guard it?

[Shakespeare]

18. It appears you don't know that much about the bridge.

The "eventually" you mention is nowhere near the foreseeable future. And what worth, exactly, would you put on the Golden Gate?

Not much, it appears. Sad for you. :eyes:

Fortunately, there are wiser people than you actually in charge of such things.

[Vorta]

20. This is a discussion, and I am being detached.

You have no idea of my level of passion for history and architecture.

The truth is that I don't have an emotional attachment to bridges. Some people do. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is impressive to me and always has been. The construction of the second span seemed rather predictable. It doesn't really hold a place in history though, from a perspective that interests me.

I think my detachment from bridges and railroads stems from childhood when discussion of the history of these things usually included mention of how many men died in the process. To a child's mind, no bridge or tunnel is worth the life of a man, whom I would likely have seen as my father.

[Shakespeare]

21. The Golden Gate Bridge project had one of the best safety records of its time.

Seriously, learn a little about the bridge.

Oh, and I note that one never hears about the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, but the words "Golden Gate Bridge" instantly conjur that iconic image.

[Porcupine]

22. Actually, No. They have a schedule where major components are replaced.

The suspension cables have been replaced several times. The deck structure was replaced and reinforced in the last decade so it's lighter and stronger. They even have engineering drawings to replace any part in the towers. The piers are massive concrete and will outlast our civilization.

That bridge is as close to a sacred icon as anything in California. You can't change the color of the paint without a ten year political battle even if the color is orange to orange. I will personally promise to spray paint over any corporate logos on the bridge at least once should they appear. I bet several thousand other Bay Area natives are with me on that.

edit:typo

[Shakespeare]

12. It is NOT "just a bridge"

My god. I can't even believe I'm reading that here.

It is a hallmark of engineering and one of the two most important pieces of art deco-era architecture (the other being the Empire State Building). It is iconic. It is symbolic.

And, most important, it is breathtakingly beautiful. To achieve that in a piece of architecture makes it a wonder and a work of art. You don't just "replace" the Golden Gate.

[Vorta]

15. Steel bridges don't last forever. There is a cost/benefit ratio to everything, including art.

[Shakespeare]

17. Couple of things.

1. The bridge is constantly maintained; it's in extraordinary condition. Have you ever seen the bridge in person? Do you actually truly know that much about it? I do. I became fascinated with after driving across it twice a day every weekday to get to work. It's an incredible structure.

2. Some things are more important than a "cost/benefit ratio." If you think that's all there is to life, then I feel deeply sorry for you.

[Vorta]

19. I've seen it, walked it, driven over it, and ridden over it.

I think you can I are thinking in different quantities of time. I'm talking centuries.

Sort of off topic- I am interested in your opinion since you have a passion for preservation.

If over the years between its initial restoration, maintenance, and future restoration or repairs (including perhaps a major destruction), Mount Vernon were to have everything above the foundation (or including the foundation) replaced in pieces, how old would the house be?

[Porcupine]

23. There used to be a little diner on the bridge where I ate breakfast as a kid.

When my family was on it's way to Muir Woods. The thing is sacred; these idiots on the bridge commision have really stuck thier head in the hornets nest.

[BrotherBuzz]

25. Replaced the head three times, and the handle six times...but

it's still George Washington's axe.

Are you aware of how much of the original bridge has already been replaced and reworked? Barring a total cataclysmic event, there is no reason the believe the bridge can't be maintained indefinitely.

[NOLADEM]

9. So damn sad. Can't believe it has come to this

Sadder to me still is corporate sponsored schools.

[Odin2005]

11. How pathetic.

[anotherdrew]

13. well, I can see Cisco doing it, given their logo n/t