Construction on the new 2,500 square foot Lands End Lookout visitor center is coming along nicely. It’s located just above Sutro Baths at the edge of the Merrie Way parking lot.
The new center will also include 500 square feet of food service. A separate, 1,000 square foot building will house restrooms.
This Saturday, February 25, the Parks Conservancy is hosting an informational sessions on the new center from 10am until 11am. Project Managers from the National Park Service and Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy will provide an update on the construction process, including the interior and exterior of the building.
To attend, meet in the Lands End Parking Lot on Pt. Lobos Avenue (close to the construction site) at 10am.
Sarah B.
This is an amazing project. Did the Park Service, or anyone, realize they were going to block and eliminate spectacular public views of the coastline with this concrete building. I thought the Cliff House remodel was awful and while it did end up blocking views of the ocean with a solid wall of concrete, this visitor center is even worse because that was an open vista before this building. What were they thinking ?!?
While it changes the view from up the hill, there is still the walkway in front of the building that runs above Sutro Baths. So viewers still have that completely unobstructed view just in front of the building which has always been there. You don’t have to be “in” the building the enjoy the view.
Sarah B.
I agree with 4oceans. What a disaster. The entire project is awful. Now the parking lot is twice as big as it used to be, which means lots of trees were removed. And now this. I used to love walking west on Geary to the Cliff House, where suddenly rounding the corner and coming down the slope at, I believe, 47th Ave. just at the beginning of Sutro Park, I could get an unobstructed, magnificent view of the ocean. Not any more. I’m heartsick. I hope a strong wind comes along and blows this away. And, BTW, where was the community when this was planned? I thought groups like PAR were s’posed to look after these kinds of things. Couldn’t this center have been placed toward the Eastern side of the parking lot instead?
What I don’t understand is, why do you need 1000 sq feet for restrooms? 500sqft for food service is small, that’s just a little smaller than my apartment. But 1000sq ft for restrooms is definitely larger than my apartment…seems a bit excessive.
i agree that it would have been better to place the structure in a less conspicuous spot. i absolutely hate seeing the structure as i come downhill toward the beach on geary. it’s the ONE spot that shoudnt have been used.
administrator, your spin comment is infuriating.
Unfortunately, I think this atrocity is a sign of things to come. It was donated by wealthy members of San Francisco’s elite, who were allowed to select a prime piece of real estate for their own vanity. And the problem continues.
The next vanity project is planned for Golden Gate Park, where 10 acres of natural landscaping is going to be replaced with artificial sports turf, complete with toxic rubber tire crumbs, and 60 foot high sports lights that will create a helipad every single night of the week. City Fields Foundation, largely supported by the Fisher family of Gap fame and their ilk, are paying for this project. While some people argue the purpose of the project is to give kids a chance to play soccer, there are plenty of better alternatives that are not being considered.
If you want to learn more about this, please go to http://www.sfoceanedge.org Write our Supervisor Eric Mar and tell him our neighborhood’s real estate is too precious to sell off the highest bidder.
I completely agree with you tom, the only reason I can think of why this place was built is for socialite partys and events. It seems that the same reason the old academy of science was demolished was for socialite events has happened here, I’m curious who’s idea this was as I never heard they had any plans like this until I drove by one day and already saw most of the dam thing built!
It’s a hideous obstruction in front of one of most gorgeous sweeping vistas of our urban paradise.
I have an idea. Let’s all promise that from now on we’ll be observant and vigilant about anything we believe will harm our urban paradise (thank you, Hilary.) Then we’ll spread the word and marshall our forces and work as hard as possible to stop these projects. We must all join together, otherwise the 1% will destroy the soul of our City.
I just checked the blog’s archives, and found a 2010 story about this project. Even worse, I found the following: “The new visitor center and accompanying restrooms won’t fill the entire space along Point Lobos which was parceled out back in 1993 when planning for Lands End was underway. Future phases may include another 5,500 square feet of facilities.” What, another 5,500 square feet of facilities in addition to this monstrosity? No way!!!
Geez, you’d think they were rebuilding Sutro Baths with the negativity on this post (and this blog in general). It’s a visitors center. It’s for the people. It is not that big. Have you forgotten the scale of the previous developments here? This visitors center will help people interpret the history of the area, which included some monster developments by the way. If you want unobstructed natural views, what are you doing living in the second densest populated city in this country?
re. Positivity
You’re right, it’s just a visitor’s center. So why was it situated so that it blocks a portion of one of the best vistas in San Francisco? This building could have been put elsewhere and still serve its purpose, while not detracting from the scenery. The wonder of San Francisco is that while it may be densely populated, it is on one of the most impressively magnificent pieces of land in the country, if not the world. We need to value, respect and retain this City for its natural beauty. Unobstructed natural views may not matter to everyone, but they are one of San Francisco’s most valuable assets, and must be treated with great care and respect. I don’t think we’re being negative. I join with the others who’ve written expressing concern and regret that our landscape has been despoiled.
For those of you who are surprised at this building… Sarah’s been covering it for all the stages of design & building…. perhaps you need to pay attention to the blog & not just yell when things “pop” up in your views!
@ Tom…. I think your “spin” on the soccer fields is a bit over the top…. we need playing fields that are open year round and not just in daylight! I know you’re going to yell right back… but there are other opinions & we all need to find a way to live togehter. The “elite’ that so bother you have done a lot to support some amazing projects in San Francisco like Crissy Field.
@Susan Nope, I’m not going to yell. I’m going to say that artificial turf soccer fields with 60 foot high lights that’ll be on ’til 10 pm every night don’t belong in Golden Gate Park. The Park in general, and the western end of the park in particular, was designed to enable people living in a dense, urban environment to have a respite in nature. Maybe it sounds olde fashioned, but fresh air, sunshine, and nature are very important for all of us. There’s no substitute for the sight and scent of a natural environment.
Sure, soccer is important. That’s why those of us who don’t want the artificial turf fields in GGP encourage Rec & Park and CityFields Foundation to find other places to put more soccer fields, preferably natural ones, and definitely without toxic rubber tire crumb. But Golden Gate Park isn’t just another piece of property…acreage to be developed with concrete, plastic, tire crumb, and the like. Golden Gate Park is very, very special. It’s an oasis, an idyllic, verdant, pastoral space created by brilliant visionaries to be enjoyed for its beauty and natural elements.
Ah, Crissy Field. Crissy Field is fantastic. A terrific example of everyone coming together to revitalize a space with natural surfaces, wildlife refuges, marshlands, and the like. It’d be great if the soccer fields were renovated with the same love and respect as Crissy Fields. But, tragically, that’s not what’s planned. The bulldzozers will come, dozens of trees will be chopped down, pavement will be poured, and the birds and other critters will come no more. We need to nurture the park, not tear it apart.
I, too, fervently hope we can all come together and agree that as important as night soccer may be, it may not be as important as preserving our parkland and our wildlife. There are other places in SF for soccer fields. There’s only one Golden Gate Park.
Don’t the people in San Francisco know that the Powers-That-Be crap up everything they touch!
Does anyone have a picture of this latest monstrosity that they can post (has it been completed)? Also, speaking of monstrosities, what about the new giant white structure (water tower) on Alcatraz? Talk about killing the beauty of a landmark!
Also, was everyone asleep when this visitors center was proposed? Were there no public meetings, etc? I guess we’re all too busy tweeting-out on the latest electronic toys. I, for one, hadn’t even heard of this project.
This is a project of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area so I don’t think Eric Mar is involved.
I originality felt very similar to the earlier posters in regards to the Lookout ruining the view and being an all-around boondoggle. All I can say now is, LOOKOUT! because this baby’s almost done and it is actually kinda awesome.
Gee whiz, I have been very excited about the new building. I think the location is chosen on factors such as: ground stability, utility services, and disabled access. Of course it is near the road! I like the design, too. It’s OK with me that people do not like the building or it’s location, but this is supposed to be a world class city. City being the operative word here. AND, when it comes to civic projects, Land’s End has been largely ignored for three decades. Imagine what it would look like if they had kept the street car rails on Geary. There would have to be some sort of transit terminus here complete with bathrooms and dining–designed in the ugly sixties!
The visitor center is being built for and managed by the Golden Gate Parks Conservancy which raises money to maintain all the beautiful parks we have in and around San Francisco in case you complainers didn’t know. If the Park’s Conservancy had not taken over Lands End in the 1970s the whole parking lot, Sutro ruins, etc would be apartments or condos.
I spoke to a Conservancy employee and one of the construction workers when I was going to hike the trail recently and this project as mentioned above has been in planning since 1993 it just took years to make it a reality. It is a certified green building and was designed with all visitors (including those with mobility issues) in mind.
I think it is great that there are organizations like the Golden Gate Parks Conservancy around to maintain and preserve part of our natural scenery, without them every ocean view in San Francisco would be privately owned. Has anyone recently hiked Lands End trail? It has been greatly improved thanks to these folks.
Looking forward to the opening of this visitor center.