San Francisco to reopen Dolores Park

  • 2015-06-24
The City of San Francisco has renovated the northern section of Dolores Park and reopened it with a grand party.

The park is the busiest place in the city for recreational activities, and much of it has been closed for over a year. Originally built in 1905, Dolores Park has never had an upgrade of any kind.

This first part of the construction includes new bathrooms and tennis courts, free Wi-Fi and playing fields. The park was also experiencing draining and irrigation problems. These difficulties created large mud holes throughout the park. The problems have been corrected, and additionally, the new underground work has been covered by six acres of Bermuda grass sod.

There's a lot more to do, and the start of the next phase of renovations is coinciding with the reopening of the north side of the park. The work on the south side is forecast to last into the early part of 2016, with a total cost for all the renovations of $20.5 million.

The park has a history of drawing people from all walks of life and social strata to picnic, sunbathe, bicycle, and stroll. On weekends, the number of people using the 14-acre site can reach 10,000.

Dolores Park reopened on Thursday, June 18th with a silent disco in the afternoon.

In future, city officials could work with a banner printing company on a large, colorful banner to celebrate such events.