Nestled on the edge of Lincoln Park, the Lincoln Park Steps at 32nd Avenue, date from the early 1900's and are an elegant reminder of San Francisco’s earlier days. They are a gateway from the surrounding urban neighborhood to the open space of Lincoln Park Golf Course, Lincoln Park Playground, Legion of Honor and Land’s End Trail. They provide a beautiful view and a few benches from which to admire the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco’s downtown skyline and East Bay hills.
Decades of neglect had resulted in cracked steps, damaged concrete and a wasted landscape that attracted nighttime loitering, frequent graffiti and dumping of unwanted items.
Friends of Lincoln Park, founded by Anna Yatroussis and Meg Autry, has been working on this effort to improve the site of Lincoln Park Steps since 2007. The inspiration for the project came out of a brainstroming session with the Katherine Delmar Burke School community which was looking for a way to give back to the community in celebration of it's 100 year anniversary. Anna Yatroussis, an alumnae and parent of the school had noticed that the steps located at the front entrance of the school, were an eyesore and a danger to anyone using them. It seemed like the best choice to improve the immediate surroundings by rescuing this site from disrepair and inspire community attention and ownership through a beautiful art project. Friends of Lincoln Park gathered many supporters from various neighborhood organizations and members of the community. The Friends of Lincoln Park partnered with San Francisco Parks Alliance as the fiscal sponsor for the Lincoln Steps project and was thus able to start the long process of raising the necessary funds. After seven years of shepherding this project through grant applications, City approvals, neighborhood committee meetings and private fund raising, we are thrilled to be in this final phase of construction.
Friends of Lincoln Park was also a critical participant in the renovation of the Lincoln Park Playground, which re-opened in June 2010. The group garnered community support and government attention to fix the once "F" rated, but well used playground. Friends of Lincoln Park acted as a community liaison throughout the process, helping to secure funding and contributing significantly to the design decisions.
The goals of the renovation of the Lincoln Park Steps project were to keep the existing structures and repair and enhance them with the installation of art tiles to create a beautiful destination for the community.
Phase 1 consisted of the structural improvements and art tiles for the top bench and retaining wall. This phase was successfully completed in 2010.
Phase 2, the final phase, included the structural repair and tile placement to the stairs, pillars and midway benches. The cost of the structural repairs were funded in part by a generous grant awarded to Friends of Lincoln Park for $180,000 from the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, Community Opportunity Fund. The grant was contingent on the success of Friends of Lincoln Park to raise private funds of at least $250,000 to cover the cost of the art tiles and installation.
Thank you for your interest and support. A special thanks to our volunteers on the fund raising commitee, the project management team and the artist, contractors and tile installers for this huge endeavor that was Phase 2. Thank you to our partners San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department and San Francisco Parks Alliance as well to all those who have participated with their donations. We look forward to conitnue to celebrate the finished project with our whole community.
Anna Yatroussis
Meg Autry
Friends of Lincoln Park
Decades of neglect had resulted in cracked steps, damaged concrete and a wasted landscape that attracted nighttime loitering, frequent graffiti and dumping of unwanted items.
Friends of Lincoln Park, founded by Anna Yatroussis and Meg Autry, has been working on this effort to improve the site of Lincoln Park Steps since 2007. The inspiration for the project came out of a brainstroming session with the Katherine Delmar Burke School community which was looking for a way to give back to the community in celebration of it's 100 year anniversary. Anna Yatroussis, an alumnae and parent of the school had noticed that the steps located at the front entrance of the school, were an eyesore and a danger to anyone using them. It seemed like the best choice to improve the immediate surroundings by rescuing this site from disrepair and inspire community attention and ownership through a beautiful art project. Friends of Lincoln Park gathered many supporters from various neighborhood organizations and members of the community. The Friends of Lincoln Park partnered with San Francisco Parks Alliance as the fiscal sponsor for the Lincoln Steps project and was thus able to start the long process of raising the necessary funds. After seven years of shepherding this project through grant applications, City approvals, neighborhood committee meetings and private fund raising, we are thrilled to be in this final phase of construction.
Friends of Lincoln Park was also a critical participant in the renovation of the Lincoln Park Playground, which re-opened in June 2010. The group garnered community support and government attention to fix the once "F" rated, but well used playground. Friends of Lincoln Park acted as a community liaison throughout the process, helping to secure funding and contributing significantly to the design decisions.
The goals of the renovation of the Lincoln Park Steps project were to keep the existing structures and repair and enhance them with the installation of art tiles to create a beautiful destination for the community.
Phase 1 consisted of the structural improvements and art tiles for the top bench and retaining wall. This phase was successfully completed in 2010.
Phase 2, the final phase, included the structural repair and tile placement to the stairs, pillars and midway benches. The cost of the structural repairs were funded in part by a generous grant awarded to Friends of Lincoln Park for $180,000 from the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, Community Opportunity Fund. The grant was contingent on the success of Friends of Lincoln Park to raise private funds of at least $250,000 to cover the cost of the art tiles and installation.
Thank you for your interest and support. A special thanks to our volunteers on the fund raising commitee, the project management team and the artist, contractors and tile installers for this huge endeavor that was Phase 2. Thank you to our partners San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department and San Francisco Parks Alliance as well to all those who have participated with their donations. We look forward to conitnue to celebrate the finished project with our whole community.
Anna Yatroussis
Meg Autry
Friends of Lincoln Park
Phase 1 Completed - October 15, 2010
The California Street Steps Improvement Project in it’s first phase has reconstructed the original form of the top bench wall and placed beautiful handmade tiles on it’s surface. We hope the first phase of the project will inspire the community to help with the completion of the tiling project.
Work was done by Recreation and Park Department to address drainage problems behind the wall as well as paving the walkways on either side of the top bench wall. The architectural plans and consulting were donated by Jim Westover of Westover Architecture. The contract and construction consulting were donated by Gerry Agosta of BV Builders and Tom Murphy. The contractor who reformed the bench wall was Lombardi Builders.
The artistic design was informed by local neighborhood groups, and has a Beaux Arts look to reflect the time period when the stairs were built. The artist, Aileen Barr, has many public tile projects and you can see her work at the beautifully redone Alta Plaza Playground and the "San Francisco Beautiful" award-winning 16th Avenue Stairs located in the Sunset District.
Friends of Lincoln Park obtained fiscal sponsorship through San Francisco Parks Trust and the concept was approved by the San Francisco Parks and Recreation Commission and the San Francisco Arts Commission. Although most funding was secured through the Mayor's San Francisco Community Challenge Grant, the Katherine Delmar Burke's school also contributed with a significant financial donation as part of the school's Centennial celebration in 2008. The Burke's School hosted many community outreach meetings during the design phase and many students have participated in a Community Service elective in which they helped maintain the landscaping and cleaned the steps.
Work was done by Recreation and Park Department to address drainage problems behind the wall as well as paving the walkways on either side of the top bench wall. The architectural plans and consulting were donated by Jim Westover of Westover Architecture. The contract and construction consulting were donated by Gerry Agosta of BV Builders and Tom Murphy. The contractor who reformed the bench wall was Lombardi Builders.
The artistic design was informed by local neighborhood groups, and has a Beaux Arts look to reflect the time period when the stairs were built. The artist, Aileen Barr, has many public tile projects and you can see her work at the beautifully redone Alta Plaza Playground and the "San Francisco Beautiful" award-winning 16th Avenue Stairs located in the Sunset District.
Friends of Lincoln Park obtained fiscal sponsorship through San Francisco Parks Trust and the concept was approved by the San Francisco Parks and Recreation Commission and the San Francisco Arts Commission. Although most funding was secured through the Mayor's San Francisco Community Challenge Grant, the Katherine Delmar Burke's school also contributed with a significant financial donation as part of the school's Centennial celebration in 2008. The Burke's School hosted many community outreach meetings during the design phase and many students have participated in a Community Service elective in which they helped maintain the landscaping and cleaned the steps.
