Boeddeker Park

Boeddeker Park, more formally known as Father Alfred E. Boeddeker Park, is an urban park in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco.[1] This 1-acre park was renovated and reopened in 2014, especially intended to serve the needs of people in the surrounding neighborhood who experience amongst the highest levels of poverty in the city.[2][3][4] The park was completed with a large mural, Everyone Deserves a Home, on the building above the park in 2016.[5]

Father Alfred E. Boeddeker Park
A photo of Boeddeker Park
TypeUrban park
LocationSan Francisco
Designerrenovated and redesigned by The Trust for Public Land
Operated bySan Francisco Recreation and Park Department
Open1985

History

The park was named after Father Alfred E. Boeddeker, a Franciscan friar who served the Tenderloin community for over forty years and founded the St. Anthony Dining Room to serve food for the poor and needy of the area. The park originally opened in 1985,[6] and quickly became emblematic of urban decay with a lack of safe playground space for children and the growth public drug sales.[7][8] Though the area of the Tenderloin was generally diverse, the park became associated with violence and danger, causing the diversity to stay away as it increasingly became associated with drugs and crime.[9] The park was later infused with a $9 million renovation and reopened in 2014. [10][11][12]

Features

The park includes an outdoor park with large lawn, adult exercise area with outdoor fitness equipment, a basketball court, youth play equipment, a walking path with accessible ramps. [13] The park also has a clubhouse with a multipurpose room, office, and restrooms.

Recognition and awards

Boeddeker Park won an American Institute of Architects San Francisco Honor Award for its design,[14] a collaboration between The Trust for Public Land, the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, and WRNS Studio. It is certified by the Sustainable SITES Initiative for its park sustainability systems.[15]

See also

References
  1. "Father Alfred E. Boeddeker Park | San Francisco Recreation and Park". sfrecpark.org. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  2. "Tenderloin residents enjoying reborn Boeddeker Park". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  3. "Boeddeker Park". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  4. "Tenderloin's Boeddecker Park reopens with high hopes, challenges". SFGate. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  5. "Boeddeker Park's Massive New Mural 'Everyone Deserves A Home' Is Complete | Hoodline". Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  6. "Father Alfred E. Boeddeker Park | San Francisco Recreation and Park". sfrecpark.org. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  7. Laura., Huey (2007). Negotiating demands : the politics of skid row policing in Edinburgh, San Francisco, and Vancouver. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9780802094827. OCLC 77378724.
  8. "Urban Parks and the 10-Minute Challenge". www.governing.com. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  9. Reclaiming San Francisco: History, politics, culture. Brook, James; Carlsson, Chris; Peters, Nancy J. (Editors). San Francisco, Calif.: City Lights Books. 1998. ISBN 9780872863354. OCLC 37260886.CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. "$10 million playgrounds give downtown SF kids a safe place to frolic". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  11. "Boeddeker Park Grand Opening on December 10San Francisco Recreation and Park". sfrecpark.org. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  12. Stannard-Friel, Don (2017). Street teaching in the Tenderloin: Jumpin' down the rabbit hole. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137564375. OCLC 962302364.
  13. WRNS Studio. "Boeddeker Park". www.wrnsstudio.com. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  14. "Boeddeker Park - American Institute of Architects San Francisco". www.aiasf.org. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  15. "Boeddeker Park | SITES". www.sustainablesites.org. Retrieved 2018-05-04.

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