PERIODIC UPDATES AND STORIES ON PARK PARTNERS AND OTHER SFPT COMMUNITY PROJECTS.
Park Partner: Friends of Presidio Heights Playground On July 17, 2010 the newly renovated Presidio Heights Playground opened to the public after more than four years of community planning and fundraising led by the Friends of Presidio Heights Playground (FPHP), a community group sponsored through San Francisco Parks Trust's Park Partners program. Beginning in 2005, six women formed a group of volunteers to pursue renovation of the Presidio Heights Playground, located on Clay Street between Walnut and Laurel. The park was dilapidated and had not been updated since 1969, was not ADA compliant, and was rat infested. A blocked sewer pipe had flooded the park's play sand area. After learning that the playground was 254th on the list of parks slated for improvement and there was no possibility of City funding, the group formed Friends of Presidio Heights Playground and went to work. Starting in 2006, the community group solicited input on a schematic design and began seeking community support for the renovation, which would need to be 100% privately funded. Fliers, neighborhood newsletters, mothers groups, and email lists inspired action and consensus, and plans were unanimously approved at a community meeting in 2007. "It seemed impossible at first," explained Amy McNamara, one of the original volunteers, "but these talented women put their minds together and never gave up. At a time when it would have been easy for the community to use the economy as an excuse, they instead came together to restore an important park that serves as a neighborhood backyard." The new park includes a basketball court, picnic grove, separate toddler and older children's play areas, nature nook, sand adventure area, new landscaping and ample seating throughout the park. Phase II of the renovation will include a new ADA compliant entry ramp and new landscaping on Clay Street.
Community Project: Nature in the City's Green Hairstreak Corridor Nature in the City's Green Hairstreak Corridor Project aims to create new habitat for a threatened San Francisco butterfly- the Green Hairstreak (left). SFPT's Street Parks program helped establish new parcels that the Project populated with the specific plants the butterfly needs to get nectar and lay its eggs. The project has been a concerted effort by dedicated volunteers who have created habitats at four sites in San Francisco's Sunset district to connect two isolated populations of the butterflies (one at Rocky Outcrop and the other at Hawk Hill) allowing them to interbreed, and saving them from further population decline. On April 21st, there was the first ever butterfly sighting at the 14th and Pacheco Street Park, indicating that the Green Hairstreaks are indeed making their way further down the corridor - increasing the chances that the two populations will interbreed. Congratulations to everyone on their hard work! To learn more about this interesting project, volunteer, or donate, please visit visit here.