There’s a new neighborhood group that is working to renovate Mountain Lake Park’s children’s playground. It’s called Friends of Mountain Lake Park Playground (FMLPP), and it’s comprised of a local group of volunteers.
Mt. Lake Park’s playground received a “C” on the most recent Recreation and Parks playground assessment, one of the two lowest grades among the Richmond District’s network of parks. The FMLPP is spearheading the effort to renovate the playground because of its concerns with the park’s safety:
The playground, created nearly 30 years ago, contains deteriorated wooden structures that may contain arsenic and other hazardous materials once used to treat lumber. Children playing on the structures can be exposed to the toxins in the wood. Furthermore, the large amounts of sand surrounding the structure are difficult to keep clean and the playground lacks proper boundaries between both the nearby lake and busy streets.
FMLPP volunteers are working with the Neighborhood Parks Council, Friends of Mountain Lake Park and the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Council to raise the necessary funds for the renovation, which they hope to complete by 2013. FMLPP volunteer Jennifer Fetner estimates that the renovation budget will be in the range of $1.5 – $2 million dollars. The group hopes to raise half of the money in grants and the other half from private donors.
The FMLPP is also closely associated with another park group, the similarly named Friends of Mountain Lake Park, which was was formed in 1980 to help maintain the park; they also work with the Neighborhood Parks Council. If there are additional funds leftover in that group’s budget, they will also be put towards the playground renovation.
The main play structure at Mt. Lake Park Playground
“Mountain Lake Park is a San Francisco treasure,” said FMLPP volunteer Jennifer Fetner. “The playground and greater Mountain Lake Park have the potential to be a unique destination because of their unusual pairing: great play structures, hiking trails around the lake and open meadowland; there is really no other place in San Francisco quite like it.”
Mt. Lake Park would join the ranks of other neighborhood parks which recently renovated or are in the process including Lincoln Park Playground, Fulton Playground and Cabrillo Playground.
For more information on the Mt. Lake Park project, visit the FMLPP website. If you are interested in donating to the Mt. Lake Park Playground renovation project, you can donate online or mail a check to the address below (it MUST have the project name on it – Friends of Mountain Lake Park Playground):
Neighborhood Parks Council
451 Hayes Street – Second Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
Good luck to the FMLPP with their fundraising efforts!
Sarah B.
The lower part of the playground which includes slides, swings and a sand area.
This Park really needs a lot of renovation but not just the playground itself but I think the exercise equiptment, the tennis court, the sidewalks, rebuilding the bathrooms, the dog run area, the fields, the trees could be pruned or removed, basketball court needs renovation, and the stairs and walkway to the pond need to be remodeled, the party room near the and maybe some areas that people can’t go into should have fences. Also this park has always been like that ever since I was a kid and I just would like to see some improvement done.