>> the most ribbon cutting and most ribbon cuttings, we keep everybody off limits and then we cut the ribbon and then stuff happens. you can't stop them. you can only hope to contain them in there so we're going to let everybody continue to play. so, it's been said that, that

success has many, many, many parents and there are many parents, many people who have contributed to this outstanding, outstanding effort. we are so, so proud of this project and so thrilled to be able to give a new face to lafayette park. this park has tremendous history, from a city attorney who claimed ownership of 12 acres in the 1860s, holiday hill, how many know about holiday hill? right? where the city attorney actually thought he owned a piece of this. to a professor who set up the first astronomical observatory on the west coast here in 1879. to the hundreds of people who call this park home after the 1906 earthquake, to controversial mind troops. to controversial park renovations. lafayette park has many stories to tell.

but its views, locations and one of the city's most desirable neighborhoods in the city, it has -- this park has a way of igniting people's passions about green space. and we've got the permit appeals to prove it. yea! >> it is this passion that made la fay it park what it is today. and i want to talk about the community and partnership involved. so, in 2008 san francisco voter displayed their passion for this park by approving an $185 million bond to improve parks, rec centers and play grounds like this one all across the city. more than $10 million of that bond were invested here in lafayette park and you're going to see even more improvements around the city as we start implementing the 2012 parks bond. yeah. (applause) >> by the way, if you're wearing a rec and park sticker today, raise your hand. yeah, woo, look at that. but government can't do it

alone, we know that, right? and it's the passion of groups like the friends of lafayette park and the friends of lafayette park playground (applause) >> which has been with us every step of the way offering leadership, guidance, and support throughout the process. the friends group stepped up to help us make this beautiful, beautiful playground a reality and other you're going to be hearing more about that in a little bit. but it's also people like jeff miller who contributed all of the architectural services for this gem pro bono. [cheering and applauding] >> but it's also the passion of our elected officials on the state and local level who you're going to hear from in a little bit including senator leno, assemblyman phil king, our mayor. (applause) >> our recreation and park commissioners megan levitt son is here. our district 2 supervisor mark farrell. [cheering and applauding] >> our district 8 supervisor

and park champion, tallest park champion in the city, scott wiener. (applause) >> our district 11 supervisor and another park champion extraordinary narc, john avalos. (applause) >> our city treasurer who does his work to make sure we've actually got the funds to pull this off, jose cisneros. (applause) ~ >> but it's the passion of all of us. and i also want to give a big shout out to the entire city family for their role, mohammed nuru and folks at department of public works had a role, lindsay hirsch. (applause) >> with all due respect to dpw and everybody else who is here, the hardest working staff in government is rec and park. gk, construction manager, mary hobson, project manager. [cheering and applauding] >> director of capital planning, don.