Recreation & Fun

Tuesday, August 25th. My morning started with a trip to City Hall, where I met with a group trying to bring the West End production of Peter Pan to San Francisco. Peter Pan is a highly acclaimed production that originated in Kensington Gardens. Will Peter Pan and Captain Hook visit "Fairy Park" next spring? Stay tuned...

After lunch, I met with Dave Martini and Loretta Conway, two of San Francisco's leading tennis advocates. Tennis has long been one of San Francisco’s most popular sports. We oversee 132 free public courts citywide and 21 courts at the Golden Gate Park Tennis Complex that can be reserved for a nominal fee. Dave, Loretta and I discussed the possibility of renovating the courts at McLaren Park, the need to regulate rogue tennis instructors and a dream project to rebuild the complex in Golden Gate Park. Again, stay tuned.

After that meeting, I visited Grattan Park, where I performed my first Prop C inspection with Denny Kern, Rec and Park's Operations Director.

San Francisco Charter Section F.102, or Proposition C, passed by voters in November 2003, requires that the City establish standards for street, sidewalk, and park maintenance and that the Controller's Office conduct an annual performance audit of the City's street, sidewalk and park maintenance and cleaning operations. Our staff members conduct regular inspections to ensure our parks are meeting these standards.

Overall, Grattan did well but I wasn't happy to see the public restrooms locked, some spotty mowing and some very obvious missed landscaping opportunities. I am following up on all three. I also think the blacktop, which houses a tennis court and basketball court, desperately needs resurfacing. It was pretty dreary.

Tuesday evening, I attended a fundraiser for Trust for Public Land (TPL). TPL is a national, nonprofit, land conservation organization that conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, community gardens, historic sites, rural lands, and other natural places, ensuring livable communities for generations to come.

In San Francisco, TPL has committed to renovating and rejuvenating three city parks in the next three years---- Hayes Valley Playground in the Western Addition, Balboa Park in the Excelsior and Boeddeker Park in the Tenderloin. The three parks are all in the middle of high-traffic, densely populated urban areas that have very little space for recreational purposes and will receive sorely needed renovations

I’ve seen the initial designs for Hayward Playground and Balboa Park, and I’m truly impressed with what’s to come, and I know our kids will be as well.

The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department and the entire City family owe a tremendous thank you to the Trust for Public Land for their generosity, leadership and dedication towards improving our park spaces.