San Francisco's Dolores Park is getting a $13 million makeover.
The popular park -- which on any given weekend gets thousands of visitors -- broke ground Saturday on an improvement project after six years of planning.
When the project is completed, the park will have new handicapped accessible paths and tennis courts, and modern irrigation and electrical systems.
The improvements will also replace the park's three bathrooms with 35 restrooms.
The construction -- which will begin in March -- will partially close the park at each phase of the project. The park is expected to reopen in spring 2015.
“Dolores Park is one of our civic treasures, and it’s no wonder that it’s among our most popular parks,” said District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener. “Hundreds of community members participated in the park design process, and the result will be a renewed park that’s even more usable by our entire community.”
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According to the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, heavy usage has resulted in the park being “loved to death” by its community.
Evidence of this can be found everywhere in the park: trampled plants, constant littering, compacted soil, overused restrooms, inadequate drainage infrastructure, and obsolete irrigation.
The department estimates that there are more than 3,700 park users visiting Mission Dolores Park on a typical Saturday.
