Tony Hall: We Must Save a City Treasure: the Golden Gate Park Stables

Two months ago, my office began receiving calls, letters and e-mails regarding the closure of a city landmark.

We were informed that the stables at Golden Gate Park were going to be closed on Sept. 30. Like the callers, I was upset at the loss of yet another longtime San Francisco tradition. Since then, my staff has been researching the problem and I would like to give you an update on the situation.

In the mid-1860s, San Franciscans began advocating for a spacious city park. On April 4, 1870, the California Legislature, at the urging of SF Mayor Frank McCoppin, designated a tract of 1,013 acres stretching from Stanyan Street to the ocean. The low bidder at $4,860 and recipient of the survey contract was 25-year-old William Hammond Hall (no relation). Although not a gardener, horticulturist or landscape architect, Hall was instrumental in the design of Golden Gate Park. By 1875, he had brought a great deal of his vision to life. He devised the Panhandle, reclaimed sand dunes and created a bulwark to block the winds and blowing sands. He also created a nursery, planted about 60,000 trees, and built numerous buildings - one of which was the Golden Gate Park Stables.

He is also responsible for hiring John McLaren, the longtime Park Superintendent.

During its 130 years of existence, the stables have housed polo ponies, provided jobs for Depression-era workers who built additions to the facility and introduced generations of school children and adults to the joys of horseback-riding.

Always a "horse town," the City once had 22 public stables. As the years passed, these stables gradually closed. Now there is only one - the Golden Gate Park Stables.

I, along with my colleague Jake McGoldrick, immediately called for a hearing on the status of the stables. Supervisor Leland Yee, chairman of the Neighborhood Services and Parks Committee, who also called for a hearing on this issue, scheduled it for July 17.

Appearing before the committee and a standing-room-only crowd of approximately 100 people, Elizabeth Goldstein, director of the Recreation and Park Department, stated that it was not the intention of the department to permanently close the facility. But they do feel that the stable should be closed temporarily while capital improvements take place.

Due to ongoing settlement negotiations she was not able to provide us with all the details we were seeking. However, Supervisor Yee has requested a special closed session of our committee to discuss the City's position and various options that may be available to us.

During the public comment period, a number of people spoke very eloquently about the stables. Some mentioned their fear that any closure of the stables may become permanent.

Others suggested ways in which the stables could be of additional benefit to underprivileged children and disabled citizens. Finally, many of the speakers were young girls who live in the west side of San Francisco. They told the committee of their relationship with the horses, the training they receive and the life lessons they are learning. I was very impressed by their passionate pleas to keep the stables in operation.

To ensure the future of the stables, I introduced two resolutions at the July 23 meeting of the Board of Supervisors. The first calls for the creation of a Working Group made up of five individuals with different areas of equestrian expertise to meet and evaluate various funding opportunities as well as evaluating the most efficient and effective manner to repair and improve the stables. They will be able to provide valuable input to the Recreation and Park Commission and to the Board of Supervisors on various methods of funding repairs and capital improvements at the stables.

The second resolution is based on 1998's Proposition J. This voter-approved legislation authorizes the Golden Gate Park Concourse Authority to pay for expenditures designed to implement improvements at Golden Gate Park. My resolution urges the Recreation and Park Department to consider the option of allocating existing funds sufficient to repair and improve the Golden Gate Park Stables, and then repay the monies by soliciting funds from the Golden Gate Park Concourse Authority.

I am committed to the long-term future of the Golden Gate Park Stables and will work closely with my colleagues, as well as the Recreation and Park Department, to find the funds necessary to perform capital improvements.

We cannot allow this valuable piece of San Francisco history to ride off into the sunset.

Tony Hall is a member of the SF Board of Supervisors representing District 7.