Richmond Roundup

More Studies for Presidio Hospital
The Presidio Trust has decided to expand the scope of its environmental assessment for potential projects at the closed Public Health Service Hospital, located at 15th Avenue and Lake Street.

The Presidio Trust recently picked Forest City Development to develop the hospital site. The main part of the hospital is considered historic but two wings, added later, can be removed to facilitate new construction, including at the environmentally-sensitive Battery Caulfield site.

Forest City has submitted four proposals, including one that would create 350 units of housing. That proposal angered some neighbors, who said the project was too ambitious.

There will be a meeting to discuss proposed plans at the Presidio Officers' Club, located at 50 Moraga Ave., on Tuesday, June 29, at 6 p.m. For more information, call (415) 561-5414 or go to the website at www.presidio.gov.

Summer camps at Presidio
Summer camp programs at Crissy Field in the Presidio enable youth to experience their urban environment and local national park with the help of tools at the Crissy Field Center learning labs. There are a variety of nine week-long sessions for youth to choose from and investigations of different parks will occur each day.

As a Junior Ranger in either the south or north district, youth can track and learn about hawks, falcons and other birds of prey at Raptor Camp; learn about the residents of San Francisco Bay on Ohlone Journeys; explore the Presidio's natural and cultural history as a Presidio Trekker; develop creative ways to save the planet while on Planet Patrol; track the creatures that live in the Presidio on Animal Adventures; cook up a storm and investigate Fabulous Food; or explore the ecosystem using technology as an Eco-Explorer.

All camps meet at the Crissy Field Center, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., with extended care available. Summer camps range in price from $299 to $399 per session; scholarships are available.

For more information or to register, call 561-7762 or visit www.crissyfield.org.

Stern Grove Festival kicks off June 13
This year's Stern Grove Festival free concert series will take place every Sunday from June 13 through Aug. 15. The concerts will be held at Sigmund Stern Grove, located on 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard, at 2 p.m.

Scheduled performances are:

· June 13 - "Jazz Originals," featuring the inventive jazz stylings of the Regina Carter Quintet after an opening of folk, jazz, world and classical music by acoustic chamber group Tin Hat Trio;

· June 20 - Marks the return of an annual favorite, the San Francisco Symphony, which will perform works by Dvorak, Mussorgsky and others with conductor Edwin Outwater;

· June 27 - "Maria de Buenos Aires" will perform an opera that was performed by the Long Beach Opera Company with tango dancers, classical music and imaginative lyrics created by composer Astor Piazzolla;

· July 4 - "Independence Day in the Grove" celebrates the world premiere performance of "American Rhapsodies," during which Anthony Brown's Asian American orchestra and Melody of China will meld Asian instrumentation with jazz, classical, folk and contemporary music;

· July 11 - "Spirits of Song" presents Souad Massi, whose vocals fuse classical Algerian music and Andalusian flamenco with Western rock and folk sounds, and Mexican-American vocalist Lila Downs, who combines jazz, gospel and hip-hop with traditional Mexican folk music;

· July 18 - "Africa, Near and Far" will captivate the audience with rich vocal harmonies, traditional percussion, Sufi-inspired chant and Afro-Cuban singing with Senegalese vocalist Youssou N'Dour, the Super Etoile De Dakar and the West African Highlife Band;

· July 25 - Explore musical traditions from "Bombay to Bali" through performances by Indian percussionist/vocalist Trilok Gurtu and local ensemble Gamelan Sekar Jaya;

· Aug. 1 - "Sounds Electronic" as producer Mercan Dede's musicians and dancers interlace the polyrhythms of Eastern music with live instruments and electronic beats. Ex-Centric Sound System will also be on hand to blend African styles and chant with modern dance;

· Aug. 8 - A special performance by an annual favorite, the San Francisco Ballet, in the professional ballet company's only Bay Area summer appearance;

· Aug. 15 closes the season with "Summertime Blues," as Grammy winner John Hammond performs with Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise.

For more information about the free Stern Grove Festival concert series, pre-concert talks, blood drives and kids' days, call 252-6252 or visit the festival's web site at www.sterngrove.org.

Students at Alamo cut CD
The Friends of Alamo School Foundation will release a CD of original music written and performed by Alamo Elementary School students and music instructor Kat Sena. The artwork of Alamo students Hazel Bowen, Megan Chan, Maggie Hardy, Hana Murphy and Kevin Wong grace the cover of the CD.

The "Alamo Sings!" CD cost $12 and profits go to support the school's arts enrichment classes. For more information, call Kat at 305-5078.

Richmond Library Nears Landmark Status

The Richmond/Senator Milton Marks Library moved one step closer to achieving landmark status when the SF Planning Commission voted unanimously May 20 to approve the action.

The library, located at 351 Ninth Ave., was built in 1913 with money granted by Andrew Carnegie.

The landmark legislation now goes to the SF Board of Supervisors and then to the mayor for approval before officially becoming a city landmark.

Surf Rescue Unit to Get Award for Valor
Four members of the SF Fire Department's Surf Rescue Unit will be given the second annual Moore Medical Valor Award June 3 for their daring rescue of two men whose sailboat capsized in 12-foot waves.

Recognized for their heroic efforts are Beth Goudreau, Elizabeth Leahy, Jonathan Baxter and Jason Woo. By winning the award, each member of the rescue team will receive $250 and the rescue unit will receive $1,000.

The Surf Rescue Unit is a part of Station 18, located on Geary Boulevard at 41st Avenue in the Outer Richmond District.

The award ceremony, led by SF Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, will be held on Thursday, June 3, at 11 a.m., at the Ocean Beach parking lot at Sloat Boulevard and the Great Highway.

Free Park Shuttle Begins
A free shuttle service, with multiple stopping points in Golden Gate Park, began operating again in May.

The service, which continues weekends and holidays through Oct. 31, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., picks up passengers at approximately 15-minute intervals at 15 locations throughout the park.

Popular stops include the Conservatory of Flowers, National AIDS Memorial Grove, Japanese Tea Garden, Strybing Arboretum, Stow Lake, Polo Fields, and Beach Chalet.

Park visitors are encouraged to leave their cars at the nearby UCSF parking garage and to ride the free shuttle from there into the park.

For more information about the service, visit www.goldengateparkconcourse.org.

Eagles Win Title
The George Washington High School Eagles won the city's softball championship and then traveled to Oakland to defeat Skyline in the Transbay Series, two games to none.

The Eagles garnered their third consecutive title with a 24-4 regular season record.

Oceanside Plant Wins Award

The Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant, under the direction of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), received the 2003 California Water Environmental Association's Plant of the Year Award (CWEA) on April 30.

Since 1991, the Oceanside Plant, nestled on a bluff alongside the SF Zoo, has been responsible for treating wastewater and storm water coming from the western half of the City. This means that not only everyday sewage from homes and businesses gets treated at Oceanside, but also rainwater and street runoff as well. San Francisco is one of a select few cities on the West Coast that utilize this combined sewer system to ensure that up to 95 percent of water pollutants, including oil, trash, pesticides and fertilizers are removed before being released into the Pacific Ocean.

The Oceanside Plant was selected for the prestigious award over municipalities in Los Angeles, Santa Cruz and Orange Counties when CWEA took notice of the SFPUC's unique "pre-treatment" programs, which ensure only minimal amounts of pollutants reach ocean waters. The Oceanside Plant is also distinctive for utilizing MAXIMO, a state-of-the-art computerized system that controls and monitors various treatment processes and tracks the need for maintenance.

On any given day at the Oceanside Plant, approximately 16.2 million gallons of wastewater is treated and released 4.5 miles out into the Pacific Ocean. This figure jumps 400 percent to more than 65 million gallons a day during a rainy period. It takes, on average, four engineers along with a maintenance staff of 18 to ensure that the plant runs smoothly. Oceanside also employs a unique mix of chemists and biologists to monitor ocean waters and meet compliance with federal and state permit requirements.

But the physical workings of Oceanside are only one reason it was selected Plant of the Year.

According to Bonnie Jones, who has worked as a Process Engineer at Oceanside for nearly five years, programs like the Dental Amalgam Reduction Program were key in winning over state judges. The unique program requires dental offices to have the proper equipment to prevent mercury wastes from entering the sewer system. Oceanside Plant Wins Award

Successful Safari at Zoo
Richmond District resident Marie Louise Hurabiell was the chairwoman of the Spring Safari, a successful fundraising event, featuring food, music and dancing, held at the SF Zoo April 17.

The event raised about $110,000 for the Holy Family Day Home, an early education program for homeless and low-income children.

Symphony Parnassus Presents Jazz Great
On Sunday, June 13. at 3 p.m., the Cowell Theater at the Fort Mason Center will be filled with music played by the University of California, San Francisco's Symphony Parnassus.

The program includes Falla's El Amor Brujo Ballet suite, Ravel's Piano Concerto in G and the world premiere of Concerto for Jazz Saxophone and Orchestra, featuring John Handy.

Tickets are $15 to $20 or $8 for youth aged 17 and younger. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 986-6026.

Free Folk Festival in June
On Saturday, June 26, and Sunday, June 27, from noon until 11 p.m., the 28th annual San Francisco Free Folk Festival will offer two days of free music and dance at the Roosevelt Middle School, located at 460 Arguello Blvd. The two-day event will feature nationally and internationally acclaimed performers, including musicians, singers, dancers and storytellers. Festival visitors are encouraged to participate in workshops, crafts, special music performances, and other family-oriented activities throughout the event. Food will also be available.

The diverse gamut of scheduled performers includes Medieval and Renaissance musicians, Irish musicians, honky tonk and bluegrass acoustics and Scottish dancers. Workshops range from song writing to ballroom and cultural dancing. For more information, including a complete list of performances, activities and workshops, go to the website at www.sffolkfest.org.

Clarification
The Presidio Dance Theatre featured in last month's "Richmond Review" is sponsored by the Presidio Performing Arts Foundation and receives support from the Louis R. Lurie Foundation and BNP Paribas. To contact the Presidio Dance Theatre, call 561-3958.