For many months, Dolores Park, the Mission’s popular weekend hangout, has been undergoing renovations. On March 31, the first of many planned updates was introduced: the new Helen Diller Playground, which features a bright red bridge, a musical section and different age zones for playground users.
According to former Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who attended the opening ceremony, the playground was in the works for six years before the unveiling.
There are many more overdue changes en route for the park. But it’s up to the community to decide which changes will take place and what the new park will look like. The Dolores Park Renovation Plan decrees that new restrooms and pathways will be added, causing more than half the park to be unavailable to the public for approximately a year and a half. This phase of the renovations is set to begin in September.
I agree that part of the restoration was to improve safety. The old playground wood was soaked in toxic creosote. My issue is that they tripled the size of the playground and for all that space, got rid of the picnic tables circling the kiddie area. That was a great feature for family gatherings to be able to set up right by the play area. More real-estate and no tables?
Second, I don’t mind the hipsters, most of them are good Mission neighbors – its the Haight street punks that are the trouble makers. They usually come in later in the afternoon and get drunk and become a nuisance. Nothing is going to stop the trouble other than police presence. More security and better night lighting. Maybe some security cameras.
In the meantime, I no longer cut thru Dolores Park at night. Its a shame.
@Lola: the proposed renovation of the rest of the park includes the addition of picnic tables. So there will be a place of family gatherings.
We could have gotten a less stupid playground for less than the millions it cost for that crappy artistic thing. I quite frankly hate the damned thing as I am paranoid about dogs coming after my kid, and am tired of waiting fifteen minutes at times for one of the two baby swings.
Does this mean that the The Truffle Guy will now have to make house calls? Truffle Guy and Tamale Lady need to work together.
I’m all for the change of demographic to ppl who might actually take care of the park.. the “hipsters” deserve to get pushed out..i look forward to the closure for some peace and quiet for once.. in the past five years it’s been nothing but noise, trash and ppl pissing next to my house. I hope with the new park they will afford some rangers that can actually curb the crowds trashing it.
I don’t understand how the playground “pushes out undesirables.” The playground is made for children. Any children of any socioeconomic or cultural background. Its beautiful and the children of the Mission, and of SF at large, are lucky to have it.
Are you upset that kids will no longer get to play in the massive mud pit that formed in the old playground every time it rained? Or that they won’t get splinters from that old decaying boat?
Opposing gentrification is fine, but we’re talking about a playground. For children. Its a good thing.
The purpose of the renovations was in part to change the demographic of the park. On one side we will dominate the area with a multi-million dollar playground. Pushing out the undesirables. Next up we will add a more defined soccer area on the other side in effect completely pushing out the hippy, artist, queer vibe to more of a Noe Valley vibe. This is fitting for the High Tech bedroom community that SF has become.
It is amazing how people like Monica can misconstrue events to fit their political agenda. The purposes of the renovations was simply to improve and make more usable a well-used park.
The new playground is in the same location as the old playground, so it is hard to see how it pushes out “undesirables”.
On the other side, the existing soccer field will be improved so it is more usable for soccer. There will be no fencing, artificial turf or other features that will push out hippies etc. (indeed these people may enjoy sitting a well drained lawn as opposed to the current muddy mess).
But if you want to believe everything is a conspiracy, certainly I won’t change your mind.
usually the soccer fields are dominated by the Latinos — at least that’s the way it was at Mission Playground. The “queer vibe” as you put it, is still alive and well on the hill and dominates that area. There are plenty of “hippies” on the main field of the park. I don’t know what park you’re going to, but of any city park I’ve ever seen, Dolores Park is very diverse.
Thank you Monica. I somehow feel less alone. Walking through the lauded 5¢ de Mayo celebration, the commercialization and apparent revenue from renting stalls to cell phone companies and the like was the only aspect you didn’t mention.