Washington Square:
Washington Square tragedy spurs action
After falling limb injures woman, neighbors pitch in to care for trees.
A month after a San Pablo woman was paralyzed by a falling tree limb in Washington Square, neighbors are chipping in to care for the park’s trees.
Trees maintenance is technically the city’s responsibility, but Friends of Washington Square Park spent $10,000 in 2010 to prune and assess the canopy. Now, the group is working with the city’s Recreation and Park Department to update that assessment with HortScience, a horticulture consultant.
More than half of the trees planted in Washington Square Park since 1957 have died, said Ken Maley, a member of the friends group who tracks the green space’s canopy. The group planted 16 new trees in 2010.
“The 2008 plan was our first foray into motivating an assessment,” he said. “We were aware that there would need to be an update of the plan at some point. The tree limb falling moved the discussion up the list, that’s for sure.”
While an unfortunate accident prompted the latest canopy survey in Washington Square, its citizens support group isn’t alone in looking after the city’s parks — it is just one of 164 groups across the city that
“People want to see improvements in their parks. If organizations conclude that the city can’t pay for it, they come up with other ways.” Rachel Norton, interim chief executive officer of the Parks Alliance
have helped the cash-strapped park department pay for projects.
Rec and Park has long been underfunded. At the height of the 2008 recession, the department’s budget was slashed. While Proposition B, a setaside that passed in June, will funnel more than $1 billion over 30 years to parks for deferred maintenance, funding gaps still exist. The department is responsible for more than 177,000 trees and 220 parks, open spaces and playgrounds. Volunteers — who donate time, money and resources — help steward that land.
“People want to see improvements in their parks,” said Rachel Norton, interim chief executive officer of the Parks Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for city parks. “If organizations conclude that the city can’t pay for it, they come up with other ways.”
The Alamo Square Neighborhood Association has donated a tree assessment to the department and is raising money to plant new trees as part of the park’s renovation. Friends of Kezar Triangle and the Nob Hill Association also donated and planted trees in Kezar Triangle and Huntington Park in the past.
Money also goes to luxuries the department might not be able to afford, like the $2,000 stove donated by Help McLaren Park for the Louis Sutter Roundhouse or a tile wall, upgraded fence and sculpture donated by a friends group of Joe DiMaggio Playground. Neighborhood organizations also have donated concerts, a salaried gardener and museum renovations, not to mention their own time.
People spent 185,000 hours volunteering in public parks last year, which the department values at $5 million in in-kind “sweat” donations. Park advocates say they are passionate about being involved in local open spaces — but it’s shadowed by a sense of frustration. Regular maintenance and repairs for things like rusted swings and broken water fountains are often pushed to the bottom of the list or forgotten, local friends groups say.
“There’s a general frustration that the parks are underfunded, and we are disappointed in the low levels of maintenance and the lack of money put into new improvements,” said Craig Peckman, a landscape architect for the Friends of Washington Square Park. “I hope it changes. It’s a matter of voters encouraging the city to allocate more funds to the parks.”
Some relief also comes to Rec and Park and neighbors alike through programs like the Community Opportunity Fund, which provides money for neighborhood-driven projects. The $6 million money pot — from a 2012 parks bond — shells out funds for neighborhood-driven projects. It’s been used for trail improvements on Tank Hill, a West Portal Playground renovation and Lake Merced boat ramp improvements.
Philanthropy should account for the margin of excellence, not survival, said Rec and Park General Manager Phil Ginsburg. But even he admits that difficult budget cycles have made it difficult for the department to fix everything.
“In a time when resources have been challenged, the philanthropic community and foundations community has stepped up to help augment programs and services,” he said. “It means our parks are more accessible and responsive to community needs, even in a difficult budget time.”
But even if there was money for every project, friends groups would probably still want to stay involved in their local parks, Norton of Parks Alliance said.
“The city and our parks are not funded for all of the needs that they are serving, and it’s important to acknowledge that,” she said. “At the same time, the department can’t do it all. There’s always going to be a need and a reason for local communities to rally around their parks. They can’t do it alone, and private philanthropy can’t do it alone.”