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plan for Noe Courts, contributed by Terra Ferma
Landscapes of South San Francisco, envisions terraced
seating, a picnic area, and new shrubbery around the
“tot lot” at the park at 24th and Douglass streets. The
design will be fine-tuned over the next few months after
neighbors give their feedback.
Concept plan courtesy Terra Ferma Landscapes |
Relief is on the way for users
of Noe Courts. The park’s long-shuttered restrooms are about
to be replaced, thanks to a $185 million bond measure passed
by San Francisco voters nearly four years ago. Demolition of
the Depression-era facilities is scheduled to start this
spring, and with any luck, the new, wheelchair-accessible
restrooms will be open by next Christmas.
But that's not the only change
in the works for the popular park on Douglass Street between
24th and Elizabeth. With the help of a $210,712 city grant,
the grassy slope between the playground and the tennis and
basketball courts will be transformed—with new landscaping, a
terraced seating and picnic area, and improved drainage.
The Noe Courts award was one of
10 Community Opportunity Fund grants approved by the
Recreation and Park Commission on Oct. 20. (Also receiving
grant money was Upper Douglass Dog Park off 27th Street; its
award, totaling $136,171, will go toward a new drainage system
as well.)
“This is fabulous news,” said
Laura Norman, co-chair of the six-year-old Friends of Noe
Courts Park. “It happened very quickly.”
The Hoffman Avenue resident
explained that the Friends, which has about 150 people on its
mailing list, went to the Neighborhood Parks Council (now part
of the San Francisco Parks Alliance) early this year for ideas
on how to fix up the park. They were encouraged to apply for a
grant from the Community Opportunity Fund, a $5 million pool
to help pay for small-scale park improvements established by
the 2008 bond measure.
After attending applicant
workshops with park department staff and receiving community
input at a meeting May 31, co-chair Justine Sears prepared the
grant application, complete with a site plan by Terra Ferma
Landscapes of South San Francisco.
The application was endorsed by
District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener, former Supervisor Bevan
Dufty, the Neighborhood Parks Council, the Noe Valley
Association, Friends of Noe Valley, and an array of
neighborhood residents and business owners.
Of 22 applications submitted,
park department staff recommended that 10, including the two
in Noe Valley, be funded. Grants, which ranged from $248,239
for a skate park in Balboa Park to $6,500 for a new gate and
sign at Jose Coronado Playground in the Mission, totaled
$1,326,848. Unsuccessful applicants may try again next year.
Norman, who said she was
“surprised and thrilled,” credited Sears for their success.
“Justine did all the work.”
What comes next? Community
Opportunity Fund project manager Jacob Gilchrist said
department staff will be meeting with representatives of the
Friends and the Parks Alliance in early December “to develop
the overall project schedules, then begin detailed design.”
All improvements must be completed within two years, he said.
Sears said that as part of that
process, neighborhood meetings will be held to let the
community weigh in on the design. She said Terra Ferma’s site
plan, which envisions reclaimed granite curb seating, benches
shaded by trees, and a “nature swale” around the tot lot, “is
only conceptual. Nothing is carved in stone.”
Norman said that unlike four
years ago, when the Friends raised $17,000 to help pay for a
new playground, they are not required to contribute cash this
time. But in-kind donations are welcome.
She said she was especially
pleased to hear about the new restrooms.
“So many people use the park,
particularly families with young children. It’s really hard
for kids who are being toilet-trained. Should you make them
wear a diaper because there’s no place to go at the park?”
asked Norman, who has a 9-year-old son and a 7-year-old
daughter.
She said she also looks forward
to the new seating and picnic tables.
“People in the neighborhood have
told us they’d like to spend time in the park, but the grass
is torn up and there’s nowhere to sit. With [Philz Coffee]
going in across the street, people will want a place to hang
out and sip a drink in the sun. The new benches will really
help.”
To contact Friends of Noe
Courts, email noecourts@gmail.com.
