The reopening of Hayes Valley Playground on Saturday, June 8, was a huge celebration—a celebration of our city’s 220 parks and playgrounds, a celebration of a new, highly anticipated playground in the Western Addition neighborhood, and a celebration of the power of partnerships.
Since the 1960s, Hayes Valley Playground has provided an oasis for neighborhood children to get out and play. In one of the densest neighborhoods in the city, where the number of parks and open spaces is extremely limited, our parks are often the only places where people can go to play, exercise or just get some fresh air.
The old Hayes Valley Playground was in poor condition and was no longer meeting the needs of the neighborhood. If ever there was a need for a clean, safe and fun park, it was this.
But we couldn’t do it alone.
In an era of limited resources and ever-shrinking budgets, the Recreation and Park Department is relying more and more on our ability to be creative, build partnerships and leverage philanthropic dollars to help us provide the type of world-class parks and playgrounds our residents deserve.
The Trust for Public Land has been a tremendous partner in helping to revitalize park spaces in some of the city’s densest urban neighborhoods and I want to thank them for being such great champions of our parks. In addition to Hayes Valley, TPL is also working to redevelop parks in densely populated, underserved neighborhoods--- Balboa Park in the Excelsior and Boedekker Park in the Tenderloin. Both projects will get underway this year.
Again, this new playground and clubhouse is the byproduct of a number of folks and their desire to make a difference here. Special thanks to the following people:
TPL
Will Rogers - President of The Trust for Public Land
Sam Hodder - Director of California (TPL)
Jennifer Isacoff - Director of Bay Area Parks for People Program (TPL)
Tim Wirth - Former TPL Director of the Bay Area program
Jessica Partch, Philanthropy Advisor
Kim Kowalski, Event Project Manager
Meghan Pecaut, Alejandra Chiesa, Trudy Garber
TPL leadership volunteers & donors
Lead Donors
Levi Strauss Foundation
Wells Fargo Foundation
Banana Republic
McKesson
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Donors
W&E Haas Fund
David B Gold Foundation
Horace W Goldsmith Foundation
Union Bank
MetLife Foundation
City
San Francisco Arts Commission
Recreation and Park Commission
District 5 Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi
Mayor Ed Lee
Former Mayor/Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom
Community
Fatimah Abdul Khaliq and all of the neighborhood residents who participated in the design process
Opportunity Impact
Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association
Rec and Park Staff
Jake Gilchrist, Project Manager
Dawn Kamalanathan, Capital & Planning Director
Steve Cismowski, PSA Manager
Eladio Mateo, Custodial Supervisor
Lev Kushner, Partnerships & Resource Development Team
Posts
