Forsaken Russian Hill reservoir to become 4.5-acre park

Renderings by GLS Landscape Architecture and Lutsko Associates Landscape, courtesy of San Francisco Recreation and Park Department

San Francisco Recreation and Park Department announced some verdant news—a 4.5-acre park will come to Russian Hill. The new green space will be built in the spot where an abandoned San Francisco reservoir currently sits. It will cost an estimated $25 million and (fingers crossed) will be open by summer 2019.

Bounded by Bay, Hyde, and Larkin streets, the park will come with features aplenty. According to SF Recreations and Park: “The park will provide recreation opportunity for a wide cross-section of visitors, including a multi-use main lawn, children’s playground, dog park, community garden, and several view terraces set along meandering paths. Steeper slopes will be planted to increase bird and insect habitat as well as visitor enjoyment of native plant communities.”

Built in 1859, the reservoir was abandoned back in 1941. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission owned it for decades before selling it to the city for $9.9 million in 2014.

Also of note, Mayor Mark Farrell helped sprout the idea when he was the district’s supervisor.

“This project has been my baby since my first month in office,” Farrell told the San Francisco Chronicle. “It is unbelievably fulfilling to see this project come to fruition after years of incredibly intense hard work.”

On the downside, the notion of turning the space into high-rise housing was tossed around—something the city needs more of as soon as possible—but was squashed by Russian Hill residents.

• Russian Hill park expected on abandoned reservoir [SF Chronicle]
• Russian Hill [Curbed SF]