Julius Kahn Renovation in the Works

by Alisa Farenzeno

A playground in the Presidio may soon get a facelift.

In November the SF Recreation and Park Commission will decide whether to approve a design for the renovation of the Children's Play Area in the Julius Kahn Playground, according to project director Lizzy Hirsch.

"We've gone through three community meetings," Hirsch said. "On Sept. 31, we got community approval to give the conceptual plan to the Parks and Planning Committee (of the commission) for approval on Nov. 6."

According to Hirsch, the designer is Vincent Lattanzio of Carducci Associates and the project involves "renovating the existing playground to comply with current (ADA and playground) requirements."

"There are different safety guidelines, including (one that requires) having an accessible route from the road," said San Francisco Recreation and Park Department Capital Program Manager Gary Hoy.

The project includes re-aligning the park's entrance path into the playground, replacing the current asphalt path with a concrete one, Hirsch said.

Hoy said that another new safety regulation requires "a six-foot clearance around every play apparatus," so that a child will not collide with a play structure if he or she falls from another piece of equipment.

Funding for the project gained approval Oct. 18, when SF Mayor Willie Brown signed Resolution 705-02, which accepted a $750,000 donation to renovate the playground, according to Diane Perez, administrative assistant to the clerk of the Board of Supervisors.

The board passed the resolution at its Oct. 7 meeting.

The commission signed off on the expenditure Sept. 19 by approving a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Recreation and Park Department, Presidio Trust and Friends of Recreation and Parks, according to Hirsch.

She said the commission's finance committee reviewed the MOU on July 10 after the Helen and Sanford Diller Supporting Foundation donated a $750,000 gift-in-place for the park's renovation to move forward.

For the final stage in the process, the project needs approval from the Presidio Trust.

"We have preliminary OKs from them," Hirsch said. "We'll seek final approval sometime in the next month."

Julius Kahn Playground is located on West Pacific Avenue, inside the Presidio.