You asked, we dug. In the meanwhile, the city's been digging, too. That vast mudflat between Folsom and Harrison and Columbia is going to become Victoria Draves Park, in honor of the Filipino Olympic diving champion . It had been a park previously, but when the freeway displaced Lincoln elementary school in the early 50's, principal Bessie Carmichael fought hard to get a replacement school for SoMa- and in 1954 succeeded to get a temporary school built there. It was temporary for decades until Kwan Henmi's new school was finished- in 2004- on adjoining 7th Street. The Interweb is silent on the park's design, and while while we hear murmers of large-scale ceramic projects and a fountain, we're also sure that somewhere out there a debate rages about public toilets.
· Kwan Henmi
· Bessie Carmichael School
· Park to be named after 1948 Olympic heroine [SF Chronicle, June 2005]
[Got questions or comments about other muddy holes about town? Email us at sf@curbed.com]