SF's "First Environmental Justice Park" Headed for 17th and Folsom

We've been hearing about the plans to convert a dumb parking lot at 17th & Folsom into a luscious park for a few years now.  For a while, it didn't sound like it would happen, but all that opposition has been dealt with and plans are moving forward.  SF Examiner reports:

A 31,850-square-foot parking lot at the northwest corner 17th and Folsom streets will be ripped out and replaced with a park featuring native plants, a greenhouse, butterfly gardens, 50 fruit-bearing trees, an amphitheater, a grassy area, and an interactive exercise and play area. The park also will feature bilingual and trilingual signs telling the history of the indigenous people who once inhabited the area.

...“What stands out most to me is that the community wanted not just someplace to play, but someplace to learn,” said Sarah Dennis Phillips, a planner for the project. “It also includes a focus on sustainability, with a demonstration garden to demonstrate water conservation and offer native habitat.”

...“We are looking at this as The City’s first environmental justice park,” [Oscar Grande, a community organizer] added. “We can’t just focus on bettering the environment in our surrounding community. The focus is making this a community space where environmental justice can happen in a fun and educational way.”

Read on.

Previously on Uptown Almanac

• Neighbors *Actually* Oppose Building a Park at 17th and Folsom