The Bay Citizen just put together an interesting slideshow of Dolores Park throughout the years and posted up this nugget of Dolores history:

Jurors in the trial of Ramon Rodriguez, who admitted to beating 16-year-old Hilda Rosa Pagan by the park bandstand in the spring of 1952. Pagan's body was found in a hole behind the shrubbery to the right.

I had heard rumors from neighbors and park history buffs that the building in the middle of the park had been a one-level facilities building for years and that there was a second building for public restrooms, but I could never dig up a photo proving it (allegedly there is a photo of the Mayor in the 1950s addressing a large crowd in the park from the platform, but that photo seems to be lost too).  Well, this photo seems to back up both claims: the now-facilities building doesn't have a roof and on the corner of 19th and Dolores, a second building is clearly visible.

The story goes that between sometime in the '50s, a roof was put on the building and the city started selling concessions out of the space, only to shut down the space in the 1970s because of asbestos.  I suspect we won't be seeing the city try that again…

In other news, it looks like the northeast corner of the park has been popular for decades.

(all photos from the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection.  Via the Bay Citizen)