The Week That Was: September 14-20, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009Posted by
Reflindo
0 Comments
Monday September 14
Tonight I really cut my teeth as the new GM. At the request of District 5 Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, several members of my staff and I attended a town hall meeting at the Jewish Community High School to discuss the Kimbell Playground City Fields project, which includes the renovation of Kimbell's athletic fields and the replacement of grass with a state-of-the-art synthetic turf.
The City Fields Foundation, established in 2005 by brothers Bill, Bob and John Fisher, looks to address the chronic shortage of athletic fields in San Francisco and to provide equitable access to our fields. To date, the Foundation has pledged an initial $4.5 million and has worked to renovate four fields throughout the city, including ones at South Sunset Playground in District 4, Silver Terrace Playground in District 9, Garfield Playground in District 10 and a huge soccer complex at Crocker Amazon Park in District 11. The Foundation has also helped to provide lights at the Franklin Square soccer field in District 6.
The City Fields Foundation, established in 2005 by brothers Bill, Bob and John Fisher, looks to address the chronic shortage of athletic fields in San Francisco and to provide equitable access to our fields. To date, the Foundation has pledged an initial $4.5 million and has worked to renovate four fields throughout the city, including ones at South Sunset Playground in District 4, Silver Terrace Playground in District 9, Garfield Playground in District 10 and a huge soccer complex at Crocker Amazon Park in District 11. The Foundation has also helped to provide lights at the Franklin Square soccer field in District 6.
The new turf reduces maintenance and down time, reduces injuries caused by uneven playing surfaces and allows for increased play on the field.
But the new synthetic turf fields are not without their detractors -- and we heard loudly from a few of them. Concerns about the new fields mainly centered around the environmental impact of the fields as well as safety issues, and my staff and I worked to answer their concerns.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission examined the safety of synthetic turf and in the July 2008 declared it "OK to install, OK to play on".
In April 2008, the San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission established a task force of scientists and park users to review all the synthetic turf-related issues and research, and provide recommendations. The task force developed some practical suggestions to improve synthetic turf installations in San Francisco and identified several research gaps meriting further study. Recreation and Park is already planning additional local tests to compare to national data and is incorporating the task force’s suggestions into future planning efforts. The task force findings and recommendations were incorporated into the Synthetic Playfield Task Force Report, which was accepted by the Recreation and Park Commission in October, 2008.
Prior to these most current reports, the San Francisco Department of the Environment and the Department of Public Health reviewed existing studies in January and February 2008 and conducted one of their own. These studies found no reason to close or stop installing synthetic turf fields and even identified several environmental benefits such as reduced water and pesticide use. Department of the Environment memo. Department of Public Health memo.
Previously in January 2007, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) released a study of outdoor play and track surfaces using recycled rubber similar to that found in synthetic turf. According to the Synthetic Playfield Task Force Report, "OEHHA found no evidence that rubberized matting used in playgrounds, similar in composition to synthetic turf infill, would cause danger or harm to human health through ingestion, inhalation or by skin contact."
Tuesday September 15
I attended three interesting meetings today.
In the morning, I met with Hans Baldauf, president of the Maybeck Foundation. The Maybeck Foundation and RPD are partnering to renovate the Palace of Fine Arts. If you haven’t been by the Palace in a while, it’s time you did. It’s one of the most popular and beautiful picture-taking spots in the city, and that’s saying a lot. We are entering Phase IIB of the project, which includes the seismic strengthening and architectural restoration of the rotunda and the architectural restoration of the colonade, plus accessibility upgrades and architectural lighting.
I attended three interesting meetings today.
In the morning, I met with Hans Baldauf, president of the Maybeck Foundation. The Maybeck Foundation and RPD are partnering to renovate the Palace of Fine Arts. If you haven’t been by the Palace in a while, it’s time you did. It’s one of the most popular and beautiful picture-taking spots in the city, and that’s saying a lot. We are entering Phase IIB of the project, which includes the seismic strengthening and architectural restoration of the rotunda and the architectural restoration of the colonade, plus accessibility upgrades and architectural lighting.
Then, later in the day, I went out to the zoo to attend its Annual Meeting. The San Francisco Zoo has received a great deal of negative press in the past few years, but I’ve always had a soft spot for this zoo, and the folks there are truly making strides towards improvement.
I ended my day at Harding Park, where I met with staff and PGA officials to discuss our readiness for the President’s Cup. The course is looking great. Our crews have been working their tails off to get the course in prime condition and their hard work is evident. Harding will be a splendid backdrop for what’s promising to be a special tournament featuring the world’s best golfers.Thursday September 17
Today was Commission meeting day. Today, we heard information on the Zoo’s state of operations and the upcoming renovation project at Cayuga Playground. I also had the honor of awarding certificates to longtime Recreation and Park Department employee Hugh McDermott and volunteers Wilma Gardener and Dorothy Strickland, who formed the 800 Shields Block Club in the Merced Heights Playground neighborhood.
As if one lunch were enough, I then headed to the Trocadero Clubhouse in Stern Grove for the RPD Latino Luncheon. Mexican food, piñatas, staff camaraderie, a raffle (in Spanish). Good fun, but I'm stuffed like----- well, a piñata.
Saturday September 19th
Picnics. Soccer. Running. Kite Flying. Movies. Rallies. Music. What a weekend in our parks. I went for a late run around 2 p.m. in Golden Gate Park this afternoon- with no Outside Lands, Opera, Bay to Breakers or Hardley Strictly Bluegrass event to speak of. Just picnics---48 picnics to be exact. Every single picnic spot throughout the park was booked, a testament to fine weather and the popularity of our parks. We are working on identifying more picnic spots in the park and making sure that the ones we have are photographed and on-line to make reservations easier. We also had the Lowell Invitational Cross Country Meet and a non-permitted race of about 100 men running in the opposite direction. We also had a full schedule of soccer games all over town, a Kite Festival at the Marina Green, an outdoor movie night at Dolores Park, a "Stop the Violence" rally at Civil Center and a concert at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in McLaren Park. What a fun-filled weekend.
Sunday September 20th
At 10 a.m. today, about 200 people gathered by the tree at McLaren Lodge to honor Jacob Alexander. Jacob, one of the city’s iconic personalities, died early this month. He was 78. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “With his warm smile, unruly white beard, dark pants, white tunic, knit cap, a necklace of stone crab claws and camel and lion teeth, Jake was such a well-known presence in the park that he was dubbed the ‘King of Golden Gate Park.’ Walkers and joggers stopped to hug him, bicyclists shouted greetings, and drivers honked and waved.”
On a slightly peppier note, it was opening day at Candlestick and the 49ers and Frank Gore romped over the Seattle Seahawks, 23-10. Kudos to RPD Candlestick Operations Director Mike Gay and his staff, who always have us ready on game day. For a decrepit old stadium, the field looked great!
Friday September 18
Today I had the great pleasure of attending the 44th Anniversary celebration of the Golden Gate Park Senior Center. The Senior Center is one of the department’s most popular attractions and boasts 1,100 members citywide. Senior adults meet year round at the center for games, social activities, dance lessons, daytrips and workshops. I dined on a bit of prime rib with the seniors and even participated in a bit of ballroom dancing. (Fred Astaire has nothing on me.)
Today I had the great pleasure of attending the 44th Anniversary celebration of the Golden Gate Park Senior Center. The Senior Center is one of the department’s most popular attractions and boasts 1,100 members citywide. Senior adults meet year round at the center for games, social activities, dance lessons, daytrips and workshops. I dined on a bit of prime rib with the seniors and even participated in a bit of ballroom dancing. (Fred Astaire has nothing on me.)
As if one lunch were enough, I then headed to the Trocadero Clubhouse in Stern Grove for the RPD Latino Luncheon. Mexican food, piñatas, staff camaraderie, a raffle (in Spanish). Good fun, but I'm stuffed like----- well, a piñata.
Saturday September 19th
Picnics. Soccer. Running. Kite Flying. Movies. Rallies. Music. What a weekend in our parks. I went for a late run around 2 p.m. in Golden Gate Park this afternoon- with no Outside Lands, Opera, Bay to Breakers or Hardley Strictly Bluegrass event to speak of. Just picnics---48 picnics to be exact. Every single picnic spot throughout the park was booked, a testament to fine weather and the popularity of our parks. We are working on identifying more picnic spots in the park and making sure that the ones we have are photographed and on-line to make reservations easier. We also had the Lowell Invitational Cross Country Meet and a non-permitted race of about 100 men running in the opposite direction. We also had a full schedule of soccer games all over town, a Kite Festival at the Marina Green, an outdoor movie night at Dolores Park, a "Stop the Violence" rally at Civil Center and a concert at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in McLaren Park. What a fun-filled weekend.
Sunday September 20th
At 10 a.m. today, about 200 people gathered by the tree at McLaren Lodge to honor Jacob Alexander. Jacob, one of the city’s iconic personalities, died early this month. He was 78. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “With his warm smile, unruly white beard, dark pants, white tunic, knit cap, a necklace of stone crab claws and camel and lion teeth, Jake was such a well-known presence in the park that he was dubbed the ‘King of Golden Gate Park.’ Walkers and joggers stopped to hug him, bicyclists shouted greetings, and drivers honked and waved.”
On a slightly peppier note, it was opening day at Candlestick and the 49ers and Frank Gore romped over the Seattle Seahawks, 23-10. Kudos to RPD Candlestick Operations Director Mike Gay and his staff, who always have us ready on game day. For a decrepit old stadium, the field looked great!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
