Duboce Park Update

By Mark Scheuer, President Friends of Duboce Park (FDP)

Lights In Duboce Park

Lights are planned for the pathway in Duboce Park using funds from this year's Rec & Park capital budget. Construction and installation actually began in mid-March, much to the surprise of FDP, neighbors, and even Adrian, our park gardener. Work was temporarily stopped when community members complained to Rec & Park about the number of lights, the height of the lights, the style of the lights, and the location of the lights.

Work has halted so the community could meet with Rec & Park to discuss the project and offer their input. A special meeting was held on March 24 at the Harvey Milk Rec Center. Rec & Park is not required to have a community meeting when the project cost is under $50/000 and the project is considered maintenance.

However, at the meeting, Dan McKenna, Superintendent for the Southern Division, S.F. Rec & Park, agreed to consider our requests for different lights after we offered to pay the difference between the fixtures that were going to be used and ones the community will select. We were given two weeks to agree to fund the difference. An Ad Hoc Committee was immediately formed to do two things: one, raise the funds, and, two, select the lighting.

The Committee raised the amount needed in just a few days, thanks to the fund raising efforts of Casey Cacioppo. Research on the types of fixtures and lights was done by Derek Durst. The Committee will now go through the process of actually selecting the fixtures to be used. Installation will be resumed when the newly selected lights and fixtures arrive, probably in early June.

Rec & Park has agreed to make the following changes: demolish all of the two foot pedestals that have already been installed and relocate them underground so they are not visible; reduce the number of lights from 13 to 8 (although this could change to 7 or 9 after an illumination study of the new fixtures is done); and, pedestals that have not yet been poured will be relocated to the north side of the pathway. There will also be discussion about relocating a few of the lights from the south side to the north side of the path.

ParkScan

The Neighborhood Parks Council has invited Friends of Duboce Park to participate in a new program called ParkScan. ParkScan is an innovative, community-based program to improve standards of park maintenance through the use of technology (PDA's and digital cameras) and park volunteers. Friends of Duboce Park needs 6-8 volunteers to participate in the program. Training takes place in two sessions, each lasting no longer than 90 minutes. The technology will allow pictures of the problems in Duboce Park and the exact locations of the problem to be sent to Rec & Park via e-mail.

After each survey, done once or twice a month, an Observer Team has three days in which to prioritize the findings and report to Rec & Park. Rec & Park will respond to the identified problem(s) within one to three days. Observer Teams are made up of two people.

For more information, visit www.parkscansf.org. If you are interested in being a volunteer, please call Mark Scheuer, 415-252-0907 or www.scheuersf@aol.com.

Harvey Milk Renovations

The next community meeting to discuss the planned renovations to the Harvey Milk Rec Center will be held on Monday, May 19, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. About 50 people attended the last community meeting on March 10, 2003.

Community members and representatives from groups that regularly use the Rec Center listened to a formal presentation made by Department of Public Works and Rec & Park that reviewed the objectives of the Task Force, project goals, and approximate timing of the various stages of creating and implementing the final plans. About $1.7 million has been allocated for the renovations.

Attendees then split into three focus groups to discuss their feelings about the Rec Center and programs and changes they would like to see in the new Rec Center. All of the ideas, thoughts, and suggestions made in the focus groups have been reviewed by the Task Force and will be considered in making the final plans.

Updates

The community bulletin board planned for Duboce Park is waiting for final approval of a bulletin board that has both a glass or clear plastic cover and a lock to ensure that the community has control over what is officially posted...the first community programming (movie night, yoga and meditation, San Francisco history) to be run at the Rec Center by Friends of Duboce Park is still in the planning stages. Once the proper insurance is secured, programming will begin. Our website, www.Duboce Park.com, is under construction and should be up and running within a few months.

Next Meeting

The next general membership meeting for Friends of Duboce Park will be on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 from 7:00 to to 8:30 p.m., at the Harvey Milk Rec Center. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us at scheuersf@aol.com or call 252-0907.