Assuming the City accepts a $450,000 grant from the San Francisco Parks Alliance (SFPA) on behalf of the Residents for Noe Valley Town Square, a grant which includes $97,500 worth of in-kind design work, the budgeted $2,787,000 needed to transform the parking lot at 3861 24th Street into a quarter-acre public open space and neighborhood “Town Square” has been secured and the ground is scheduled to be broken in January.
Following three months of demolition and remediation, construction is slated to commence in May of 2016 and the Noe Valley Town Square – which will include both permanent and movable seating, landscaping, lighting, a stage, and a children’s play area – is scheduled to open October 2016.
The plans for the permanent open space, which will be mostly paved to allow for events and markets, have been in the works for over five years. And the site, which was formerly owned by the Noe Valley Ministry, was acquired by the City’s Recreation and Park Department for $4.2 million in 2013.
Sounds nice. Too bad my family was priced out of Noe Valley but for those families still there it is a nice project
This is going to a great addition to our neighborhood, however I am concerned about the stroller parking taking over. 🙂
It is a nice little project. I find the history of it so amusing though.
It was a auo repair business/parking lot, and was destined to be sold for housing (plans were published and neighborhood Nimby’s incensed), when the Noe Valley Ministry brought in some outside Presbyterian donors to purchase it as church parking (!).
Obviously the Noe Valley Ministry never really needed a parking lot, and what they quickly realized they needed was $4 million to repair their church, which was falling down. So the property was again (vaguely) threatened with development and the City ended up buying it off the Church using relatively scarce Open Space bond funds (but better for this than for that very expensive old reservoir site at the base of Russian Hill).
Overall the church played it very smart and got their renovation funded (and who WERE those parking lot donors?). And The end result is good for Noe Valley too..a place for very popular farmers markets and other events.
So does this mean the Noe Screamers lost?
[Editor’s Note: No. Proposed Noe Street Plaza DOA (versus the Town Square project above).]
Oh wait – eyeballing Google maps, it appears that the location for the plaza got shifted a block from Noe & 24th to Noe & Sanchez. So I guess the Noe Screamers won.
They are different projects.
It was never a “project” but a mere, unprofessional whim by a few “cars are death machine” fanatics.
Nothing was ever serious.
We get your schtick. You want the city to be preserved in amber and anyone who doesn’t drive a car is a smelly hippie.
I walked around Noe Valley for the 1st time in a while yesterday and it had its share of lunatics. These mini-parks can become a serious problem. Jane Warner and McChopin Hub are nearby examples. Buyer beware.
The street closure at Noe & 24th was always a separate project from the plaza. The street closure project was discontinued because neighbors brought attention to the fact that Noe and Dolores are the only streets that are unimpeded so are official evacuation and emergency routes. The fire department, police department, and California Department of Emergency Services had never been notified of the proposed closure. Once that became clear, the project was withdrawn.
As to the plaza. Park & Rec spent $4.2 million that might have gone to beautify less privileged parts of the city. But Noe Valley has a lot of people who are rich enough to not work, so they have time to organize and apply for grants and funding for pet projects. Although area home prices are in the multi-millions, the organizers have had a hard time getting contributions from people who live in the neighborhood.
It didn’t seem that hard as they got it. They were collecting when I lived in the neighborhood last year at the Farmers Market.
I would have made a small contribution if I was more invested in the neighborhood but I knew it was just a matter of time as a renter.
Not sure who the advocates are but the Mission near this area has a remodeled Mission Playground and a nice kids park on 24th St in the lower Mission. These seem less privileged
$645/sq ft. For pavers and a few trees. Guess we’re lucky it didn’t exceed $1,000/sq ft, though with all the “studies” perhaps it has.
They actually removed the bike parking that is currently there. We need a bike corral in front even it if means two fewer metered parking spots.
Good luck with that. The Ancient Order of Noe NIMBYs wills surely protest it. Maybe noearch can come up with some convoluted reason as to why a bike corral would destroy the neighborhood fabric of NV.
If half a million dollars is having “a hard time getting contributions”, I am curious where do you see if being easier?
More land to be protected from new shadows 🙂