In case you haven’t noticed, the Presidio is putting the finishing touches on the seven homes (3 single-family residences and 8 duplex units) along Wyman Avenue, just inside the 15th Avenue gate (east of the Presidio Landmark). I got a chance to walk through one of them last month (video tour below).

If you want to see them in person, stop by Wyman Avenue this Saturday, September 4th or next Wednesday, September 8th between 11am and 3pm for an open house. They did a great job of bringing the homes up to modern standards without sacrificing their historic character.

According to the press release for the open house events, the Presidio had their work cut out for them with the project:

Because the Wyman houses were vacant for more than two decades and difficult to police because of their remote location, the homes were in the worst condition of any the Trust has rehabilitated. They had been broken into and vandalized; their walls tagged with graffiti. Exposed to the elements, their wood floors had buckled, and copper thieves had stripped the buildings of anything they could make off with.

The result is homes that have an historic feel, but also feature modern, energy efficient heating, plumbing and electrical systems and appliances. The most ingenious design decision however, may have been the addition of “dormers,” which added height to the roofs and allowed the attics to be converted into additional bedrooms and, in one instance, a master suite.

No pets are allowed in the Wyman homes which is ironic since dogs and their owners stroll by Wyman constantly on their way to Mountain Lake Park. Will Wyman renters look longingly at the passing dogs, wishing they could have one too?

We also don’t know how much the Wyman homes will rent for; that info was conspicuously absent from the press release (shocking behavior for the Presidio, I know). The website says the 3 bed / 2 bath at 1700 sq. ft., presumably one half of a duplex, will rent for $5,395. No rents are listed for the other units or homes.

When you visit, you’ll also notice the gleaming, copper gutters on the houses. I hope they have security cameras trained on those beauties…

Sarah B.

[via SFCitizen]

Next Wednesday night, the Bazaar Cafe will host another free “how-to” night, this time teaching attendees how to build their own telescope.

Local amateur astronomer Douglas Smith will explain basic optics, discuss the different types of telescopes and their components, and demonstrate the process of making those components.

Smith recently completed FirstLight — a 16.5″ primary mirror Dobsonian truss-tube telescope which he’ll show off at this year’s Maker Faire. If you just did a “Whaaat?” with that sentence like I did, here’s what a Dobsonian scope is all about:

A Dobsonian telescope is an alt-azimuth mounted newtonian telescope design popularized by the amateur astronomer John Dobson starting in the 1960s. Dobson’s telescopes featured a simplified mechanical design that was easy to manufacture from readily available components to create a large, portable, low-cost telescope. [Wikipedia]

The free class on September 8th begins at 7pm at the Bazaar Cafe at 5927 California near 22nd Avenue. After class, you can also try out Smith’s FirstLight and other telescopes for a little stargazing. Fog permitting of course.

Sarah B.

Photo by Plomomedia

Congratulations to photographer Stephen Thomson (website) whose photo of the raccoons communing with a MUNI driver at the Legion will be included in the new exhibition “Night/Light: Bay Area Photographers Take Aim After Dark.”

The exhibit runs from September 16, 2010 until January 14, 2011 in the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery on the ground floor of City Hall.

The work selected for the exhibition explores what happens after sunset and before sunrise, showcasing nighttime images ranging from landscapes to portraits, from photodocumentary essays to fantastical narratives.

Stephen has taken lots of wonderful photos of the Richmond District; check them out in the slideshow below.

In other night photo news, SFWeekly has a nice slideshow of “San Francisco At Night” images from photographer Joseph Schell.

Sarah B.

The Examiner reports today that city officials are considering “shutting down parks overnight and allowing cops to jail chronic trespassers.”

Unlike most major parks in metropolitan areas, Golden Gate Park does not close. It’s legal to be in the park at any hour, but you can’t sleep there. Despite it being illegal to camp in the park, it does little to deter homeless encampments. And police don’t have many options other than to issue citations to campers which are usually dismissed in traffic court. Mayor Newsom met a homeless man with 52 citations to his name who continues to call the park home.

A summer of violent incidents in the park has drawn attention, once again, to the homeless problem and potential safety issues for park patrons. On July 1, three people were attacked by dogs that belonged to homeless campers (who were never identified). A few days later on July 4th, a man was stabbed near the Conservatory of Flowers. And just this week, a homeless man was beaten to death near Kezar Stadium.

Most parks in other cities are closed from 10pm to 6am, which if applied to Golden Gate Park, would give police the authority to arrest campers for trespassing during overnight hours. So far the idea is just in the discussion phase, as are other ideas to beef up patrols overall during nighttime hours in the city.

What do you think? Is closing Golden Gate Park in the late night hours the right solution? Would it matter to you if it was technically off limits from 10pm until 6am?

Sarah B.

Special thanks to RichmondSFBlog reader Sue for sharing her recent ebay acquisition with us. It’s an antique map of the San Francisco Bay Area from 1909 that was part of a guidebook published by Fritz Baedeker of Leipzig, Germany.

Some interesting tidbits from the map (download full map):

- “The Chutes” is marked in the Richmond District. Located at Fulton and 10th Avenue, it was the first amusement park in the city and the precursor to Playland (photo). You’ll also notice the Marine Hospital is labeled, which is now the Presidio Landmark apartments inside the 15th Avenue gate.

- Most of the Sunset District is still wide open, a.k.a sand dunes.

- Some areas have names I’ve never heard of. Twin Peaks is labeled as “Blue Mountain”, Tennessee Valley in Marin is referred to as “Elk Valley” (were there elk there at one time?), and Yerba Buena Island is referred to as “Goat Island”.

- You’ll notice “Quarantine” overlaying Angel Island in its upper right corner. That refers to the quarantine station on the north side of the island that was opened in Ayala Cove (then known as Hospital Cove) in 1891. Returning soldiers, and later immigrants, were quarantined there.

Click here to view the full map (2MB)

Notice anything else odd or surprising about the map? Leave a comment to let us know.

Sarah B.

Battery Chamberlin’s Number 3 gun being fired prior to it’s removal in 1918.
Image courtesy of Chuck Woffard | militarymuseum.org

This Saturday, the 50-ton cannon at Battery Chamberlin at Baker Beach will be on display to the public from 11am until 3pm (map & directions).

The Army built Battery Chamberlin, just above Baker Beach, in 1904 to protect the harbor’s minefields. The battery’s “disappearing” guns could be cranked in and out of their hidden emplacement on the beach. The battery, which was the last fortification to be constructed at Fort Winfield Scott, was named in honor of Captain Lowell A. Chamberlin, a Civil War veteran who died in 1899.

Stop by Saturday for a demonstration on how the “disappearing” gun works, including how to load and aim it (sorry, no firing allowed). Plus check out photos of the century-old Endicott system batteries in one of the underground cartridge rooms.

In case of rain, call (415) 561-4323 for schedule. You can drive in and access Battery Chamberlin from the north end of the Baker Beach parking lot.

For more information on Battery Chamberlin and the guns that lived there, check out militarymuseum.org.

Sarah B.

[via Funcheapsf.com]

Calling all do-it-yourself publishers! This Saturday and Sunday from 11am until 6pm, the annual Zine Fest conference will be held at the County Fair Building in the park at 9th Avenue and Lincoln Boulevard.

San Francisco Zine Fest is a free, annual two-day show for independent and underground publishers. The festival is full of small press, zines, comics and other do-it-yourselfers who are passionate about their subjects. While the focus is on zines, all walks of DIY life are represented — comics, arts and crafts, literary presses, and more.

According to the Zine Fest website, there will be more than 100 small press and DIY exhibitors, special guests, hands-on workshops, and informative panels. So no matter what you’re into, you’re sure to find a zine creator at the show that feels your passion.

This year’s conference includes two new features – a dedicated Reading Room, with dozens of small-press titles from Zine Fest exhibitors and other creators, and the first ever on-site art show, Punk Tabloid, a retrospective of three seminal Bay Area publications: Search & Destroy, Damage and Another Room Magazine. These massive newsprint broadsheets – chronicles of the vibrant punk scene of the late 70s and early 80s – showcase the roots of the modern smallpress culture that the Zine Fest annually celebrates.

Sarah B.

Richmond District artist Jay Mercado, known for his donut masterpieces, posted these slices of Americana on his blog recently. They remind me of summer, even though we’re not having one.

Jay’s studio and gallery, Art Mercado, is located on the corner of 10th and California.

Sarah B.