A new upset serve in the battle to save the tennis courts of the Golden Gateway Club: the club's operator now wants to eliminate the courts entirely in favor of a family-friendly aquatic and fitness center as part of the proposed 8 Washington Project. The San Francisco Business Journal reports that Western Athletic Clubs, the Golden Gateway's operator has acquired the San Francisco Tennis Club at Fifth & Brannan Streets and will offer tennis there instead, with a shuttle between the two sites. The article quotes Lee Radner, chief cudgel-wielder for Friends of Golden Gateway (FOGG) which has fought the proposed 8 Washington project for five years:
They keep changing it all the time, but I have not seen it- the whole thing is a farce as far I am concerned.One of FOGG's oft-stated problems with the 8 Washington project was that development would curtail the club's children's swim program, and obviously, the developers have changed the project- reducing height, parking, adding a bike center, the number of BMR units- over the years. And now the club operators will shift the model to a "family-oriented recreation space" and a larger pool. About 20% of the total site gets returned to public use with Jackson Street reconnected to the Embarcadero as a pedestrian street plus a small park near Broadway. An update late yesterday on FOGG's website blames the developer, but we're thinking the club operators must have somehow gotten completely fed-up with cutesy acronyms.
· New 8 Washington Street Plan Eliminates Tennis [J.K. Dineen/SF Business Journal]
· FOGG Alert [FOGG]
· 8 Washington Street/Seawall 351 Coverage [Curbed SF Archives]
[Photo Credit: Waters Works]