Renovations are in full swing at Joe DiMaggio Playground (651 Lombard St.)—so much so that they're actually ahead of schedule, at least so far.
Photo: Lizzy Hirsch/Friends of Joe DiMaggio
Lizzy Hirsch, founding member of Friends of Joe DiMaggio Playground and now the landscaper for the project, tells us that olive trees, palms, lavender shrubs, and various drought-tolerant Australian grasses and plants are ready to be planted. Olive trees have already replaced the felled ficus trees along Lombard Street at Powell, and Mediterranean fan palms went in on Sept. 24th.
A turreted play structure is up, too, and the rusting, crumbling chain link fence surrounding the playground is coming down. A new fence is already up along Powell Street, and paving is well underway.
Photo: Geri Koeppel/Hoodline
Photo: Geri Koeppel/Hoodline
New fence on Powell Street. Photo: Geri Koeppel/Hoodline
Even if the blacktop is completed in time, however, there will be no Trick or Trunk Halloween Extravaganza at the playground this year. (At Trick or Trunk, people decorate their cars for Halloween and serve candy from their trunks to costumed kids.) But the event will go on.
Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center, North Beach Neighbors, and Friends of Joe DiMaggio Playground have joined forces to put on a Halloween event at Tel-Hi Center's gym and playground, 660 Lombard St., from 2–6pm Saturday, Oct. 31st. It'll feature a haunted house, jumpy houses and crafts, as in past years. If enough participants sign up in advance, organizers will ask to close Lombard Street between Mason and Powell to accommodate the cars for Trick or Trunk.
Photo: Geri Koeppel/Hoodline
The fundraising effort for the playground’s fish sculpture was a success; the sculpture is now on-site, and will soon be set up for display. Tiles with the names of donors have already appeared on the southeast corner of the playground, with the remaining ones set to be installed toward the end of October. A second round of tiles will be added at a later date, and are still on sale for $300 or $500, depending on the style.
Photo: Rose Garrett/Hoodline
The popular Off the Grid food trucks will also not be returning to the improved Joe DiMaggio Playground. However, neighborhood organizations including North Beach Neighbors, Friends of Joe DiMaggio, and Friends of Washington Square are looking for a way to revive Off the Grid at a new location in the spring.
History buffs, take note: Perhaps one of the last vestiges of pre-1906 earthquake North Beach was dug up during the reconstruction of the playground. Near the former bathrooms, north of the toddler playground, workers uncovered a brick chimney along with ashes and broken pottery. After the earthquake, that block of Columbus Avenue became the sandlot where Joe DiMaggio played ball. Later, a legitimate playground and the old library were built there, so that old chimney probably puffed its last just before the quake and fires of '06.
