Transbay center reopens to public without fanfare

Rooftop park: Lush oasis grew during closure for repairs

When San Francisco’s flashy Transbay transit center and its 5.4acre rooftop park debuted last year, people turned out by the thousands on a sunny summer day. Monday morning, not so much. Nearly 10 months after it was closed abruptly when two cracked girders were discovered, the $2.16 billion replacement for the old Transbay Transit Terminal reopened under foggy skies at 6 a.m. Monday.

Media crews and park employees outnumbered the first shift of park

visitors. A 7:30 a.m. yoga class had two teachers and two pupils.

Things picked up as the morning went on, and by midafternoon there were pedestrians taking in the scene, as well as couples and families enjoying the lush grass on green hillocks. But for the officials in charge of the ofttroubled complex, what counted is that Transbay is back in business.

“I’m just pleased we’re able to give the park and center back to the public,” said a relieved Mark Zabaneh, executive director of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, which developed and operates the complex. “It was a long closure, but something that had to be done.”

Known officially as the Salesforce Transit Center, after the software firm that purchased the naming rights for 20 years, the complex was open for just 44 days before it was evacuated because of safety concerns. Since then the girders have been repaired and a thorough inspection by structural engineers has determined that no other potential dangers are waiting to emerge.

The forced hiatus also allowed the transit authority to cross items off its todo list — building details that had been postponed in the rush to get the center opened on schedule last Aug. 10.

All the elevators now are working, giving park visitors at least 10 ways to reach the park. An alleylike passage illuminated with an art installation by James Carpenter now beckons strollers looking for a shortcut between Minna and Natoma streets. Traffic lights have been installed so that patrons can navigate the threeblocklong center at ground level.

The park’s pathway of decomposed granite — which decomposed a bit too much under the heavy tread of constant crowds last August — now is durable concrete. Monday also marked the debut of the gondola that offers a free 40second ride from Mission Street to the park.

The first ascent included a pair of neighborhood residents: Michelle Lee and her 3yearold son, Eric. They live in a nearby tower and already were regulars before the center’s closure Sept. 27.

“The park is great, so tranquil — it’s a safe, open space for him to run and play,” Lee said. She and Eric arrived shortly after the 6 a.m. open

“The park is great, so tranquil — it’s a safe, open space for him to run and play.” Michelle Lee of San Francisco, on bringing her 3yearold son to the transit center’s rooftop park

ing, though she admitted that more than anticipation fueled the visit at dawn: “We’re jetlagged. We flew in from London yesterday, and we’ve been up since 3:30 a.m.”

Gondola ride and fresh paving aside, the most striking change is the park’s profusion of flowers and shrubs and everything green.

Left to itself and to gardeners, the rooftop landscape designed by PWP Landscape Architecture has flourished. Lavender beds are fragrant, and clusters of birds of paradise spike up as colorful flocks. Maple trees are thick with delicate leaves. Ivy is beginning to shroud the concrete walls that hold elevators and a restauranttobe.

On the east end of the transit center, above Beale Street, the walking trail passes several dozen giant rhubarbs, a fernlike plant with gigantic leaves and a prehistoric vibe. Last September, they were barely visible. Now they’re more than 5 feet high.

“The wet weather really worked wonders,” said Ashley Langworthy of Biederman Redevelopment Ventures, which programs most of the center’s vendors and scheduled activities. “We thought we’d have to pull them out, and then they were fine.”

What’s still missing is the reason that the center exists: transit.

Bus service to and from the center’s third floor, which has a ramp direct from the Bay Bridge, may not resume before August, according to Transbay officials. There’s clutter from the various ceiling and wall panels that needed to be removed for structural inspections. Also, AC Transit bus drivers hired since last summer need to get familiar with the route.

Until then, buses will continue to use the temporary terminal on an open block at Beale and Howard streets. As for the commuter trains and highspeed rail that are supposed to pull into the already completed underground concourse, such connections are at least a decade away.

In the meantime, for locals, there’s plenty to see.

“People started to feel so at home here — it seemed so comfortable from day one,” said Michael Levin, who took Monday off from his job at the San Francisco Mint in part to return to the sylvan rooftop scene. “I live near Golden Gate Park, so I know parks. But this park is really amazing.”

Photos by Josie Norris / The Chronicle Stephanie Hudson (left), Helen Sparrow, Jaimie Sparrow, Joshua Sparrow, Jaz Aiwazian and her mother, Yili Aiwazian, and McKenzie Armstrong and her daughter, Amelia Armstrong, have a playdate on the rooftop park.

During the nearly 10month closure, plants in the rooftop landscape designed by PWP Landscape Architecture, such as this fern, flourished.

Photos by Josie Norris / The Chronicle Robby Hess works on his laptop in the grass on the reopened rooftop park known as Salesforce Park. The plants in the park flourished during the closure and the wet weather this spring.

Renee Meppen (left) and Jeremiah Liem, both of Amsterdam, and Ed Caplan of Oakland explore the reopened park, where the decomposed granite pathway was replaced with concrete.

Michael Levin reads a book in the reopened rooftop park. Surrounding businesses are open, but buses might not return to the complex until August.