Hayes Valley Playground Needs Your Help

We have a urgent opportunity right now to make sure Hayes Valley Playground gets the attention it needs. As many of you may know, our own Hayes Valley Playground, at Hayes and Buchanan Streets, is in need of serious repair and reconstruction. The park is very important to our neighborhood: the clubhouse provides many after school programs, the children’s playground is one of the few in the area and the basketball and tennis courts are well used.

The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a well-known non-profit organization, has come to two of our General Meetings and talked to us about raising funds to improve Hayes Valley Playground as one of three parks in San Francisco for their “Parks for People” program. The “Parks for People” program raises private, non-profit and public funds to renovate parks in important areas, like our neighborhood. The other two parks in the program are Boeddeker Park and Balboa Park, both very deserving parks in their own communities. In order to meet the programs funding goal of $8 million for the three parks, we need to make sure the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors help meet the goal through the city’s budget process.

TPL has already raised $4 Million in private dollars, but they need $4 Million more. The Recreation and Parks Department made a request for $1.5 million in next year’s budget for funds for repairs at Hayes Valley Playground, but, as we know, this budget year is very difficult for the city and all requests will not be honored. For that reason is it imperative that we speak out and let the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors know how important the city’s budget is to rebuilding our park!

Please email the Mayor’s office at gavin.newsom@sfgov.org before May 30th and tell him why he needs to fund Hayes Valley Playground.

Good things to include in your email are:
•How important the park and improving it is to your, your family and the neighborhood

•This funding will bring in other private funds from the Trust for Public Land and fix two other parks

•This improvement has the support of HVNA, our Supervisor, and the Recreation and Parks department

What would you loke your playground to look like?
Photo: Paul Olsen

You can also ensure that the Board of Supervisors is aware of your support by copying them on any emails or letters you write, or by attending the budget hearing affecting Rec and Park. The Recreation and Park Department’s Budget will be heard by the Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee on Monday, June 16th in the Board Chamber, Room 250, beginning at 11:00am

The HVNA Board and others are exited about this possible funding to rebuild our playground. TPL has worked very well with communities to find out what we need and want for our parks. The first community meeting to talk about what we all want for Hayes Valley Playground is: Saturday, June 28th. From 12-3 pm at the playground. Please come so that we can all be involved in making this renovation what we all want it to be!