Richmond Roundup

Commission OKs new USF science center

The SF Planning Commission said it was OK for the University of San Francisco to build a new science building after neighborhood opposition was assuaged.

Neighbors near the university campus have been fighting for years over expansion and development plans. But just before the commission was set to vote on the 60,000-square-foot science building, university officials and neighbors agreed to work together to address issues and communicate openly.

The new building will house classrooms and laboratories. Officials stressed that the new site was replacing an older one, and that there was no expansion of space at the campus.

YMCA director transfers to Texas

The executive director of the Richmond Branch YMCA, Tiffany Patterson, has transferred to Austin Texas to become the director of the local Y there.

"For the past 15 years, San Francisco has been my home, so I know a part of my heart will be left here forever," Patterson said.

Patterson's last day at the Richmond YMCA, located at 360 18th Ave., was June 25. A new executive director had not been named as of presstime.

Polo wins small business award

Tal-y-Tara Tea and Polo Shop, located on California Street in the Outer Richmond District, was honored with a small business award by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma as part of California Small Business Day.

Since 1980, Tal-y-Tara "has been San Francisco's most unique hidden treasure, perfectly blending the cultures of tea and horses" Ma said.

Tal-y-Tara (pronounced TAL-ee-TAR-ah) in Gaelic means "by the strength of the king."

Tal-y-Tara Tea hosts charity equestrian events, such as Polo in the Park, Jumping in the Park and Dressage in the Park, to create awareness of, and to raise money for, its James S. Brady Therapeutic Riding Program for Children with Special Needs.

Ma presented the award to Tal-y-Tara at the California Small Business Day luncheon held at the Sacramento Convention Center. More than 75 legislators participated in honoring small businesses in their districts at the luncheon.

For more information about Tal-y-Tara, visit its website at www.talytara.com.

Presidio greens get 'greener'

With its panoramic views of San Francisco and the Pacific Ocean and its rich and colorful history, the Presidio Golf Course is one of the park's defining features and contributes to the Presidio's National Historic Landmark status.

The course has also been recognized as a leader in environmentally sensitive golf course management. Operating within the Presidio Trust's guidelines, Superintendent Brian Nettz tends the course with innovative practices that marry top-quality playing conditions with high-quality agronomic standards and environmental sensitivity. His efforts have earned Nettz the prestigious Turfgrass Excellence Award in the public category from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of Northern California.

By taking a preventative approach to pest control and focusing on alternatives to pesticides, the golf course has been able to cut its pesticide use in half in the last decade and now uses 70 - 85 percent less pesticide than private courses in San Francisco.

For instance, instead of chemical pesticides, groundskeepers spray a "compost tea" - a solution made by soaking compost in water to extract nutrients from the compost - on the course's greens to control disease and promote turf health. They also aerate and over-seed fairways to create conditions more favorable to turf and less favorable to weeds. Groundskeepers even change the type of turf and trim tree branches to reduce shade on certain holes in an effort to control the invasive, worm-like nematode.

Built in 1895, the Presidio Golf Course is the second oldest course in Northern California. President Theodore Roosevelt reviewed the troops there in 1903 and three years later the course was used as a refugee camp for survivors of the 1906 earthquake. Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby played there. In 1995, it opened to the general public.