North Panhandle News features history of the Panhandle park

The North Panhandle News, distributed to about 3,500 households in the boundaries of Turk, Divisadero, Masonic, and Fell Street, has a brief history of the Panhandle in its September/October issue. The article is written by Sean Sullivan, who is organizing the public safety event for the Panhandle Park Action Project. The newsletter was just printed, and I delivered newsletters along my route yesterday. If you live outside the boundaries, or if you haven't received a copy of the newsletter, you can also check the newsletter online. 

This issue also has an update on the Arts Commission plans to build a fence around the McKinley Statue. Neighborhood groups have reluctantly come around to supporting the plan to protect the piece from vandalism, and the Commission's agenda for this past Monday, September 9 included a motion for approval of an octagonal iron fence.

Clayton Street accessibility work in gear

The Clayton Street entrances to the Panhandle are undergoing a rebuild to improve accessibility, and signs posted on the site indicate the work will continue through September. Once the work is done and the grass grows back, most of us will probably take the yellow, accessible curb ramps for granted.

In May 2012, new curb ramps of this type were installed at Lyon Street. With this project and the curb work that came with the repavement of Stanyan in August 2012, the curb ramp infrastructure of the Panhandle is about a complete job with at least one major exception: Baker Street, across the street from Mercy Terrace, where most cyclists enter and exit the park. 

On each side, North and South of the park, a single crosswalk leads from the east side of Clayton Street to the Panhandle's pathways. The north path (approaching Clayton @ Fell Street) used to skirt alongside a large eucalyptus, but the tree was removed as a hazard in December. The north side job looks complicated, with digging, removal of roots and reconstruction of a stretch of curbside along the park.

Clayton @ Fell - some digging and removal of roots

Clayton @ Fell - re-build of the curb

The work on the south side of the park at Oak Street appears less complicated. However, this access point is important because it serves as an entry point for Park and Rec's vehicles that need to reach the dump.

Clayton @ Oak

Workday and community picnic coming up Saturday, September 21

The Panhandle workday for September is happening on Saturday, September 21. If you've got your calendar marked for our normal second Saturday, please make sure to note the exception that this month's event is one week later.

 Come out at 9 am and meet up at the bulletin board, (near Oak @ Ashbury). We'll be working in the area close to the playground and rain garden with Rec and Parks staff - probably planting some new plants! Tools are provided.

Right after our community workday, we're planning a community-wide picnic to celebrate the accomplishments that were completed this year. Everyone is welcome, whether or not you have ever participated in a workday. It will be a fun event and a chance to meet other people who care about the park and want to figure out how to make it even better. For more about our picnic, check out the attached flyer or our event page on Facebook.

The picnic is the start of the Panhandle Park Action Project, a series of events for neighbors at the Panhandle to bring people together and start dialog about ways to continue to improve our neighborhood park. Bring your friends and share this flyer with others!

Clearing our walking path at the August workday

Presenting the new footpath on the south side of the park, heading west toward Masonic:  

It's like the old path, but it's about 20 percent wider. You've got more room for walking or jogging, and hopefully fewer mud puddles. That's because our volunteers yesterday scraped up and removed several feet of soil that was encroaching on the path. 

Wouldn't it have been great to do that for the entire length of the path? Absolutely, but that will take a bigger volunteer turnout. Imagine how heavy it is to lift the damp, compacted soil. We were a strong group of volunteers, but an hour of that work meant sore shoulders and back (for me, anyway). 

The sun came out during break time at the memorial

In addition to pathway clearing, we tended to a half-dozen smaller jobs in the east end, like weeding around the trees along Baker Street, removing ivy climbing a eucalyptus, and trimming back the enormous shrub that grows into the bike path close to Baker. 

During the mid-summer, the combination of irrigation, fog drip, and increased solar energy makes the Panhandle a bright green oasis. Get out and enjoy it, with or without blue skies.