Bay Area comedian Robin Williams is getting even more posthumous exposure in his onetime hometown: First a new mural bearing his likeness appeared on Market Street this month, and now the city has planted a sign with Williams’ name in Golden Gate Park.
On Friday, the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department unveiled the new signage, calling it “the final step in renaming the former Sharon Meadow, a popular grassy spot on Golden Gate Park’s east end, to honor” Williams.
The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Commission voted unanimously in favor of the name change last December, but waited until Friday before applying the relevant signage.
Not coincidentally, Friday was just a few days before Sunday’s Comedy Day in the same meadow. Williams was a longtime financial supporter of the nearly 40-year-old SF tradition and often put in appearances at the show.
Recreation and Parks Commission historian Christopher Pollock says that Sharon Meadow was originally named for banker and U.S. Senator (from Nevada) William Sharon.
Since the name came by default association with the nearby Sharon Building, it’s probably not much of a loss to the late senator’s legacy.
Comedy Day launched in Golden Gate Park in 1981 and has changed locales several times to account for increasing crowd size, but the inauguration of Williams’ name on the meadow probably serves as the strongest possible indicator that it will remain in its current spot long-term. After all, the sign’s not going anywhere.
- Robin Williams Mural Appears [Curbed SF]
- City Renames Meadow After Williams [Curbed SF]
- Comedy Day History
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