Building a Historic Landscape

Building a Historic Landscape. Golden Gate National Recreation Area. During the Vietnam War, East Hospital was replaced with a new hospital to treat the growing number of war casualties. Letterman also provided comprehensive health care tor soldiers' families. The Letterman Army Institute of Research opened behind the hospital in 1973. It conducted research on medicine, optics nutrition and toxicology. These facilities closed in 1997 just before the Army left the Presidio and transferred the historic post to the National Park Service in 1994. , New Buildings and a Garden in a National Park , The hospital and research institute were replaced by the Letterman Digital Arts Center (LDAC) designed by Gensler Architectural Design and Planning and HKS Architects. Opened in 2005, the LDAC houses Lucasfilm, a digital film industry leader. The new buildings blend with the Presidio's architecture through their row-like arrangement, red and white color scheme, and glassed-in porches echoing historic post architecture. The garden and its lagoon are new public gathering places in the park. Lease income from this project, the largest new construction that will take place at the Presidio, helps maintain the more than four hundred historic structures in the park and its forests and natural areas.