After more than two decades without a new, ground-up facility, San Francisco has finally opened the doors to the Herz Recreation Center inside John McLaren Park, providing Sunnydale and Visitacion Valley with a long-promised home base for sports and community life. The 11,500-square-foot center features a gym, classrooms, and expanded outdoor space on the city’s south side, marking the first recreation center the city has built from scratch in over 25 years. City officials and neighborhood partners gathered for a ribbon-cutting last Friday to celebrate the milestone.
According to the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, the $26.1 million project is funded through a mix of city bonds, federal grants and private dollars. Planning for the center began in 2019, with shovels finally hitting the ground in 2023. The department’s project page details the funding breakdown and construction timeline and describes Herz as a key piece of the larger "Hub" campus that sits next to the Sunnydale redevelopment.
As reported by SFGATE, Mayor Daniel Lurie said the center "expands access to safe, welcoming public space" for residents of Sunnydale and Visitacion Valley. Opening celebrations featured open-gym time and a youth demonstration game, and the new basketball court is built to seat roughly 200 people for games and community events.
What’s inside the center
Inside, the building features a regulation-size basketball court with bleacher seating, a multipurpose room for classes and events, staff offices and an on-site kitchen, according to Rec & Park. Outside, the project adds a fitness terrace, new picnic areas and landscaped open space, along with upgraded pathways that better connect the playground to neighborhood services.
The San Francisco Arts Commission has also left its mark at the front door. A new permanent public artwork, "Reflection and Projection" by Sanjay Vora, now greets visitors at the center’s entrance, according to the San Francisco Arts Commission.
Partners and the Hub
The recreation center is one piece of a larger neighborhood overhaul. The project was developed in partnership with the HOPE SF team, Mercy Housing and Related California as part of the Sunnydale Community Hub, which also includes a larger community center, childcare services and new affordable housing, The San Francisco Standard reported.
Local nonprofits are expected to play a big role once the campus is fully humming. Organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club and Wu Yee Children’s Services are slated to run programs on-site, creating additional after-school options and early-childhood services for neighborhood families.
Why this matters for Sunnydale
The new facility fills a long-standing gap in recreation access on the city’s southern edge. The San Francisco Chronicle noted that it is the first all-new multipurpose gym built from the ground up in San Francisco in more than 25 years. City planners and advocates say the Hub’s mix of housing, childcare and recreation is meant to stitch McLaren Park more closely to surrounding neighborhoods and boost everyday activity on the park’s southern flank, a goal reflected in design coverage by Architect Magazine.
Programming details and schedules for classes, open gym and youth sports will be posted on the Recreation and Park Department’s project page as the city phases in operations this month. Neighbors looking to be first in the door can keep an eye on local coverage and Rec & Park updates for the latest on drop-in hours and registration.
