L00k Again: Civic Center Has A Bold Future
The next chapter in San Francisco’s story is unfolding, and it’s happening right here. The heart of the City is getting a makeover. The Civic Center Public Realm Plan recasts the plaza as a larger, tree-encircled space, connected to Market Street via a long park. Civic Center’s public realm will be designed as a flexible place that welcomes daily life, with diverse activities over the course of the day and evening, weekdays and weekends. The plan also calls for a bike and pedestrian-friendly redesign of surrounding streets. It’ll all unfolding steps from SERIF.
The Civic Center Public Realm Plan will create a unified vision for long-term improvements to Civic Center’s plazas, streets, and other public spaces. Civic Center shares the details on the released plans:
Civic Center Plaza grants garden rooms framing new lawns and the playgrounds create a lively, verdant frame for a large gathering space centered on City Hall. Throw in a mirror fountain and you have the perfect place to reflect.
Fulton Mall features lawn terraces between the Library and the Asian Art Museum, framed by benches and places to sit in sun or shade. New pavilions and seating on the Library terrace create a quiet place.
Leavenworth Street will be transformed to a neighborhood park with a dog park, fitness park, community message board, and game tables. Dramatic lighting and special paving serves as a welcome mat that connects the Tenderloin to Civic Center’s public spaces.
UN Plaza will include an adaptation of the existing fountain. A civic promenade from Market Street to City Hall is a space for commemoration of the UN Charter, the history of Civic Center, and of local/neighborhood heroes. New places to eat and recreate on Leavenworth St and at BART add vitality at the plaza’s edges.
The War Memorial Gateway plaza concept includes a gracious western entry into the War Memorial Complex and Historic Civic Center District by regrading and repaving the existing pathways and roadways to create a flexible use plaza that forms a beautiful civic gateway between Hayes Valley and the War Memorial Complex.
Self-expression is not limited to public spaces. SERIF. Find your kind.
Image Credit: civiccentersf.org