Introducing the NEW Garfield Center Community Hub and Pool in San Francisco!

Located in the Mission at 26th and Harrison, Garfield Square Park has long been a recreation & gathering space for San Franciscans. Built in 1884, it was actually home to the first professional baseball park in California! Now, the park features a slew of amenities for a first class, culturally-enriching play experience, with Chicano art & murals adorning the clubhouse and top-of-the-line facilities.

h/t Squadz Team, Jan. 2021

For a number of years, Garfield Square Park was a nightmarish, unusable eyesore in the community. Then, in 2006, in a public-private partnership with the City Fields Foundation, SF Rec & Park was able to install a beautiful new soccer field. This signaled a new attitude & commitment to expanding access to recreation at Garfield Park, and would usher in the 2012 voter-approved Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond to set aside cash to invest in community parks.

Every year, Garfield Square park is the official spot for San Francisco’s Day of the Dead celebration complete with shrines and costumed community members. Make sure to research safety guidelines before attending this year’s celebration. h/t Day of the Dead SF

With an approved plan in 2015, the renovation project would set out to create a new clubhouse/community hub, improvements to a beloved swimming pool, new basketball court and even a splashpad for children to use during the May - October months! Construction went underway for the $19.7 million renovations in 2018 and aimed for a launch date in 2020.

Despite setbacks due to the pandemic, the new and improved Garfield Center and Pool opened to the public in March 2021! Check out the restored murals, state-of-the-art pool (via online reservation), nice half-court basketball hoop and historic field!

Future Venues: Golden Gate Park Tennis Center

Despite setbacks due to COVID-19, San Francisco Rec & Parks in partnership with the San Francisco Tennis Coalition is set to open the Golden Gate Park Tennis Center on March 3, 2021!*

Last month, we spoke to Julie Exley, Executive Director of the Tennis Coalition, to comment on the progress of construction and what we could expect from a new tennis complex in the heart of the city.

The $27 million Dennis & Lisa Goldman Center will feature 17 high quality courts and a state-of-the-art clubhouse, fitted with locker rooms, youth academy & training area, pro shop, garden/patio spaces, and other amenities. 

h/t San Francisco Tennis Coalition

The center will be replacing a 125+ year old structure built in 1894 (oldest in the West)  and enjoyed by 600,000 visits from San Francisco tennis players yearly. New lights on all courts in the new center will bring 20,000+ more hours of play and an expected 1 MILLION visits each year! 

Possibly the most notable addition is a sunken-in court with permanent seating, providing the ability to host championship matches for the best tennis you can watch in SF!

Current progress. You can see the pickleball courts on the left, the sunken court in the center bottom.
h/t San Francisco Tennis Coalition

Exley told us that the goal of the project is to build community via the sport and the space. 

Tennis has a storied tradition here in San Francisco, with some of the top players in the world gracing the courts in Golden Gate Park along with millions of amateurs and recreational players over the course of more than a century. When asked if San Francisco was a tennis city, Exley replied, “Definitely.”

The Golden Gate Tennis Center, operated by Lifetime Tennis on land owned by the San Francisco Rec & Parks Department, is to be a community hub for all of San Francisco and one of the best public tennis facilities in the nation. It will combat the formation of neighborhood pods that form in isolated courts around the city and instead try to form a wider network of players and spaces. With funding complete and construction nearing completion, the Tennis Coalition is now looking towards operations & events, and planning out what things will look like post-pandemic. 

If you’re still not convinced, Exley let us in on some of the exciting events in store for 2021 and after:

• The SF Open will be an open tournament with pros from across the world competing for a $50k prize

• The 7x7 Neighborhood Tournament for bragging rights as the best in the city

• Elevated existing events like high school championships, USTA national exhibitions, and league play

The Squadz Team will continue to work towards the promotion of the sport and the expansion of accessibility for all at the Golden Gate Tennis Center and beyond!

* Updated date on March 1, 2021 to reflect new opening date