Upgrades for historic Kezar Pavilion offer shot at new roles
Kezar Pavilion, the centuryold workhorse gym in Golden Gate Park, is about to get two new jobs — first as a neighborhood drop-in recreational center and second as a designated disaster response facility.
It would serve as a go-to resource and shelter for the displaced in the event of a catastrophic earthquake — though first it must be made safe enough to withstand an earthquake itself. And that involves a two-year, $140 million renovation unveiled at a community meeting Tuesday evening at park police headquarters.
“It hasn’t seen a lick of improvements in 100 years,” Dan Mauer, a Recreation and Park Department project manager, said as he began a public tour of the gym before Tuesday’s meeting.
A municipal facility built for court games such as basketball, Kezar Pavilion opened in 1926, two years after its adjacent stadium. Since then, it has been host to a variety of sports events and activities, boxing matches, roller derby, concerts, high school games and the San Francisco Bay Area Summer ProAm basketball league.
The gym will close when construction begins, which might not be until its 2026 centennial. When it reopens two years later, it will offer public hours for the first time — meaning anybody can drop in with a basketball and dribble it in the same arena where NBA superstars Bill Russell and Stephen Curry have played.
The small, dimly lit gym is a historic structure and its footprint cannot be modified. But the interior can be altered to meet modern times, which will start with replacing the permanent wooden benches with retractable bleachers and removing balcony bench seating. That will reduce seating capacity from the current 4,000, with the new number yet to be determined.
Two noticeable features — the ramps down to the floor and the support columns that block
“Like many iconic facilities in our park system, this historic treasure has been loved to death. But its future is bright.” Phil Ginsburg, Rec and Park general manager
the sight lines — will both be removed. The gym floor will drop down 4 to 6 feet to a new basement level to allow the basketball court to be divided into two courts crosswise and expand recreational uses.A crude annex that houses the old locker rooms with wooden stalls — once good enough for the San Francisco 49ers and their NFL opponents, all of whom accessed Kezar Stadium via a dark and dusty tunnel that runs beneath the parking lot — also will be removed.
“It’s cramped, and it’s out of date, and it doesn’t accommodate the needs of its participants,” Mauer said.
The tunnel is also historic and must be preserved. But the annex is not, and it will be replaced by a modern glassy two-story structure twice the size, relocated to the rear of the gym. There will be modern locker rooms on the new basement level. The upper floors will have exercise studios and multipurpose rooms overlooking the court. These rooms can be converted to shelter support during an emergency.
“We can do better in terms of providing greater recreational uses inside the facility,” said Alexis Ward, project manager for Rec and Park.
Half the cost of the project, $70 million, will come from an earthquake safety and emergency response bond San Francisco voters approved in 2020 to provide for disaster response facilities.
According to San Francisco Public Works’ website, Kezar is the first of the bond projects to address post-disaster response in a city-owned facility. Coordinated by the Department of Emergency Management, it will provide temporary shelter for up to 150 displaced people at a time while also offering distribution of essential supplies to residents of the city at large.
“While the city has many facilities that could be used in a disaster, Kezar will be the first specifically designed for that purpose,” said Adrienne Bechelli, deputy director of emergency management. “This is a big deal for us.”
It’s also a big deal for the Recreation and Park Department, which is already involved in the construction and renovation of its indoor facilities citywide.
Gene Friend Recreation Center, a $59 million teardown and rebuild South of Market, will open in 2026. Being built from the ground up is the $26 million Herz Recreation Center in McLaren Park, which will open in 2025.
Kezar Pavilion is the only multipurpose rec center in Golden Gate Park, and its renovation will come with a new landscaped plaza entrance with a public automobile turnaround, as well as a new roof, new foundation and seismic retrofitting.
As a neutral court, Kezar is used for rivalry and playoff games by high schools citywide. Catholic school kids have raised the rafters with noise during the annual BruceMahoney basketball game between St. Ignatius and Sacred Heart. Only the renowned Smashing Pumpkins concert from 1996 was louder. The California Interscholastic Federation hosts playoff games at Kezar, and Rec and Park conducts youth league basketball there.
“Like many iconic facilities in our park system, this historic treasure has been loved to death,” said Rec and Park general manager Phil Ginsburg. “But its future is bright.”
Usage of Kezar will only increase with the completion of an apartment complex — offering 144 units, all affordable — that will replace the nearby McDonald’s. Having a new gym across the street “is going to offer a lot of opportunities for the people living in that complex,” said George Westermark, a retired Santa Clara University professor who was waiting out front for the tour Tuesday.
Community outreach will continue at meetings through the summer, with additional tours available if enough people show interest. Meetings and tour signups will be posted at the Rec and Park website.