african-americans, including thurgood marshall, jackie robinson, former mayor willie brown jr. he became as a delegate in the naacp chapter. in 2008, they held an exhibit called david johnson. and this past june, david returned to jacksonville where he received more than 50 proclamations from national, state and civic communities for his contributions. the commission provided guidelines in the naming policy which sets forth a criteria that people may be recognized for their contributions to the city and the recreation and parks department. because of his significant contribution to creating an educational opportunity to capture the rich history of the fi fillmore, we would like to name the photo processing center, the

david johnson photo processing lab and create a reading space in the lobby of the center. we have received over 100 letters in support of the request and there have been two community meetings held on friday, september 27 and thursday, october 10. based on the feedback from community members, organizations and rec and park department staff, the staff recommends that the photo processing lab at the harvey milk photo center be named the david johnson photo processing lab and to create a reference library and reading space in his name as well. at this time i will take questions. >> president buell: thank you. >> clerk: i'd like to acknowledge that david and jackie johnson are here. they've requested to come up last, so i'll be calling them up after the other cards. i have michael and then barbara and then angela.

my name is michael johnson. full disclosure, i am an employee of rec and park. i work in the park rangers division there. >> president buell: welcome. >> i'm sure i've talked to one or two of you. i'm here as david's son. and remember actually going to the harvey milk photo center as a teenager. we lived on central avenue. central and haight. and the wild haight ash bury. i wasn't old enough to appreciate what was going on, that's probably a good thing in the long run, but great memories of the harvey milk center.

and learning the art of photography from my father before i could read. i think placing this in honor of my father would be a great memory place for san francisco. it's something that i think -- will have the effect i believe of the pond and the pebble and the ripple effect will go out from harvey milk. it's not that harvey milk is not on the map. it's a place that a lot of people know. but it's a chance to take those memories that have been created by my father and to move that on to other people, help other people honor that memory with a reference library and also with the naming of the photo processing lab. i think it will be a chance for, as people turn to film again, and get back to the art of photography, not everybody has a telephone, but when we come back to the old process, here's a

chance to create a place of memory for san francisco and also have to more people come and enjoy the harvey milk center for what it is. thank you. >> president buell: thank you very much. >> clerk: barbara? >> my name is barbara thompson, i'm community activist in san francisco and have been living here most of my life, over 70-some years. i want to thank a couple of people. mark, thank you so much. i want to thank you all of you for being a part of what we're doing here and i appreciate you. eric, thank you so much. i feel your energy. it inspires me and i thank you. sara, thank you. and chris, i want to thank chris for all he's done. and david. anyway, thank the commissioners for you hearing us and being part of this momentous adventure

we're going on. thank you so much. >> president buell: thank you. >> clerk: i have angela then ken and victoria and then rory. >> thank you, commissioners. i didn't hear if we established a quorum on the commission. i wondered if you have. >> president buell: we have a quorum. >> okay, so this can go forward. i'm angela, i'm here following ms. thompson. i'm inspired by the things she gets involved in and mr. johnson's efforts and life long commitment to elevating who we are as african-americans here in san francisco. it is a sitting thing that i, who like him, go to the fillmore to see black people. to have a section of the harvey milk library designate that again, the warmth in the life of black people, the culture, the social, being visible finally in

a city that has seen a depletion from 2010 at 6% to 5.6 right now, it's a fitting thing. thank you for considering this. i believe it will go forward. thank you. >> president buell: thank you. >> clerk: ken and victoria? >> hello. my name is victoria whiteball. and i'm here because my father, don white and david johnson were peers, students together at the california school of fine arts, now the san francisco art institute on chestnut street. after they returned from world war ii in 1945-46, they went to school together. and then in the school that ansel adams established.

after my father died later in 1989, david became a very close friend. and mentor. and over the past years we've worked with david on many inspiring photo projects, exhibits. from the cfsa period. and we also collaborated on a book called the golden decade, photography at the california school of fine arts, 1945 to 55, published in 2016. david's contribution to photography in san francisco and beyond is legendary among the art community. his influence has been felt keenly. naming the harvey milk photo lab and reference and library in david johnson's honor would be perfect. and fitting.

>> my name is ken ball. as my wife victoria said, we have known david for the last 14, 15 years, while doing the research on the book in which he is -- he and his work are prominently displayed. anyone who hasn't had a chance to look at david johnson's photographs, you can look at them online and they're engaging and beautiful and amazing works. i don't want to go over things that other people have already said, but my wife and i are both extremely privileged and proud to be associated with david. and his importance is not only

because of his legendary photographs, but also because of his character. he's a very warm and giving person and i think that this -- naming this in his name would not only be an honor for him, but it would be an honor for the city of san francisco, and the recreation and parks department and the harvey milk photo center. and so i hope that this is what happens and victoria and i are very, very proud to be considered his friend. thank you. >> president buell: thank you very much. >> clerk: i have rory and then christine and then gregory. >> david johnson is a bay area treasure. san francisco rec and parks has a unique chance to honor one of

california's greatest living photographers in the very city where he made his stunning photos of everyday life. david's work has inspired and influenced generations of photographers and harvey milk center should be proud to have his name on their historic walls. thank you. >> president buell: thank you. >> clerk: christine? >> thank you so much. park and rec commission, my name is christine and i'm from the bancroft library, the special collections library at u.c. berkeley. we collect photographs and we are incredibly proud to have david johnson's photo archive in our collection, over 5,000 photos and these are available to researchers and scholars and anyone who wants to come to the library to view them.

david's archive is an incredible treasure as you've heard. he photographed civil rights demonstrations and marches, but he also photographed the ordinary folks who worked and lived in the fillmore where he captured unguarded moments in their lives. in so doing, he created the most important archive of african-american life in san francisco in the mid 20th century. there is no one more deserving to have a photo lab named for him, and library, and i want to thank all who made that possible. his artistry is an inspiration to us all. >> clerk: gregory and then charles. >> thank you, through the commission to the chair and the e.d., first of all, my name is archbishop gregory richardson. this is like a u.f.o. dropping

mr. david off here for us to have some insight. as well as i have a dream. first and secondly, i'd like to thank mr. johnson himself. taking his time, doing very, very hard times -- during hard times to follow his own dreams. and as the black community and the gay, lesbian, transgender community has always worked together on movements like the aids movement and more, harvey milk, i do believe would be very pleased to share the space with the black community. what this means in the future for the world that will come is the communities will never be forgotten. in san francisco.

so with all respect to you commissioners, and through staff, and lamonte bishop, consistencies will show african-americans in the fillmore, in the bayview, in the low moderate income developments, that they can find someone, read about them, go learn what they've done, and give themselves opportunity to make their dream come true. thank you for your time. >> president buell: thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. and guests of david.

david and i met in the 60s. we were employed at u.c. medical center. and during that period of time, we had to start a civil rights movement on campus for equality. and it was at that period in time that i met mr. johnson. later on, i realized that the two of us are both veterans, both united states navy, and my relationship with him over the years and remembrance of his leadership and our organization, the u.c.f. black caucus, is more than a milestone for generations to come, to learn from.

so thank you for considering mr. johnson for the naming of the david johnson photo lab. on behalf of my family, and residents here in san francisco, and also the neighborhood, thank you. >> president buell: thank you very much. >> clerk: anyone else that would like to speak before i call mr. johnson up? okay. david and jackie johnson. >> san francisco rec and park commissioners, general manager phil ginsburg, thank you for

this honor and consideration. we deeply appreciate the support and effort, especially of a staff, especially from sarah medellin and lamonte bishop, who worked with our family to move this forward. we want to acknowledge the leadership of chris butcher who authorized a unique made-for san francisco concrete proposals and ensured appropriate community engagement. we thank our friend barbara thompson and all of our friends and family supporters who have stood with us on this day to see this come about. thank you very much. >> president buell: thank you very much. >> i'm exceedingly grateful to

all of those who were factors in this presentation of my work. i believe good things happen eventually. sometimes it takes a little time. i'm in a position to know that at 92 years old [laughter]. thank you very much. appreciate it. >> president buell: thank you. [applause] >> clerk: thank you. any other public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. >> commissioner mcdonnell: thank you so much. again, it's a wonderful opportunity to celebrate this amazing man and his work. and so one, thank you, mr. johnson, for your labor of love, first of this country in serving in the military, and of course in your artistic expression and in particular capturing the history as a story teller and

historian and narrator through your work. and so it is our -- my personal -- i think i speak on behalf 0 the commission and the department -- our pleasure to share this moment with you and celebrate with this commemoration. i'd like to, if i can, just read as stated, as lamonte stated, we have over 100 letters of support for this effort and many more who didn't write, but certainly spoke up. there is one excerpt i'd like it share. his historic collection of silver prints depicting jazz era in the fillmore and civil rights leaders and the historic march on washington d.c. now resides -- as we heard today -- with and at the u.c. berkeley congress and the library of congress. compared to harvey cartier, david johnson is given credit by the california school of fine arts as being one of the finest

black and white art photographers of the 20th century. again, on behalf of the commission, it's my honor to move approval, to celebrate and look forward to a grand celebration at the center. >> president buell: it's been moved and seconded. all those in favor. so moved. thank you very much. [cheers and applause] >> we're going to go on to the rather dull rest of the commission meeting, but we don't want to keep people here. we'd only torture to have you stick around. but thank you very much. we're honored to have you here today. >> honored and proud. >> thank you, all. >> so proud. >> thank you for coming back. >> president buell: thank you.

>> it's an honor to do something that is the right thing to do. >> san francisco zoo, it's a tough act to follow. item 6, the san francisco zoo. >> president buell: get to the exciting part of the... >> good afternoon, commission and general manager ginsburg, deputy director of the san francisco zoo. i'm excited to remind you the zoo was established in 1929. and so we're celebrating our

90th year. your zoo is celebrating its 90th year and we have a lot of fun stuff going on. i want to point out, people say what kind of owl? that is a owl. it's a fun way to explore this 100-acre park. the-fest features a beer garden with special brews and food and live music. you can come in and enjoy the ambience. it's large, it's good, we have nine dead ends and we've never lost a kid yet in the hay maze.

a couple of them spent a little while in there. but it's worth, if you like hay mazes, come out and see it. of course, the famous boo at the zoo. we feature haunted nature trail. we're going to have kids coming in costume contest. it's both two days. it's on the weekend. after halloween? yeah, october 24 and 25 -- oops, thank you, 26th and 27th. come out and see. a lot of kids come out in very cool costumes. i wonder what the number one costume this year will be? anyway, another exciting -- it won't be a baby langer, who is bright orange, we had one born. if you've never seen a baby langer, it is a very, very cute.

what is interesting, the baby is raised by all the female monkeys. and the reason it's bright orange, is that the other females can see where the youngster is. so it's a shared responsibility. and that's, again, why they're bright orange. another exciting development is our snow leopard exhibit. these are the kids of jimmie dee. that's right, one of our male snow leopard was named after the 49er quarterback, and he had two offspring. this is his brother and sister. the need to build a bigger exhibit is something we've been working on now for a couple of years and it is in process. i'm sure you're aware that the snow leopard is highly endangered. they're extremely beautiful.

it's considered the ghost cat. if you have never seen one up close, you should come and see it. what is interesting, the exhibit to the right, or if you look on the upper piece of this slide, the exhibit, the piece to the right is the current holding area. and the new piece will be the area to the left. and if you drop down and see the profile of the exhibit being built, you notice the volume is really going vertical. it's going to be as tall as the ceiling. and remember, these are climbing cats. this will offer a really unique opportunity for the cats to move, not only horizontally, but vertically within their exhibit. and they'll be able to bounce back and forth from the central piers that are holing the netting -- holding the netting up. this is going to be in the

center of the exhibit and the mesh will be draped over it and then attached to the edge of the exhibit in a bio swell. so a lot of exciting stuff is going on at the san francisco zoo. i just want to point out, that we are, again, 100-acre park, 100-acre garden, 100-acre classroom. to demonstrate that, the first school from stockton, we're going to have 2000 fifth graders come over the course of the next five months and 100-kid blocks will be bused to the zoo to get environmental education and really explore and have a unique experience. they're coming all the way from stockton. so it is really a little outside of our normal influences. we're really excited. we're punching it up. and the most exciting, to me, i've been working with the gulf

of the fair lawns marine sanctuary over the course of a couple of years, you know, about the coastal pop-up to connect our guests to the amazing diversity of life right off our coast. and they offered a unique opportunity. they had a research vessel out last weekend. it was friday and saturday actually. the vessel was out for a full week. they took it out of san francisco and parked it over the cordell bank and launched a remote operated vehicle to go down a thousand feet to look for coral and the animals down on top of this amazing bump in the middle of this big plateau. and this was the first time people would see animals. the things that are down that far through a remote connection. it was a ship to shore

connection. we had an half-hour slot. we were talking to the scientists as they were operating these remote. and we had a really unique opportunity to learn about the amazing diversity right off the coast. remember, to be designated a marine sanctuary, the biodiversity has to be off the charts. this is all action by noaa. this is your zoo trying to connect our guests in interesting ways. it's open to anybody who wanted to come. that ends my report. >> president buell: thank you very much. >> clerk: any public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. >> president buell: richard? >> hi, richard. public comment is open. >> the fair lawn islands.

>> president buell: i've been. >> good one. they have a lot of rows out there, you know. i've been on the fishing boat, and it goes ca -- bang. >> president buell: and the birds won't let you forget they're there. they have a remarkable odor. >> how about the seagulls? >> president buell: there is a bird that nests out there. anyway, don't get me started. >> but then they have all the jellyfish. they always get in the way when i try to get the salmon. i get the salmon, but i'm not like mark, mark, catch release. >> your time is running out, richard. >> i take them home, i eat them. i can't help it. i've been brought up that way. i eat the fish, bring them home. my mom cuts them up and makes them chinese style and it's real good. but this particular part about research and everything else.

he talks about half-hour window. that's not easy. especially when you're on top and you got them swells out there. so maybe tom might want to try out there. but the guy, we have here, mcdonald, i don't know what he would do in that. i thought i had sea legs when it went out there fishing. all them on the same boat. they had to do that, taking the five and dive. and letting it out, you know. it's gross, but if you do have the chance to go out there, it's a beautiful scene. you can see almost everything, but watch out for the swells. they'll get to almost everyone. i'm not going to tell you the trick to avoid that vomiting and nausea, but you can always see a doctor. >> president buell: thank you, richard. >> clerk: public comment is

closed. we are now on item 7, cottage row plaque placement. >> president buell: follow that. >> i'll leave that one alone. good afternoon, abigail maher. i'm here for cottage row plaque placement discussion and possible action to approve the placement of a plaque on a boulder in the garden and to improve the -- approve the wording on the plaque. the main one is strategy one, inspire public space by preserving historic cultural resources. this commission accepted an in-kind grant from the japanese cultural and community center to install new landscaping in the southern front on mental bed.

since this was approved, the department and the center have been working together to support the center in having the garden installed. the garden installation is complete. and we are pleased with the way it looks. now the center has proposed installing a sign on one of the boulders in the garden. the purpose of the sign is to share with park visitors, the cultural and historical significance of the generation and their connection to cottage row. we have received about 22 letters of support. and two letters of opposition from the same person have been submitted. i'm happy to show you a couple of photos.

neighborhood. cottage row is in the historic district. that's the black outline. the park is in green. and the red rectangle shows the approximate location of the front bed along sutter street. this is a photo of the new garden. and that is one of the boulders. and this is a temporary sign. the actual sign will be embedded onto the rock. and these are three photos showing similar types of signage in our parks. that concludes my presentation. thank you. >> president buell: thank you. >> i have one blue card. mickey?

>> good afternoon. my name is mickey and i'm here to support the japanese community efforts to place a plaque in the issei rock garden and its wording. for the past 40 years i've lived at 1979 sutter street, which is right across the street from the park. and several times every day, my dog and i will be past this park and we see many people looking at it, observing it. and people from everywhere. those locals in the neighborhood, people from around san francisco, the bay area, and of course the tourists. and everyone has said this is a very, very beautiful unique garden. and i heard nothing negative about it, but some people

rightfully wanted to know what it was. so i tried to explain to that this was a japanese rock garden to honor the first generation of japanese in america. so having a plaque in this garden to explain to people what this is about is very important. and just as important is what it says on the plaque. now, we could all go to webster's dictionary or google to find out what the definition of concentration camps is. but if you read it, it is definite that -- the definition clearly captures the experience of more than 100,000 japanese during world war ii. and as shameful as this period was in our history, it can be -- there can be no question that this was an american -- an

american concentration camp. so in placing a plaque in the wording, i want to end by saying this -- words matter and the truth matters. thank you. >> president buell: thank you. >> clerk: i know we have a couple of other folks for public comment. please come forward. good afternoon, commissioners, president buell, members of the commission, general manager phil ginsburg. thank you for taking this issue up in your agenda. i'm a longtime advocate for -- [feedback] -- as you know, san francisco is one of three left in america. and i'm here to urge you to support the recommendation from your operations committee that met recently, which your

committee did approve the signage for the issei memorial park plaque. so i would like for you to support the whole exact wording as it is. and i'm here to support the letter that was committed to you by -- submitted to you by paul osaki, the director. i am a third generation japanese-american and i was born in one of those american concentration camps. specifically thue lake. so i urge you to support the exact wording, because words do matter. thank you. >> president buell: thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners, i'm executive

director of the japanese cultural center. this is another opportunity for you to do a good thing. i first wanted to thank you and express my deepest appreciation for your unanimous approval of the issei garden project. in that proposal was the historic context of what now has become the language on this plaque. the garden itself is beautiful. you know, but you tie a story to it and a history, and it becomes a treasure for the community, for the neighborhood, and for the city of san francisco. you know, i need to say this because there has been so much stuff being said about our history, but -- and i know you know this, but for the record, the opposition is no expert on japanese-american history. taken a few things found on the internet and tried to weaponize

it to use our history against us. i can assure you that the information contained on the plaque is 100% factual. october 3rd operations committee meeting made a statement that the issei were never gardeners. they were only farmers and damn good farmers. that's the kind of thing that president trump would tweet. you know, it is really condescending, because we were farmers, but the issei were also scholars and students and businessmen and doctors. and they were gardeners. you know, i just always assume that japanese-american gardens were synonymous with gardening. but i guess i was wrong, but for

the record, japanese-americans created the san francisco flower mart on 6th and brandon at the turn of the century. they also started the california flowers grow association in 1906 and it started with 42 charter members. and then a couple of decades later by the 1930s, there were over 80 independent japanese nurseries, just here in the bay area. they also started the southern california flower mart which is now the nation's largest flower market of its kind. they started the california flower and shippers association which now attributes 80% of the domestic flower industry in the nation. [bell ringing] we have a deep history as gardeners and

nurseries and i just wanted to clear that fact up. >> president buell: thank you very much. >> i'll make this brief. my name is david darling. i've lived on cottage row for 16 years. i first wanted to commend you all and your people for doing such an amazing job. i've watched the park transform over that time. and it's truly amazing. but also i've come to recognize that japan town is such a unique and valuable asset, cultural asset to the city of san francisco and to me and my family. and this garden is so important in kind of preserving that asset. and the story that it tells and the story that the text of the

plaque tells is frankly, kind of lost on a lot of people. and i think any opportunity we have to put that story forward, we should take that opportunity. particularly the wording, i feel really strongly, that the word -- the phrase concentration camp means different things to different people. to my wife and her family, it means exactly what is referenced in this text. thank you. >> president buell: thank you. >> clerk: any other public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. sorry, richard. >> good afternoon, again. i'd to put in my two bits. i'm proactive with this plaque

being placed. i've spoken about it during committee. it would be a wonderful place for people to reflect and try to get in touch with the ancestry. practicing piety, respectful zone, past, present and future, and other issues related to a memorial place that is kind of like the old fisher place you can go to, and try to relax. and to meditate and to calm -- the inner calm of it. which ever religious you are. so the place itself is not religion, it's more a commemorative location. and i, myself, when i think about it, a lot of my old friends, i used to go

bar-hopping a few places. they've already passed away. they would have been issei second generation. and then there would be the first generation. the issei. and they aren't any longer around too much. i learned esprit. i wanted to keep in mind that in the spirit of such location, it should be something that the soul can reach of each and every one who would be of such time. when you search your own soul, you should find peace of mind. thank you. >> president buell: thank you. >> clerk: any other public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. >> commissioner mcdonnell: thank you so much. in the noted words of the philosopher ice cube -- >> [laughter] --

>> commissioner mcdonnell: he said -- >> you singing? >> no, he said today was a good day. and for me today was a good day. where again we're pausing to put an important stake and pin in the ground that recognizes the significant contributions of our brothers and sisters in japantown. i grew up attending mount trinity baptist church. if you know anything about the black church, sunday is all day. so, i had breakfast in japantown, lunch in japantown, dinner in japantown. wednesday nights in japantown. thursday night choir rehearsal. i almost lived in japantown. it was a wonderful place to learn and grow and so, again, to the tireless advocates who fought long and hard to bring us to this moment, thank you.

it's unfortunate there were headwinds that didn't quite understand or value, but you persevered, so again, i commend you. thank you so much for bringing us to this place. >> commissioner anderson: i'd like to ditto what commissioner mcdonnell said and also acknowledge, i agree with you how important it is to honor history correctly. to be sure that we don't sugar coat things, especially something so serious as what happened with the internment camps-concentration camps. i think we all share a mission here, that it does no harm to speak the truth. it does great harm to sugar-coat or cover the truth. i want to thank the advocates, the people that came up with the

thoughtful wording. i probably could think of ways to make it stronger. i think you still exercise a great deal of discretion here and respect. and i just want to thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for that. >> president buell: thank you. >> commissioner bonilla: yes. members of my extended family were placed in concentration camps. the story that will be depicted on this plaque is a story -- is a very important story, it's a very important lesson of what we should not ever do. it's a story that should never be forgotten. and this is -- this has tremendous significance to me

and i'm so grateful to people like sandy and paul that brought this to light. and that we have the opportunity to vote on this today. thank you so much. >> president buell: thank you. seeing no other comment, the chair would entertain a motion. >> so moved. >> second. >> president buell: moved and seconded. all those in favor? so moved. thank you very much. [applause] >> we're on item 8, mclaren playground and group picnic area renovation.

good afternoon, i'm a project manager. i'm here to amend the contract with cazadoro construction for the renovation project. to increase the change order amount allowed under the contract from 141,972 to an amount not to exceed $1.269 million, which is greater than 10% over the original approved contract amount. first up, commissioners, this is not a request for additional funds. the two projects i'll be speaking about here today are both fully funded. the mclaren playground renovation is a tier one project and is under construction and has budget of $3.6 million. this project has come before the commission for concept design approval. the low bidder on the project was actually 6% under our

construction estimate, which doesn't happen very often. and we benefitted from having eight bidders. because of this, we're in the fortunate position of being able to increase the project scope and response to community desires. specifically, we'd like to incorporate a swing area into the playground. this request did come up at the end of the community outreach phase. but at the time, we were very cautious with the project budget, because we had been experiencing a volatile bid market and didn't want to set ourselves up for future problems. at this point, we feel confident we can deliver the project within budget and would like to go ahead and include the swings. the community is very excited about this. everyone feels like they'll add a lot of play value to the site. the second part of the change order is increasing the size of the footing designs for the original play structure. the original play structure is custom equipment, so the way the

process works, the manufacturer doesn't fully design the equipment until they're under contract. so we did not have this information at the time of bidding, but we did hold back funds as we foresaw this cost coming. and at this point, the structure has been fully designed, reviewed by the geotechnical engineers and approved in the building department. moving on to change order 3, this change order folds the restroom project into the current construction contract. i brought this item to commission for concept design approval in june. and it was unanimously approved by the commissioners at full commission. this project came out of the mclaren vision plan process and is fully funded. during the plan, the community told us they wanted a restroom at the picnic area and that the playground deserved a restroom. and as the commissioners know, the vision plan and the quick start project from mclaren totaled $10 million in funding

from mclaren park. mclaren park is still a 300 an acre park with a lot of needs. this $10 million we're fully funding eight capital projects and augmenting funding for an additional four. the goal of having the work done in the change order is to deliver completed site for the community with a new playground, picnic area and restroom. as you can see -- oh. presentation. sorry. as you can see on the screen, a portion of the site directly overlaps between the restroom project and the playground. and it's at a critical point which is at the entrance. this is our ada entrance. if we were executing the contract in this manner, it would be challenging to

potentially have two prime contractors sharing a site and we also didn't want to delay the project any longer. additionally we think the approach can save the project money by using a contractor that is already mobilized on site. it will allow us to better balance, cut and fill soil on the site. finally, we have a confirmed price from a contractor and don't have to go through the uncertainty of bidding the project separately. on the price, i would like this add that approximately 20% of the costs for the restroom work is actually the restroom itself. and 80% of the cost is the utility work and the site work. and i have a graphic to show is that. so maybe a little hard to see, but there is a pink dot that shows the restroom location at the picnic area. then a yellow line demonstrating

the trenching where we need to bring in the electoral from the pumphouse -- electrical and then there is a orange line showing where we're connecting to domestic water outside of the park in the public right-of-way. in total, we're trenching 1700 linear feet to get domestic water to the bathroom. it's 300-acre park. this park is owned by the recreation department, not public works, so there are not you utilities in the streets as you would expect with most public works streets. the prefabricated manufacturer was chosen because they've worked with san francisco. they're providing all of the bus driver convenient stations located throughout the city and some of the staff has visited those and found them to be sturdy and well constructed.

the company is located in the united states and the bathrooms are built in the united states. even after issuing these change orders, both projects will still have reserves and contin generals and i asked that the final piece of approval funding is on the new contract amount. it will require utility work, we would like this have additional contingencies available in case of unforeseen conditions. regarding the project schedule, we're planning to be complete in 2020 with a new joint project. we're looking forward to reopening the site for the community this spring when it's most popular. so in conclusion, staff recommends the approval of this item. thank you. >> president buell: thank you. >> i have three blue cards. >> good afternoon, commissioners

and general manager and thank you for the shoutout about the concert. it will be at noon on saturday. but around the corner from the amphitheatre is where this wonderful site is located. this project has been on the wish list of all the mclaren park advocates for all the years that i've been involved with this. and we're so excited it's getting close, so we would really like to urge the commission to adopt it completely today so the project can go ahead as fast as possible and we can get back to using this wonderful picnic area. part of it contains what i like to call the ghost playground. this was a playground that couldn't be rated in our annual playground ratings, because it didn't exist for many years. it had been torn down and was left as an empty area. so we had to reconstruct from old pictures what the playground had been. and how much it had meant to people to have a playground in

that area. it did contain swings in the old days. and swings are still one of the most popular things you will find at many playgrounds throughout the city. so we're delighted that could be incorporated with the savings. the restroom is vitally important. having a group picnic area where you have perhaps 50 to 100 people coming, we've been contending with just a horrible porta-potty situation for over 20 years. it wasn't any way to create a new capital improvement not to include this as the package and the fact that they could find a bathroom program that would work within the money that was available to me was just wonderful. and i'm so delighted with capital for coming up with the plan. thank you. >> president buell: thank you. >> matthew, i'm just speaking

here today as someone who likes mclaren park. a theme in this meeting that happens, mclaren is one of the underinvested parks in the city, not the worse, but i'm glad to have the project go ahead. and provide the super important i menty for the -- amenity for the park in this part of the city. thank you. >> president buell: thank you. >> hi, good afternoon. i'm genie crawford. i live by the park. i walk there every morning early to get my exercise for about three miles. and i want to speak about how badly we need this restroom. i have a visual. if i put it here, will this show up? because i walk by the porta-potty every day in my

walk, we have all been so upset with how this porta-potty has not been maintained well and often has no latch and so i started taking pictures every week. and we tried to get it -- see if we could get it cleaned more. here's more pictures. but, we desperately need the restroom that alexis ward has in the package. it will be so wonderful to have that there for the group. group picnic area. that's the point i wanted to really emphasize. thank you. >> president buell: thank you very much. >> hello. i work the san francisco parks alliance. we're really excited to be partnering with rec and park on the mclaren playground renovation and all of the

let'splaysf! playground. i support the addition of the swings and bathroom. every kid loves swings and everyone deserves a proper restroom. and especially given the community support for the project. we're excited to see this move forward. thank you. >> president buell: thank you. >> any other public comment? richard still here? seeing none -- >> president buell: you can't see him, but he's not here. >> public comment is closed. >> commissioner anderson: i just had a couple of questions. i'm looking at -- well, it's page 305 of our packet. it says mclaren playground funding at the top. and under the section that says group picnic area restroom project, it's $1.7 million i

guess to construct the -- there is $820,000 to construct the physical structure of the restroom, is that what it is? >> correct, that's the construction contract amount. >> commissioner anderson: and then soft costs? what are soft costs? >> soft costs include my time on the project, permitting, construction management, the architectural and engineering fees. there are all the utilities drawings. that kind of thing. >> commissioner anderson: have those fully been expended yet? >> not all of them. we do have still a soft cost reserve that we are hopefully we won't need to expend that. >> commissioner anderson: i thought it might be interesting to let people know it's really expensive to build anything in the city. and right now, the price tag for this bathroom is $1.7 million. i'm flabbergasted by that. and not because i don't believe