Richmond Playground

The Richmond Playground is a beloved, long-standing neighborhood play space that has served the surrounding community for over 100 years!

In fall of 2019, RPD, MIG Landscape Architects, and the SF Parks Alliance began the design and community engagement process of renovating this well-loved community space. 

The project includes upgrades and accessibility improvements to the public restrooms, accessibility improvements at park entrances, placemaking improvements with new planting, paving, seating and other furnishings, and a complete renovation of the children’s play area with new surfacing and equipment for both the toddler and school aged children’s play areas. 

The anticipated completion date is fall of 2022.

Panhandle Playground

Located at the intersection of Oak and Ashbury in the Panhandle of Golden Gate Park, the Panhandle playground reopened in November of 2019. 

In 2014, the Panhandle Playground initially received a “D” grade on the SF Parks Alliance’s Playground Report Card due to the arsenic-treated wood found in its play structure and swing sets. 

The partners, SF Parks Alliance, Rec and Park Department and the landscape architecture consultant RHAA Landscape Architecture and Planning, spent nine months collecting community input for the new design. The partners held three community workshops, presented at two neighborhood association meetings, and convened two focus groups with adults and two groups with elementary school children, ensuring that anyone who wanted to contribute to the conversation had a chance to do so. 

The playground is fully accessible and designed for diverse types of play and interaction. It was designed to fully take advantage of the play space. Notably, the design was inspired by the natural and cultural environment of San Francisco.

Buchanan Street Mall Playground

This playground redesign is part of a larger planning effort, led by the Trust for Public Land, to redesign all 5 blocks of the Buchanan Street Mall. 

Concept plans have been approved for this playground.

Sergeant John Macaulay Playground (completed in summer 2020)

Sgt. Macaulay Park opened in 1983 in honor of John Macaulay, a police officer who was shot and killed in line of duty in 1982. The park is located in the Tenderloin, a dense and diverse community that currently has limited nearby parks and playgrounds. Aside from the need for general improvements for the aging play structures, the community has also expressed interest in creating a playground that includes activities for children of all ages, as well as sitting areas for families. 

Miller Company is the landscape architecture firm working with SF Recreation and Parks Department, Trust For Public Land, SF Parks Alliance and Saint Francis Foundation to create a safe, multi-generational park with a nature-inspired theme. Improvements include: a playground that has unique custom-built structures, areas for parents and grandparents to gather, additional seating, and an elevated area at the back to increase visibility and variation in the terrain. 

Intense involvement by community groups – including La Voz Latina, Faithful Fools, and Bay Area Women & Children Center – along with residents of the Little Saigon neighborhood has provided important insight. The Trust for Public Land coordinated focus groups, outreach events and stakeholder meetings for additional feedback.

Construction for the playground was completed in summer of 2020, and it is now open to the public!

Washington Square Park Playground

After months of community outreach and construction, Washington Square Park Playground reopened in January of 2019. The playground now features:

• New play equipment featuring: 
  • Babble Drum
  • Balancing Disks
  • Monkey Bars
  • Nest Swing
  • A Red-Masked Parrot
  • Sculptural Play Elements
  • A Slide
  • Tot Swings
  • A Tunnel

• New safety surfacing throughout play area with undulating topography
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) site and playground accessibility upgrades
• Improved paving and drainage systems, planting and irrigation
• New perimeter wall and playful art elements
• Removal of Filbert Street stairway to provide a safer, naturally contained space

It was a much needed upgrade from the previous playground! We hope you will come and enjoy it with your friends and family!

Juri Commons Playground

Juri Commons is the green remnant of a railroad that ran through the city over 150 years ago! This former land use accounts for the park’s linear shape and has protected the site from further development. To celebrate this history, a portion of the primary path through the park is designed to represent the railway experience. 

In recent years, the Recreation and Park Department and SF Parks Alliance have worked closely with the community – including Juri Commoners, a group dedicated to the park – to deliver a complete project that includes a new children’s play area, adult fitness equipment, accessible paths, new planting and irrigation, and improved seating. The renovated Juri Commons playground will ultimately include new play amenities as well as a range of features designed to provide a lush, welcoming and accessible space for playground goers.

When finished, Juri Commons will include:

• Children’s play area and nature exploration area
• Fitness equipment
• Improved seating
• Fully accessible pathways
• Trees and planting
• Upgraded irrigation
• New fencing, gates and signage at each entry

Golden Gate Heights Park Playground

Golden Gate Heights Playground officially reopened in July of 2021 after several years of community engagement, planning and construction.

The playground’s new design was inspired by the park’s existing landscape and features a climbing wall, slide, rolling arches and spring disc steps. The most dramatic new play element includes a large spiral tower that invites children to experience climbing in a forest setting that is defined by Monterey Pines and Cypresses. The design also features a basket swing and small slide. As additional accessories to the tower, there will be slide rails, and monkey bars.

Given the playground’s smaller footprint of about 3,000 square feet, there are a variety of elements to provide a rich and engaging playground experience for all children.

West Portal Playground (completed in summer 2020)

The West Portal Playground is a 1.9-acre park that sits above the western mouth of the Twin Peaks Tunnel at Ulloa Street and Lenox Way. The property is a by-product of the West Portal rail station, which opened in 1918. The clubhouse was dedicated in 1951, and underwent a $1.5 million renovation in 2005 to expand and upgrade the facility. A ceramic art installation adorns the exterior of the clubhouse, created by artist Aileen Barr and overseen by the San Francisco Arts Commission. The existing Playground also includes a picnic area, playground and large play field.

Friends of West Portal Playground (FWPP) embarked on a mission to reimagine, redesign, and renovate the well-used playground. In their Community Opportunity Fund application, FWPP stated that the playground’s facilities and grounds received a great deal of use but had fallen into a state of disrepair. In 2012, the West Portal Playground was chosen as one of the sites of the larger Let’sPlaySF! Initiative. 

The proposed renovations also include new, vibrant and inclusive play equipment and accessible surfacing, in addition to various amenity upgrades to the park, including a nature nook for children, as well as new planting, seating and paving.

The playground finished construction in summer of 2020, and is now open to the public!

Sigmund Stern

This playground redesign will kickoff in 2020.

Merced Heights Playground (completed summer 2020)

When finished, the playground will be complete with a massive timber play structure, slides, climbers and other play features for children of all ages. There will also be a spinner, bowl swing, picnic area and other ADA improvements.

Alice Chalmers Playground (completed in summer 2020)

Alice Chalmers Playground is located mid-block on Brunswick between Whittier and Lowell in the Outer Mission neighborhood. 

To inform the design process, several community meetings were held throughout 2017 and 2018, as well as focus groups and online surveys designed to collect widespread feedback. 

The ultimate design of the playground, created by Groundworks Office, references the rocky coastline of California, giving children a tactile and active play experience. The playground combines traditional play equipment with custom designed play features, including climbing stones and a large fort structure that provides inspiring views and fosters imagination and creativity. 

A representative from Groundworks notes that, “the design was born from the community process! In our first meeting a member of the community referenced a childhood memory of going to the beach and the delightful play experience it provided.  So 1 of the 3 options we presented at meeting 2 was in reference to a rugged playfulness of the California Coast. The concrete climbing blocks take inspiration from the rock outcroppings that define the coast and the big chunky benches take a reference from the wood flotsam that’s often washes up on the beach and becomes a fun inventive natural play element.”

The overall scope of the project includes:

• Renovation of the children’s play area with new play equipment for tot and school age children
• New safety surfacing
• Improvements to the main entrance to create an accessible, inviting, and welcoming park experience
• Improvements to the surrounding playground pathways and restrooms to make them compliant with current accessibility codes and standards
• Tree wells with integrated platform seating to serve as a respite from the dense urban setting
• New landscaping and vegetation to soften the site
• New picnic tables and flexible seating

This playground was completed in summer of 2020, and is now open!

Redwood Grove Playground

This playground is located at the Group Picnic site in McLaren Park, located on John F. Shelley Drive and adjacent to the Excelsior and Portola neighborhoods. The overall design (by CMG Landscape Architects) reflects the community’s desires to have a more natural feel, and will be situated between the two picnic areas to capitalize on the park’s hilly topography. A slide descends from the top of the playground towards the central lawn. Natural elements such as boulders, timbers, and native plantings are incorporated into the playground, and a large net structure allows children to climb to amazing views of the City. 

There will be additional improvements to the overall site including upgrades to the picnic areas, pathways, and lawn, as well as the addition of a loading zone.

This playground is complete and officially opened as of Fall 2020!

Herz Playground

Located in the heart of Visitation Valley, the proposed project includes a complete renovation of the toddler and school-aged children’s play areas at Herz Playground. The new play areas will have all-new play equipment, surfacing, and planting areas. The restrooms at Herz Clubhouse will also receive cosmetic upgrades and be brought up to current code compliance. 

The design is being led by MIG Landscape Architects; and additional site improvements include new:

• Benches
• Fencing
• Landscaping
• ADA accessible pathways
• Picnic Tables

In the coming months, community engagement efforts will consist of: 3 workshops, 5 focus groups and 2 online surveys.