Starfleet HQ/The Presidio

[Nakita Akita]

It's sort of funny that the StarFleet HQ is not a military but they stationed the HQ at a long term military base.
According to sources the base was slated for closure 1989. This means that at some point after that date, not too distant future, the would be closed as a military installation.

Did the Trek Writers know this in 1989?
I know the show started before that date but it finished after that date. We do see the Presidio in some of the later episodes.

Possibly it is referred to in the earlier episodes?

Was it ever referred to in the original series?


I was just reading a book and the book refers to it....
I was very briefly stationed there in the Army.
I thought it was a beautiful base.
A person here at work says San Fran. Is a hideously ugly place!

Any thoughts on why they used a military base?

 

[Mutai Sho-Rin]

Edited the subject line to correct Presidio.

 

[Finn]

The terrain, and it wasn't zoned for residential and commercial areas..

 

[Nakita Akita]

The terrain, and it wasn't zoned for residential and commercial areas..

So, The Star Trek writers wrote in having the presidio as Starfleet HQ because of the terrain and zoning?

 

[Finn]

Dang, I missed the part about the writers.

I'm betting the staff wanted a location right by the bridge. It was established to be in San Francisco during the TOS movies prior to TNG.

 

[Delta Vega]

What the fuck is the Presidio ?

 

[Mutai Sho-Rin]

What the fuck is the Presidio ?

Try Google. No need to be so rude.

 

[somebuddyX]

I think it first appeared there in The Motion Picture. I don't know why they chose that area but could using San Francisco have been to tie it back to TOS and the ship's dedication plaque? Was Gene Roddenberry or other production people a big fan of the city? I could imagine GR or someone saying that in the future people's attitudes have changed so they have no problem recycling a military base into other usage.

 

[Finn]

What the fuck is the Presidio ?

Wow. It's a well known landmark in San Francisco, a hillyish area above the city, just south of the bridge. It's mentioned several times in Trek...

It's not exactly an obscure location.

 

[Nerys Myk]

What the fuck is the Presidio ?

Didn't the first post kind of cover that?

 

[Maurice]

Roddenberry said the TOS ship was built at the San Francisco yards, and wanted the only recognizable elements of SF to be the Golden Gate Bridge and the Transamerica Pyramid, so to establish the city as Starfleet HQ's locale in TMP they put the air tram station at the southeast foot of the bridge. I doubt it's much more complicated than that.

 

[Delta Vega]

The Presidio is an obscure location if you don't live in San Francisco, or even the United States.

 

[Tenacity]

So, The Star Trek writers wrote in having the presidio as Starfleet HQ because of the terrain and zoning?

Maybe San Francisco offered Starfleet generous tax breaks to locate SF Headquarters in their city.

The Presidio is an obscure location if you don't live in San Francisco, or even the United States.

Outside of America probably, but I've never been there and have heard of it.

And there was a movie called "The Presidio," with Sean Connery and Mark Harmon several years ago. Not bad.

 

[Mysterion]

IIRC, the April 1945 meeting where the UN was formalized took place in San Francisco. I imagine that could have influenced Roddenberry & Co. to put the center of Federation activity on Earth in that city.

 

[Finn]

The Presidio is an obscure location if you don't live in San Francisco, or even the United States.

I cannot speak for those outside of the United States, but if one has watched at least a few movies and/or a couple TV shows set in San Francisco, one would likely hear about the Presido time to time. It may not be very famous like the bridge, but calling the Presido obscure would be pushing it a bit.

 

[Nakita Akita]

I cannot speak for those outside of the United States, but if one has watched at least a few movies and/or a couple TV shows set in San Francisco, one would likely hear about the Presido time to time. It may not be very famous like the bridge, but calling the Presido obscure would be pushing it a bit.

I was sure I had seen it mentioned in movies or shows.
You could see the bridge like 20 steps from my barracks. So probably a lot of pictures of the bridge are from that where that base was.

 

[Nerys Myk]

The Presidio is an obscure location if you don't live in San Francisco, or even the United States.

It's not the only Presidio in California or even the world.

 

[Delta Vega]

Fair enough
I still have no idea what it is, and why everyones making such a fuss about it
The only time I ever heard the expression Presidio was in "Rio Bravo"
I think it might have been the County that Big Duke was the sheriff in.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Fair enough
I still have no idea what it is, and why everyones making such a fuss about it
The only time I ever heard the expression Presidio was in "Rio Bravo"
I think it might have been the County that Big Duke was the sheriff in.

It is/was a military base. I think that's been established in the posts and links in the thread.

 

[Nakita Akita]

Fair enough
I still have no idea what it is, and why everyones making such a fuss about it
The only time I ever heard the expression Presidio was in "Rio Bravo"
I think it might have been the County that Big Duke was the sheriff in.

In the USA, the Golden Gate Bridge is something that is pretty well known.
It seems that I've seen Trek episodes where the bridge is in the background out a widow etc.
It could have only been Deep Space Nine but I thought they also showed the Goldend Gate Bridge in the Next Generation Episode where Wesley and is bratty school chums killed the other chum.