potrero view

Neighborhood activist Richard Newhagen (far left) and his family enjoy a sunny day at Dolores Park.

July 2008

City’s Worst Playgrounds Get Dream Makeovers

By Lori Higa

Bounded by 16th, 17th, Bryant and Hampshire streets, Franklin Square is located at the outer edges of the Mission and Potrero Hill.  Well-used by soccer teams from outside the neighborhood, the park is rarely visited by nearby residents, save the occasional dog walker.  Once a shining example of Victorian-era design, complete with an athletic field and meandering pathways, the 4.4 acre park is dilapidated and dangerous; a magnet for the homeless, drug use and prostitution.  The park’s metal play structure is corroded, its pressure-treated wood pillars rotted and leeching arsenic, and its sandbox polluted with feces, syringes, condoms and cigarette butts.  Two years ago, the Neighborhood Parks Council (NPC), a local nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing city parks and green spaces, declared Franklin Square San Francisco’s worst, giving it a grade “F."

Antje Kann and David Maltz didn’t need NPC to tell them what they could see with their own eyes.  Even though they live just two blocks from Franklin Square, the young couple, who at the time had one child, Amelie, now three and a half, and another on the way, Marlon, now nearly two, never went to the park because “it was atrocious and unappealing.” Instead, they traveled south to play at Jackson Park playground and McKinley Square, which they found family-friendly and safe.

Three years ago the couple attended an event at Franklin Square, organized by neighborhood activist Ariel Braunstein, and helped create Friends of Franklin Square (FoFS).   Their goal is to make the park safe for families and locals to enjoy.  Kann, a software consultant from Germany and her husband, David, a medical products development manager, who’ve lived in the Mission and Bernal Heights neighborhoods for more than a decade, credit Braunstein “with getting the ball rolling.” Kann and Maltz have become key drivers behind renovating the park, including creating a new play area and host of amenities to encourage families and a burgeoning community of new residential developments to use the open space. 

FoFS obtained fiscal sponsorship from NPC, which Kann said is “a fantastic organization,” to allow them to operate like a nonprofit without having to incorporate, making it easier to raise funds.  They connected with other neighborhood activists who’d successfully rehabilitated parks – including Walter Haas in Diamond Heights/Twin Peaks – learning how to navigate the City’s bureaucratic fiefdoms, particularly the Recreation and Parks Department (RPD).  While they had no money, they were “savvy go-getters,” recalled Meredith Thomas, a NPC program director.

FoFS initially raised $5,000 from a local developer.  They hired architect John Merton, of San Anselmo’s Studio Green, who’d worked on Haas Park, to develop conceptual designs for a new playground.  At a key Board of Supervisors meeting, FoFS marshaled support from community groups representing thousands of families in Districts 6, 9, and 10, including the Potrero Hill Parents’ Association, Mission Parents’ Association, and the Lower 24th Street Neighborhood Association.  The lobbying effort paid off; the Board voted to put additional funds into RPD’s budget. The group then raised more than $1 million to support park improvements from developers, neighborhood and merchant associations, businesses, and individuals.

Franklin Square’s new playground will open by the end of the year.  The space will include a European-designed play structure and a new walkway that will “increase safety by allowing greater visibility into the park,” said Kann.  The playground incorporates references to the urban environment and the Muni yard located across the street, with vehicle-shaped play elements, streetcar tracks and traffic signs.  Separate areas will be reserved for toddlers, younger and older kids, with a sand box, climbing wall and belt swings.

During playground restoration, workers discovered a piece of public art, abandoned under flowerpots, that’s considered a cultural and community treasure.  The “Brotherhood of Man,” a mosaic by Anthony Stellon commissioned by former San Francisco Mayor Joe Alioto, contains black and white figures graced with the symbol representing infinity.  The stunning mosaic’s theme and design inspired FoFS to successfully lobby the San Francisco Arts Commission to provide $28,000 to restore it for installation in the playground.

“What’s really amazing,” said Thomas, “is that the FoFS haven’t stopped at just building a new playground.”  The group is now pushing to create an off-leash dog run as well as an expanded and more inviting corner entrance, family rest areas and a crosswalk joining the park with the Potrero Center across the street. Emerald Fund and The Lalanne Group, which manage the shopping center, have offered a $40,000 matching grant for the improvements. “We hope that our donation will stimulate a wonderful rejuvenation of Franklin Square,” said the Fund’s Oz Erickson. “By livening up the park frontage, it will encourage more people to move freely from the park to the center and vice versa.  This will help improve safety for the park and the neighborhood,” added Bob Lalanne.  The two businesspeople are responsible for several other San Francisco developments, including Portside, a 220-unit condominium project at Main and Bryant streets, and Harbor Lofts, a 46-unit project on Spear Street.

According to Kann, dog owners are the biggest park users.  “Usually parents are pitted against dog owners.  We want to work with dog owners.  After all, this area is extremely dog oriented.”  Kann points to the nearby San Francisco Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals hospital and Petco.  “Our main goal is to bring the park alive with new users, to make it a destination, a place for community and friendship,” said Kann.

Nancy Gonzalez-Madynski has fond memories of playing on the boat structure in the Mission’s Dolores Park when she was a child.  Except when it rained the playground would flood and stay that way for weeks.  Two decades later, Madynski, who lives nearby, brings Thomas, her two year old, to the park.  Only now both the boat and the playground in which it sits are rundown, leeching arsenic and falling apart from years of water damage stemming from poor drainage.

Last year Madynski, an interior designer and contractor, with friend, artist-therapist Mary McDermott, who lives on 20th Street, shared an idea: wouldn’t it be great to fix-up Dolores Park so it would be safe and dry?  Along with three other neighbors, Eli Merritt, Tim Wirth and Richard Newhagen – all of whom live so close to the park they consider it their backyard – they formed Friends of Dolores Park Playground (FoDPP).

 The association created a web site, signing-up more than 1,500 neighbors and supporters on their email list.  FoDPP partners with local performers and artists – such as Precita Eyes, Music Together and the San Francisco Chorus – to host monthly events.  Local businesses act as sponsors, including restaurant Delfina, which donated $500 to pay a local children’s band, the Alphabet Rockers, who performed for more than 200 children and their parents.  Joseph Schmidt Chocolates, Dolores Park Café, and Hot Cookie have contributed refreshments, and many neighbors make regular donations to support the renovation effort. 

Elizabeth Meier, a co-partner of nearby Chelsea Park homes, established a matching grant plan, in which FoDPP receives up to $900 from each condo sale, donated by the developers, buyers, Zephyr Realty and Wells Fargo Bank.  FoDPP also secured funding from San Francisco Beautiful to install a kiosk in the playground to publicize community events and renovation updates, and to purchase trees to create additional shade and beauty. 

With NPC’s help, FoDP successfully lobbied the Mayor’s Office to add $250,000 to the City budget for playground planning and design.  The Mercer Fund granted $1.5 million for park repairs, with the proviso that the City maintain the resulting playground infrastructure. “The Mercer Fund found us. They had heard we were an extremely organized group with a vision that matched theirs. They were excited by what we were doing, saw that we were going to be good stewards and were going for the highest standards of design, accessibility and sustainability,” said Madynski.

Like FoFS, FoDPP hired landscape architect Steven Koch to help design the playground.  “Our goal is to make it sustainable, a green project and world class – the Mission district and Dolores Park deserve it,” said Madynski.  The playground restoration is being managed by Madynski, who spends roughly 25 pro bono hours a week on seeing her dream of a new Dolores Park come true.  Two community meetings have been held to vet possible designs, with a third one slated for August.  Groundbreaking is set for May 2009, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new play area scheduled for the end of next year.  Upon completion, like FoFS, FoDPP will make a gift of the new playground to the City, which will be responsible for its ongoing care.

On July 13, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friends of Franklin Square, www.friendsoffranklinsquare.com, will hold a fundraiser to help pay for playground enhancements and rehabilitate the park’s 16th Street side, including the Bryant Street corner.  The event will take place on 15th Street between Bryant and Florida streets, and include food, beverages, entertainment and local merchants.


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