The neighborhood group Friends of Alta Plaza is angling to push ahead with aspects of a master plan document that dates back to 2016, following news that two recently deceased neighbors left significant sums of money to the park in their wills.
As The New Fillmore reported this week, the late William Benjamin Bobo of 2580 Clay Street, a longtime neighborhood resident, left a staggering sum of $3.2 million for "more benches" to be installed in the park. Another neighbor who died recently, Jeanette Ann Goldstein, also left $50,000 in her will for Alta Plaza Park.
Combined, this $3.25 million in funds presents a terrific opportunity to renovate, and the Friends of Alta Plaza are reprotedly gathering to discuss the next steps. As Anita Denz tells The New Fillmore, the sums, especially the bequest from Bobo, amount to far more than they need just for new benches, so they are thinking bigger.
Alta Plaza Park, atop Pacific Heights, is hardly the city park in San Francisco that is most in need of refurbishing. However neighbors and fans of the park have long hoped to update it with a welcoming Central Plaza at the top of the park's famous central stairway.
This Central Plaza was a primary component of a 2016 master plan, drafted by Miller Co. Landscape Architects, which describes it as a currently underutilized area that presents "an opportunity for park visitors to gather, socialize, relax and take in the view south across the city."
The plan envisions a central green surrounded by pavers and eight new benches, with "a long curved wood bench at the north end of the plaza."
"The playground fence would be moved to the inside of the planting area, which will be replanted with Washingtonia filibusta Palm trees and a mix of native and climate-adapted flowering perennials," the plan continues.
It's not yet clear when the neighbors' group will take their wish list, and this landscape design, to Rec & Parks, which is receiving the bequests. And, reportedly, the Parks Alliance will receive a portion of the money as well.
