Dolores Park Works

Dolores Park Revovation Workshop #3

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Robert Brust

Well we haven’t settled on much yet. At the first workshop we walked the park in small groups and jotted down “things that could be fixed”. At our second workshop, again in small groups, we sketched alternative plans for a “rehabilitated Dolores Park”.

Conceptual Plans for a Rehabilitated Dolores Park from Workshop #2

At this third community meeting we are told we will need to make some decisions. One restroom or two? One big picnic area by the Tall Palms or a scattering of smaller picnic areas disbursed throughout the park. We are also promised we can choose between at least a trio of drawings depicting ideas for a refurbished Central Promenade. Small central piazza anyone?

Several elements have been deemed not ready for prime time, the location of the off-leash dog areas, ideas for the North Field, ideas for the troublesome west side and location of the athletic courts. Exploratory committees have been formed for all of these issues and are tasked with thrashing things out and bringing some consensus to the last Workshop. If you have a dog (or tennis racket) in any of these fights, get in touch with Jake Gilchrist, Rec and Park manager for the Dolores Park rehabilitation and ask to be placed on an exploratory committee.

Conceptual Plans for a Rehabilitated Dolores Park from Workshop #2

The entrance and facility are universally accessible, and the meeting will be bi-lingual English/Spanish. Child Care will be available. For more information call Jake at 415-581-2561 or email Jacob.Gilchrist@sfgov.org

Dolores Park Rehabilitation Workshop #3
Thursday, August 4 at 6:30 PM
Everett Middle School Cafeteria, 450 Church St. (Enter on 17th Street through the parking lot)

Posted in Events | Tagged Community Meeting, Rec and Park Department, Renovation |

Briefly Noted – 2011-08-01

Posted on August 1, 2011 by DPW

One week until #Slutwalk ,(Slut Walk San Francisco) August 6, 2pm, Dolores Park, (via @SocialistViews)
–Who said the Socialist Workers don’t have a sense of humor?
Well, we will definitely be ready to discuss restrooms at Thursday’s Workshop.
Dolores Park Rehabilitation… http://fb.me/UO2N2RyY
SNAP: Best Park Bench Ever http://ow.ly/5N6I6 (via @MLNow)
Philanthropist Boutique Donates 100% of Summer Months Profits to SF Parks http://t.co/H0XwA3a (via @SFRecParkGM)
Tell e’m, Dolores sent ya.
One of the many California State Parks targeted for closure is one of our most haunting. http://fb.me/BH3zuQiw . Save our State Parks!!

Posted in Tweets | Tagged Twitter |

Dolores Park Rehab Workshop #3

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Robert Brust

On Thursday, August 4 at 6:30 pm Rec and Park and the Dolores Park Rehabilitation Project Steering Committee will be hosting Workshop #3.

Update- we have a new location- Everett Middle School, 450 Church Street. This will to be the first of the final two community workshops in the participatory planning process. At Workshop #3, community members will work in small groups discussing alternatives, and will vote to decide their preferred direction for each aspect of the park. Then, on Thursday, August 25, at the final workshop community members will review, refine and draft a plan that brings together all of the community’s preferred approaches.

Community suggestions for an improved Dolores Park.

After this final workshop, the Dolores Park Rehabilitation Project Steering Committee will continue to meet to assure all the communities of Dolores Park are represented throughout the project. The Steering Committee is composed of over 40 representatives of diverse community organizations, institutions and constituencies.

If you have any questions, suggestions or ideas, please email Jake Gilchrist, the project manager, at Jacob.Gilchrist@sfgov.org or call Jake at 415-581-2561. And please keep up to date on the renovation here.

Update:

Dolores Park Rehabilitation Workshop #3
Thursday, August 4, 6:30 to 8:30 pm
Everett Middle School
450 Church Street (enter on 17th Street through the parking lot)

Posted in Events | Tagged Community Meeting, Rec and Park Department, Renovation |

Dolores Park Picnic Total Fun

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Robert Brust

Good weather and a great turnout made for a wonderful Dolores Park Garden Day and Picnic on Saturday. Over 30 volunteers under the direction of Rec and Park gardeners Sean and Peter concentrated on reviving the north field by scrapping away weeks worth of cigarette butts, bottle caps and other micro litter.

The Picnic.

We followed with a short program thanking our volunteers and our sponsors, BiRite Market, Dolores Park Cafe and Morning Due Cafe for the great lunch. Also on hand, were representatives from our friends Dolores Park Church, Dolores Park Dogs, The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and Dolores Heights Improvement Club. The Volunteer Center also sent us several students from the Year Up program.

The Friends of Dolores Park Playground accept the Steward of the Year Award

And before we all sat down to that great picnic lunch, I am very pleased to announce that we awarded the first Dolores Park Works Steward of the Year Award to The Friends of Dolores Park Playground. This award will to be given to those who have shown exemplary service in the past year to pursuing one or more of the goals of Dolores Park Works. The Friends were selected because they have recognized the irreplaceable importance of play and recreation to young families and the need to support and recognize this. They have also vigorously pursued the best design, natural materials and plantings for the new playground and have pledged their commitment to the continuing maintenance and support of the Helen Diller Playground at Dolores Park.

Park volunteers hard at work.

And finally, Jake Gilchrist, manager for the upcoming Dolores Park rehabilitation was kind enough to come by on his weekend to up date us on the planning process. We can expect to see several prospective design ideas at our next Workshop on August 4, 6:30 pm. The Park Department and the Dolores Park Rehabilitation Project Steering Committee is hosting these important workshops to set the direction of the Dolores Park Rehabilitation Plan. A final meeting is planned for Thursday, August 25 at 6:30. The location of both of these meetings is still to be confirmed.

Posted in News | Tagged Clean-up, DPW Event, Friends of Dolores Park Playground, Jake Gilchrist, Trash |

MUNI and Park Dept. Pledge to Work Together to Tackle Dolores Park Problems

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Robert Brust

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has pledged to work with the Park Department to solve many of the entrenched issues plaguing Dolores Park. At a Board of Supervisors sub- committee hearing on Monday, John Haley, MTA director of Transit pledged the MTA’s cooperation with RPD in solving such issues as graffiti, trash and crime. When asked about participating in the planning for the upcoming Dolores Park rehabilitation, Haley stated, “We will support the process as much as we can.”

MUNI J Church rolling down Dolores Heights towards downtown. (1960?)

Eric Andersen, RPD manager for Area 6, said one of his main goals in renovation is to see the long closed and abandoned 19th street MUNI stop demolished and replaced with landscaping. He called the old stop an attractive nuisance, a shooting gallery, a graffiti magnet, and an open sewer. Jake Gilchrist, RPD manager for the Dolores Park renovation, said he was hoping for help from the MTA in a new design for the 18th Street entrance. “This corner is Dolores’s gateway to the Castro,” Gilchrist told the commission. It is now dominated by the J Church MUNI stop and an awkward wheelchair accessible ramp system.

Scott Wiener, District 8 supervisor had initially called John Haley for a report on plans to improve the performance of the J Church. Wiener told Dolores Park Works that he decided to add a discussion on Dolores Park and to bring in representatives from RPD in order to institute a dialogue between the two departments. ”In the past, there’s been little or no communication, and Rec & Park has been unable to effectively work with MTA.” Wiener said. ”I’m hoping this hearing will change that dynamic and possibly result in an understanding between the two departments, an understanding that will establish a vision for the area and define responsibilities.”