Residents Upset: For-profit Events Close Arboretum

By Alastair Bland

On Dec. 17, the SF Recreation and Park Department closed Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park from 10 a.m. to approximately 12:30 p.m. for the filming of the reality television show, "The Amazing Race."

John Peterson, the director at the S.F. Botanical Garden, said 1,500 to 2,000 people typically visit the Arboretum on an average weekend day and that during the 150-minute closure in December 100 to 200 potential visitors were affected.

"For safety reasons and revenue and to make sure things went smoothly, there was a delayed opening of the gardens that morning for two or three hours," Peterson said. "It was not closed all day or anything like that."

John Barry, a resident of the Inner Sunset and a veteran board member of the Sunset Heights Association of Responsible People (SHARP), was hosting several visitors from out of town on Dec. 17. They planned to visit the Arboretum that morning but were denied access at the entrance.

Barry says he and several friends remained outside the Arboretum's front gate in mild disbelief after being barred from entering. Within several minutes, a cameraman told them they needed to clear the area to make room for a shot. Barry refused, declaring that while City may have closed the Arboretum for the day, the sidewalk was still open to the public.

The cameraman then motioned for the attention of a nearby police officer, at which point Barry and his company moved on.

"It wasn't worth a fight," he said.

Barry said he still feels anger and believes that such closures of public property by the City are entirely inappropriate during days of heavy pedestrian traffic.

"It should be the City's job to say, 'No, sorry. We can't close this place on a Sunday.'"

Barry also feels that the management of the situation in the course of the day could have gone more smoothly. At 11 a.m., he recalls, he overheard officials telling visitors that the Arboretum would be closed all day.

"In fact, they finished filming at 1 p.m., and they could have tried harder to foresee that, instead of telling people to go home and that it would be closed all day. It was all very sloppy."

According to the SF Recreation and Park Department, a closure permit was granted for $17,000. In addition, World Race Productions, which produces "The Amazing Race," donated $2,500 to the S.F. Botanical Garden Society.

"The funds were helpful," says Peterson. "Closing the Arboretum seemed like a prudent thing to do. I know the city administration thought it was a great idea, and so periodically these things happen on the property of the city. There was some benefit for the gardens. It seemed like a very positive thing."

Barry also pointed out the lack of notification put out by the Rec. and Park Department concerning the closure.

"They should have posted it a month ahead of time. We only came from five minutes away so it was no big deal, but others probably came from all over the Bay Area," he said.

But Dennis Kern, director of operations at the Recreation and Park Department, said only closures of great magnitude merit advance warning for the public.

"I can't go around posting, 'This picnic table will be reserved on Sunday by the Kern family.' Nor do I post that the Civic Center will be closed for the Black and White Ball. The only time we notify the public is for prolonged closures. For example, the Japanese Tea Garden was closed in early 2005 for the filming of "Memoirs of a Geisha."

The Tea Garden was closed to the public for 10 days.

"We got a hefty fee from the producer and we did notify the public for the reason that it was going to be a major impact," Kern said. "Two hours on a Sunday morning doesn't even come close to that kind of impact.

"Our goal is to protect park access for all. At the same time, individual agencies, organizations, non-profits - you name it - can get a permit for a certain amount of time. This is all authorized in the city's park code," he said.

Peterson believes that the benefits imparted to the city by the Dec. 17 closure - and public closures in general - were ultimately worth the inconvenience borne by the park-going public.

"This was the concluding show for a very highly-rated TV show and the San Francisco Botanical Garden will get world-wide recognition as a result of the show being taped at this site.ÊIt portrays the garden as a very significant and notable place to a world-wide audience," Peterson said.