work for and they work in. and i think a lot of that, you'll see, as they -- as we go forward, because of all of the work and hard work that they have done. i am so excited today. i'm excited about the valley community, the library is amazing. and that's because community and people had a lot to do with it. the center is really off the hook, real different, so come and see and you'll get a taste of the valley greenway. i have to thank the p.u. crfment but because -- because a lot of property came from the p.u.c. i want to thank the community and the folks that made this lap. it was really a city effort to make it what it is. thank you, fran, thank you, nick. thank you for all of your work. thank you. thank you supervisor maxwell for the leadership. if it weren't for her, we wouldn't be here today and you

wouldn't seat library and other things happening. we had references to the public utilities commission. on the face of it you may say what do they have to do with this? >> a few points on that. one is when we talk about the surface infrastructure and the investments, a lot of condition of our infrastructure is dependent on what is underneath it -- the wart water and waste waterlines. that's managed by the pufment p.u.c. we have been working closely with them as they have been ramping up their repair and we have been ramping up ours. we benefit each other when we could coordinate and join and get all of the infrastructure repaired with less money and less disruption, so we have been making great headway in that regard. but specific to this project, what you're seeing here is not

just -- not just beautiful and inviting and attractive and functional and -- in terms of mobility but it has additional functionality in terms of its environmental performance, specifically with -- with regard to storm water management. that is -- i hope this is probably our single biggest to date effort in that regard and i hope it is the first, the first -- i expect it to be the first of many to come. to speak to infrastructure, my infrastructure partner in the city and their efforts and contributions in making this a environmental leader as far as projects go, i like to ask the general manager, ed harrington to come up and say a few words. >> thank you so much. i'm happy to be out here. this is not the leland i grew up with coming out here.

it looks so nice. walking down the street here for a few blocks, the place is big and beautiful and it looks so wonderful to be here. i am happy to be here as part of the p.u.c. we gave a lot of advice to d.p.w. as they were working on it. i'm so proud of the work. happy to the with the mayor and supervisor maxwell and the partners in the community to make this something. a few facts about why it is important to us. you see the lights here. those are l.e.d. lights, providing better height for the community and it saves 60% of the electricity it would take to light normal streetlights. this sidewalk and -- there's only a few blocks here. you're talking about. but the perm i can't believe pavement, that means five -- 500,000 gallons of water per year that used to go in the waste water treatment plant won't, it will go back in the ground water and recharge and can be used for other things. you do that across the city and you could change the way we treat storm water. the amount of money we spent on

pumping the water, all that changes. in the waste water improvement program, we're looking at taking 1% of the city per year and take it from hard escapes to this kind of -- this kind of look with the pavement. it'll make a dramatic change in san francisco. as you walk along here, please take a look. there's fairly fun things you don't see most places. this swail, the basin, you could see the storm water runs down the street, it moves over into a nice planted area. as much as -- as much as possible goes in the ground water. it comes back out and doesn't flood anything and goes in the sewer system. r -- easy and straightforward. this is the future of san francisco, we're going to monitor this a hot to make sure you do the maintsnens and it performs well and it is sustainable. we're doing this all over san francisco, you're our test case, we need to make sure it works

for you and works with the rest of us. thanks to being here. l.e.d. lights, providing better height for the community and it saves 60% of the electricity it would take to light normal streetlights. this sidewalk and -- there's only a few blocks here. you're talking about. but the perm i can't believe pavement, that means five -- 500,000 gallons of water per year that used to go in the waste water treatment plant won't, it will go back in the ground water and recharge and can be used for other things. you do that across the city and you could change the way we treat storm water. the amount of money we spent on pumping the water, all that changes. in the waste water improvement this swail, the basin, you could see the storm water runs down the street, it moves over >> there are other government departments we work with. i want to acknowledge doug johnson, the transportation authority under the direction of jose luis. and caltrans, jimmy pan may and hinge cunge. and then the better streets plans guru. and al hearst and lauren worked

on it. we worked closely with the h.t.a. on these projects. i see amy here from the office of economic development. a lot of different folks worked together to -- to make these projects happen i want to make sure to acknowledge them. one that i haven't yet mentioned, though it has been referenced, has to do with public art. public works is -- is you know, typically a profession of civil engineers and hard tough stuff, pipes and asphalt and concrete. we realize that in order to -- to really make the -- these projects attractive and inviting, that public art can really be an important element to do that, to compliment the great work our architects do. i want to ask joe maddon from the arts commission to come up and say a few words about the beautiful public art that you may have noticed. >> thank you.

thank you very much. >> good morning. good afternoon. it is a pleasure to be here. congratulations to the residents of -- of visitation valley on your beautiful new streetscape. i want to say that it has been a measure to collaborate with our colleagues from d.p.w. and p.u.c. on the project. and i also want to say the rope you have public art is that 40 years ago, san francisco was -- was on the edge of cutting -- cutting public policy, even then by having the vision to enact a percent for art legislation which insures that public art is part of the -- of every new building and transportation project. and we -- we -- we set an example, other cities across the nation have followed. they're now hundreds and hundreds of programs like this. that's why we have public art included in this project. i would like to -- to specifically talk about the project that was done for -- by

rebar, the artist team of rebar, through their temporary work that they have done in the past, they have made an indelible mark on the city's cultural landscape by beautyifying and improving the liveability of our city through their inventive and unique and humorous art installations. i mentioned those were temporary. this however, is the first ever permanent art install hation. we're proud to have it here on leland avenue. from the victory garden in the civic center which took place a couple of years ago, to parking day, which has now become an international event, originating in san francisco, again, we are a leader, other cities across the world are following us, rebar's art work challenges us to contemplate a more sustainable future. where street furnishes and -- of today may be art materials of tomorrow. what strikes me about them is

they take the ordinary and mundane, such as the uniformly abhored parking meters and turn -- turn it into an extraordinary -- extraordinary work of art. who would have ever thought that a cluster of used parking meters could end up being so whimsical and beautiful and welcoming. unfortunately we don't have rebar's founder, matthew pass more here today, he happens to be in paris inaugurating their first parking day, which is -- i said was started here in san francisco. again, we're leading the way. he sends his regrets and wanted me to convey how much he enjoyed working with the residents of visitation valley. rebar sculpture. you can't miss it. it is down the street on the corner of leland and bay shore. it looks like stalks of organically grown street furniture. using the vernacular of the

street, sur mass parking meter heads which are painted dark orange which are attached to tall arching poles. the form was intended to reference the neighborhood's pastoral and agricultural past. according to the artist, the scultchur is meant to mark this particular moment in -- in a time when it undergoes a positive transition in the future. if you look at the sculpture, he incorporated eight text elements in the stalkings. you'll see the words visitation valley and a -- accompanied by words such as grow, thrive, nurture, prosper, cultivate and flourish. they're all written in the diverse languages that reflect the demographics of our complunity's residents. i wanted to commend our art commission staff, marry chu and eleanor -- mary chu and eleanor

who oversaw the project. i want to thank community members, marlene and ann who donated their valuable time to help us in the selection process. of course the municipal transportation agency who donated the used parking meters so we could turn refuse into art work. and lastly, someone -- someone who hasn't been acknowledged who deserves to be acknowledged or who has been acknowledged in passing but hasn't been acknowledged for her vea valuable contribution to the artwork of the community is fran martin and her husband jim grouden. -- who have -- have -- who have volunteered their time without compensation from the city. volunteered their time and effort and materials to beautyify the neighborhood in various ways through -- through beautiful tile work you see and gate ways and railings and

through butterfly and dragonflies. so thank you for your beautiful work, what a gift to the city and a gift to the neighborhood, and glad i have this opportunity to thank you publicly. so in concluding, i'll say i hope visitors and residents do to downtown visitation valley with enjoy our exubebrapt bright bouquet for generations to come. thank you so much. >> thank you. for this whole project is obviously a great benefit for all of san francisco. the primary beneficiaries are the folks here in viz valley, along this corridor. as primary beneficiaries, they were the ones that suffered the most as we were getting the work done. as you could see, it was a significant construction project. just like a major renovation would be in your home, a little disruptive. this was a little bit disruptive and we understand that and appreciate the support and

patience of the merchants and residents of leland and the surrounding streets as we understood took this process. we worked very hard on all of these projects to minimize adverse impact, but we all -- we all recognize there's going to be some, but it is limited in time and from here forward, it is nothing but good times and hopefully not -- not significant rent raises for the folks. but i want to ask one of the leaders from the community who has been working with us all along, who has been a booster of the community for a long time and will continue to be, that helped us working with the merchants representing the merchants in their community to come up. nick wolf from b.b. boom. >> thank you, ed. this is a new day in -- in downtown visitation avenue. it is usually sunnier here. this is one of the sunniest neighborhoods in the city of san francisco. i like to thank may newsom and

supervisor maxwell for their leadership and commitment in securing the four-plus million dollar bond that led to the creation of this beautiful state-of-the-art streetscape that we're here celebrating. the department of public works staff and project managers on the ground have worked we ve hard to keep the project moving and it actually finished a little ahead of schedule. i think they should be acknowledged for their hard work. chris, alex, john, deppness, thank you guys. the fact that they made themselves available too attend our merchant meetings and were attentive and patient fielding an endless barrage of questions from a lot of small business owners was great. they were real partners in this and -- i really thank them for that. the merchants themselves along leland avenue, i think -- i like to thank them. i think we owe them a big debt of gratitude, there's 50

merchants that are the heart of the neighborhood. every day they wake up early and -- leave late and make sure we have fresh fruit, we have affordable medicine. in my case, we're able to get a cup of coffee and some dim sung for lunch every day. i see a lot of them are here too. j.b. from the shop is here. ken from the dragon city aquarium is here. this is good. this is a good day. i feel good about it. they weathered a real storm like the mayor mentioned before. the factory across bay shore. the economic slump didn't help things, we're thrilled to stand here today in a new and improved leland avenue. this -- this is where we serve to bring the economic vitality back to the street. it is quite a year down here. the future has never looked brighter for do you want visitation valley. b.b. boom, the -- it is a program that works hard to bring in resources and programming to

the community. i like to thank people that are on my steering committee that i see here. russell and edie and smalley hassler, and betty particle -- betty and even. you guys make my job a lot easier. you know, we're a part of the -- of the mayor's neighborhood market place initiative program. we partner with the support corporation and office of economic and work force development. we work with 1345u8 business owners. -- we work with small business owners. the street fair, there's flyers everywhere. please take one and tell your friends. we were pretty thrilled to land latin jazz legend, pete who is going to perform. we're pretty happy to have him. so, there's going to be a lot of

homegrown artists, musicians, chefs, children's area. we're going to have the writers and the partners, the jump start in the bank of america parking lot. thanks everyone that played this -- the streetscape a reality. i hope to see you back on sunday, but not just sunday, i hope people kind of make this gateway to san francisco a part of their routine and come back and support the business owners and thanks, you guys. thanks again. s >> thanks. i was going to say exactly the same thing. not only before you leave today, should you stop and patronize a business, and not only should you come back sunday, think of leland and viz valley as one of the up and coming commercial district. it is a special and unique place and worthy of all of our patronage as we go forward.

before we cut the ribbon, i do want to just take a moment to acknowledge just a few -- a few of the many of department of public works employees who worked hard on this projects, in -- in some cases for years. if you indulge me to go quickly. nick mentioned dennis, along with martha ketterer and nick and steve o'sullivan and danny wong and thomas wong the nernling crew that put this together on the -- engineering crew that put this together. joe is here and wally wong, and alex marie who i saw limping, i hope that wasn't from the community meeting. these are the folks that worked with the contractor, mcgwire and hester to get this work done. i want to thank them for that. last but most -- the woman who manages the great streets

program that has taken the mayor's vision and the board's policy directive for great streets and actually put it into practice so that we see these projects here, mr.ings all of these prodge -- manages all of the projects, chris opreck. let's give her a hand. if there's anyone i missed, accept my apologies know my gratitude is there. with that we will cut the ribbon. >> all right. we'll do, five, four, three.

>> no. no. no. that was really bad. >> everybody. ready? five, four, three, two, one, [cheering] thank you, everyone. ♪

>> there has been an acknowledgement of the special places around san francisco bay. well, there is something sort of innate in human beings, i think, that tend to recognize a good spot when you see it, a spot that takes your breath away. this is one of them. >> an icon of the new deal. >> we stood here a week ago and we heard all of these dignitaries talk about the symbol that coit tower is for san francisco. it's interesting for those of us in the pioneer park project is trying to make the point that not only the tower, not only this man-built edifice here is a symbol of the city but also the green space on

which it sits and the hill to which is rests. to understand them, you have to understand the topography of san francisco. early days of the city, the city grows up in what is the financial district on the edge of chinatown. everything they rely on for existence is the golden gate. it's of massive importance to the people what comes in and out of san francisco bay. they can't see it where they are. they get the idea to build a giant wooden structure. the years that it was up here, it gave the name telegraph hill. it survived although the structure is long gone. come to the 1870's and the city has growed up remarkably. it's fueled with money from the nevada silver mines and the gold rush. it's trying to be the paris of the west. now the beach is the suburbs, the we will their people lived on the bottom and the poorest people lived on the top because it was very hard getting to the

top of telegraph hill. it was mostly lean-to sharks and bits of pieces of houses up here in the beginning. and a group of 20 businessmen decided that it would be better if the top of the hill remained for the public. so they put their money down and they bought four lots at the top of the hill and they gave them to the city. lily hitchcock coit died without leaving a specific use for her bequest. she left a third of her estate for the beautify indication of the city. arthur brown, noted architect in the city, wanted for a while to build a tower. he had become very interested in persian towers. it was the 1930's. it was all about machinery and sort of this amazing architecture, very powerful architecture. he convinced the rec park commission that building a tower in her memory would be the thing to do with her money. >> it was going to be a

wonderful observation place because it was one of the highest hills in the city anywhere and that that was the whole reason why it was built that high and had the elevator access immediately from the beginning as part of its features. >> my fear's studio was just down the street steps. we were in a very small apartment and that was our backyard. when they were preparing the site for the coit tower, there was always a lot of harping and griping about how awful progress was and why they would choose this beautiful pristine area to do them in was a big question. as soon as the coit tower was getting finished and someone put in the idea that it should be used for art, then, all of a sudden, he was excited about

the coit tower. it became almost like a daily destination for him to enjoy the atmosphere no matter what the politics, that wasn't the point. as long as they fit in and did their work and did their own creative expression, that was all that was required. they turned in their drawings. the drawings were accepted. if they snuck something in, well, there weren't going to be any stoolies around. they made such careful little diagrams of every possible little thing about it as though that was just so important and that they were just the big frog. and, actually, no one ever felt that way about them and they weren't considered something like that. in later life when people would

approach me and say, well, what did you know about it? we were with him almost every day and his children, we grew up together and we didn't think of him as a commie and also the same with the other. he was just a family man doing normal things. no one thought anything of what he was doing. some of them were much more highly trained. it shows, in my estimation, in the murals. this was one of the masterpieces. families at home was a lot more close to the life that i can remember that we lived. murals on the upper floors like the children playing on the swings and i think the little deer in the forest where you

could come and see them in the woods and the sports that were always available, i think it did express the best part of our lives. things that weren't costing money to do, you would go to a picnic on the beach or you would do something in the woods. my favorite of all is in the staircase. it's almost a miracle masterpiece how he could manage to not only fit everyone, of course, a lot of them i recognized from my childhood -- it's how he juxtaposed and managed to kind of climb up that stairway on either side very much like you are walking down a street. it was incredible to do that and to me, that is what depicted the life of the times in san francisco. i even like the ones that show the industrial areas, the once

with the workers showing them in the cannery and i can remember going in there and seeing these women with the caps, with the nets shuffling these cans through. my parents had a ranch in santa rosa and we went there all summer. i could see these people leaning over and checking. it looked exactly like the beautiful things about the ranch. i think he was pretty much in the never look back philosophy about the coit. i don't think he ever went to visit again after we moved from telegraph hill, which was only five or six years later. i don't think he ever had to see it when the initials are scratched into everything and people had literally destroyed the lower half of everything. >> well, in my view, the tower had been pretty much neglected

from the 1930's up until the 1980's. it wasn't until then that really enough people began to be alarmed about the condition of the murals, the tower was leaking. some of the murals suffered wear damage. we really began to organize getting funding through the arts commission and various other sources to restore the murals. they don't have that connection or thread or maintain that connection to your history and your past, what do you have? that's one of the major elements of what makes quality of life in san francisco so incredible. when people ask me, and they ask me all the time, how do you get to coit tower, i say you walk. that's the best way to experience the gradual elevation coming up above the hustle and bustle of the city