MLK National Day of Service
Monday was a special day for our nation and for us here in San Francisco. While many of us took the opportunity to reflect on this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and even enjoy a little free swimming at MLK Pool, we also had a chance to roll up our sleeves and give something back to our communities. Since 1994, MLK Day has been also recognized as the national MLK Day of Service, when individuals come together to volunteer in honor of Mr. King’s legacy.
On Monday, we partnered with the African American Art and Culture Complex--a community organization dedicated to empowering youth and promoting the arts and local artists-- and several other city agencies, including SFMTA, DPW and the police department, to provide volunteer opportunities to the public.
At Rec and Park, we hosted three volunteer park projects: weeding and mulching at Buena Vista Park, pulling and hauling brush at Tenderloin Recreation Center, and planting new trees at Lake Merced. I was truly impressed with the effort to get a wide range of people into our parks to help out.
Every year, volunteers spend more than 129,000 hours cleaning up and beautifying our park spaces. In an era of severely diminished resources, we need all the helping hands we can get to help keep our parks clean and safe.
Today was an excellent reminder that when we all pitch in, great things can happen.
GGP Volunteer Fair
Speaking of volunteers, next Wednesday, on January 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., we’ll co-host the annual Golden Gate Park Volunteer Fair, an opportunity for the public to learn about all of the exciting ways in which they can volunteer in the park, including park stewardship projects, being a park guide or learning to be a “jungle docent” at the Conservatory of Flowers. The event is free to the public and kicks off in the Conservatory’s Orchid Room. Co-hosts include the SF Botanical Garden, the California Academy of Sciences, the de Young Museum, the Conservatory of Flowers and the San Francisco Parks Trust.
See you there!
The Magnificent Palace of Fine Arts
On Friday, the Palace of Fine Arts officially reopened to the public after a seven-year journey to restore this last remaining jewel from the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition.
In spring 2003, then-District 2 Supervisor Gavin Newsom wrote a column in a neighborhood newspaper urging public support for restoring this incredible symbol of San Francisco’s strength, beauty and resolve. He lauded the effort begun by Mayor Brown and GM Elizabeth Goldstein in 2000 but questioned whether a public-private partnership could work, one in which both government and the community did their part to bring the Palace back to its glory days and keep it there. While optimistic, then-Supervisor Newsom was clear about the challenges. He cited a $3M state grant that had been awarded and then revoked in a budget battle up in Sacramento.
Well, there have been some ups and downs for this project over the past seven years, but Supervisor Newsom’s optimism in 2003 was well founded. The recipe for success in undertaking such an enormous project calls for a lot of patience, an unwavering passion for our park spaces and several dashes of chutzpah in the form of one Donna Huggins, one Hans Baldauf and one Jan Berkfeldt from the Maybeck Foundation.
Here are a few other ingredients that have gone into making this project possible:
- 7 years
- 1 great project team from Rec and Park and DPW
- 4 Project Phases
- $21 million
- 1,200 donors
- $2m in actual and in kind support from Rec and Park for the final phase of this project
- $500k grant from the California Cultural and Historic Endowment which get us over the hump.
- And a long list of individuals from the City family, including former Mayor Gavin Newsom, former District 2 Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier and the Recreation and Park Commission, who have all supported our Project Team members from Rec and Park and DPW from Day One
- And, a few happy swans – Blanche, Blue-Boy and Bella (This is a fairy tale ending for all.)
This wonderful and historic restoration project could not have happened if it wasn’t for the public’s partnership efforts and its willingness to trust our commitment and resolve, and I want to personally thank each and every one of the 1,200 donors for their contributions.
Friday’s event was not only a celebration of this beloved jewel, but a victory party for what is a shining example of public/private partnerships.
As the general manager of the Recreation and Park Department, I know first hand the importance of public/private partnerships and the integral role they are currently playing in the survival of our city park system.
In an era of severely constrained resources, government can no longer do it alone. We must continue to find support through philanthropy and the development of these types of public/private partnerships in order for public recreation and our city parks to survive.
The Palace of Fine Arts turns 100 in 2015, and I hope we will all continue to work together to make sure our beloved Palace is endowed and protected with the resources and stewardship it deserves and the ongoing and long term maintenance it will need. If the result of this project is any indication, I am confident we can accomplish this together.
Posts
