No Picnic: Potential Washington Square Closure Upsets Neighbors

No Picnic: Potential Washington Square Closure Upsets NeighborsWashington Square Park. | Photo: vhines200/Flickr
Nathan Falstreau
Published on February 16, 2018

Earlier this week, the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department held a community meeting to announce capital improvements at Washington Square Park in North Beach.

Because the work raises the possibility of a year-long closure of an expansive space that's used by residents and tourists, "there was a lot of surprise and concern shown by our members at the meeting," said Danny Sauter, president of North Beach Neighbors.

"The importance of Washington Square in the neighborhood cannot be overstated," he said. "The community relies on it—many on a daily basis—so a full closure of 8–12 months is really significant."

The first project will renovate the children's playground as part of the Let’sPlaySF! initiative of the 2012 Clean & Safe Parks Bond. Work will start this spring and take between six to ten months to complete, according to Rec and Park spokesperson Connie Chan.

Proposed playground closure map. | Image: SF Rec & Park

While construction is underway, the playground, adjacent planting beds and Columbus Avenue playground entrance will be closed, which shouldn't affect daily usage by most park goers. 

Still to be finalized is a second part of the project that would upgrade the irrigation system and potentially close the park for up to a year during construction. The work aims to reduce water use by two-thirds and improve saturated soil conditions. 

The "upgrade is a project proposal which we received grant funding from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission," Chan said. "We are getting community feedback on how best to proceed so that we can work to address community concerns around construction."

Photo: Class V/Flickr

Jordan Bowen, whose family has lived in the neighborhood for more than 40 years, said he's  in favor of the project. "The park sucks up a lot of water, something like three million gallons a year," he said. "And when it rains, [the park] becomes pretty marshy." 

But Bowen said Rec and Park "didn't come to the neighborhood" before proposing to close the area for a year.

"They had very hazy ideas about what to do about all of the groups that use that park, like the weekend art shows and the elderly tai chi groups," he said. 

Sauter said that he'd like to see Rec and Park increase resources at other nearby parks and underutilized spaces such as Joe DiMaggio Playground to host weekend events and exercise groups that normally use Washington Square. 

Chan said department staff will do its best to accommodate neighbors; if and when the irrigation project moves forward, both the playground and the restroom will remain open to the public, she said.

"Our goal is to work with the community on how to best mitigate any inconvenience that the construction may cause," said Chan. 

"There's no question the park needs this work," said Sauter. "But everything possible should be done to lessen the time it takes and the impact it has on the community. We haven't seen a full plan to address this yet."