Through the Let’sPlaySF! Initiative, a partnership between Recreation and Park Department and the San Francisco Parks Alliance, that aims at inspiring creativity and play for better health throughout the City, Sergeant John Macaulay Park is set for renovation.
13 parks have been designated to undergo renovation, and being in the Tenderloin, makes Sgt. Macaulay Park a critical project for the community. Broadly speaking, the Tenderloin is known for its diversity, working class residents, and high population of youth. Noticeably, urban youth are inhibited by the limited supply of open space, so the renovation of the park should spark an increase in the amount of time youth spent exercising outdoors.
The park has served as a hotspot for parents and their children, but it also serves as a central location for events hosted by La Voz Latina and CCSRO Collaborative. In 2012 La Voz began activating the park through weekly cleaning events. Since 2014 Cultural events like Dia De Los Muertos, Halloween and Nuestra Cultura have taken place on a yearly basis.
Through community surveys, locals have displayed a collective concern over safety around and in the park, especially during the daker hours of the day. Fortunately, improvements including park regulation through stewardship and light post installations around the Tenderloin prior to the parks construction project have improved the sense of safety around the neighborhood. Small changes like these deem necessary to improve the sense of safety, health and happiness in the Tenderloin Community.
