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.