Beach Chalet Athletic Fields

1500 John F Kennedy Drive at Great Highway
Built c. 1930s

Attend the Planning Commission hearing on the Beach Chalet Athletic Fields Renovation DEIR on Thursday, December 1 at 5 p.m. at City Hall, room 400.

Brief History:

Golden Gate Park contains thirty-seven contributing buildings, thirteen contributing structures, and thirty-six contributing objects. With an area of 1,170 acres, it the largest urban park in the United States.  The park was listed on the National Register as a historic district in 2004, under Criteria 1 (events) and 3 (architecture) in the areas of landscape architecture and social history as “one of the pioneering examples of the large urban park in the United States” and as “the first naturalistic landscape park in the west.”  The Beach Chalet Athletic Fields and the restroom buildings  are both listed as contributing features of the park. They were constructed in the 1930s and fall within the Golden Gate Park’s period of Significance (1871 to 1943). The athletic fields consist of four natural grass fields set within a three-sided earthen bowl facing the ocean to the west, surrounded by shrubs and mature trees. The project site is directly adjacent to two San Francisco City Landmarks: Beach Chalet (#179) and The Murphy Windmill and Millwright’s Cottage (#210). Beach Chalet is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Current Project Background:

San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department (RPD) had proposed a renovation to the athletic fields site. The project includes renovation of four existing grass soccer fields with new synthetic turf; installation of lighting, black vinyl fencing, player benches, bleachers, picnic tables and barbecue pits; construction of a maintenance shed and pedestrian pathways; renovation of the existing restroom building; construction of a concrete paved entry plaza and raised platform; installation of a play area and structure, bicycle racks, drinking fountains, trash/recycling receptacles, irrigation and storm drainage improvements; and re-configuration and expansion of the existing parking lot.

After an initial Categorical Exemption was issued, an appeal filed by concerned citizens caused RPD to undertake full environmental review. RPD will select the consultants for the EIR in November 2010.

Heritage Position:

On Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 5 p.m. the Planning Commission will discuss the recently completed DEIR for the proposed Beach Chalet Athletic Fields Renovation. By recommending artificial turf and stadium lighting for the historic fields, the proposed project is inconsistent with Golden Gate Park Master Plan policies that prioritize protection of the west end’s “pastoral and sylvan landscape.” The report fails to thoroughly analyze the project, its impacts, and potential preservation alternatives.

Heritage advises a “hybrid” compromise combining elements from three of the DEIR alternatives, which would allow the city to renovate the Beach Chalet fields with natural turf with no or significantly reduced lighting. It could also allow for the renovation of fields at West Sunset Park–an off-site alternative–in order to protect the natural character of Golden Gate Park’s west end.

The Planning Department released a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) on October 26, 2011.The DEIR found that the proposed project will result in significant adverse impacts on historic resources. CEQA Guidelines require an EIR to describe a range of reasonable alternatives that could feasibly obtain the project’s basic objectives. According to CEQA, public agencies “should not approve projects as proposed if there are feasible alternatives or feasible mitigation measures available that would substantially lessen the environmental effects of such projects” (PRC §21002). The project alternatives analyzed in the DEIR include: 1) No Project Alternative, 2) Off-Site Alternative, 3) Grass Turf with Reduced Lights Alternative, and 4) Synthetic Turf without Lights Alternative.

On January 13, 2010, Heritage requested the Beach Chalet Athletic Fields improvement project be required to complete full environmental review to analyze the impact on historic resources. It was our opinion that the expansion of the soccer fields and installation of 60’ light poles, as identified in the project’s specifications, has potential impacts on elements of the historic resources and warrants formal environmental review. Heritage also argued that the proposed project is in direct opposition with both the San Francisco General Plan and the Golden Gate Park Master Plan. Both these plans maintain that the western end of Golden Gate Park has always been intended to maintain “naturalistic landscape qualities”.

Heritage Comments:

January 13, 2010: RPD request for EIR
April 7, 2010: Beach Chalet Athletic Fields testimony to HPC

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