sunnyside conservatory 3.0 launches with pomp, bagpipes, mayor

following the previous night’s major buzzkill (see below), it was sweet to see the sun come out, along with the gav (erm, his honor, the mayor), for the truly glorious opening of our neighborhood jewel, the newly renovated sunnyside conservatory.

a who’s who of sunnyside movers and shakers, along with regular folk like you and me (!), were treated to a redux worthy of the historic site. the designers have achieved a nice balance between acknowledging the conservatory’s storied past and creating a fully functional and rentable space for locals to use for events ranging from community activities to private parties.

i got there a bit late, but from what i hear and saw, the gav got a kick out of the new spot and rock starred it up a bit with a crowd clearly flattered he was spending a sunny saturday in sunnyside.

he was generous with the pics, and it took him longer to leave than most assumed he would spend there in total, but i chose to take my time with the mayor as an opportunity to promote this site! because i am a whore.

turns out local photog bill wilson caught the moment:

check out bill’s photo album from the day.

it was super to see the people i’ve met in the past year since launching this blog, particularly the friends of monterey blvd. with a full-on setup that attracted a lot of attention from locals curious about those “slow down!” signs. one lady construed it as a general zen comment, which was fine with the fomb’ers!

all in all, a great day in the ‘hood.

sunnyside conservatory is go!

as i’m sure most of you noticed, a LOT has happened in the last week or so at the sunnyside conservatory site. the trailer’s gone, we got the sidewalk back, and a new sign is up!

plus, we now have a grand opening date, saturday, nov. 5 dec. 5, with a cool theme appropriate to the occasion.

here’s a behind-the-scenes update from the sunnyside neighborhood association:

“San Francisco Historic Landmark Site #78, the Sunnyside Conservatory, has reached substantial completion of capital renovations and will reopen to the public at a Celebration on Saturday, Dec. 5, 11am-2pm; ribbon cutting at noon. Celebratory activities and refreshments will be reminiscent of a gathering likely to be seen in the late 1800s at the family home of the original owner, William Merralls.

This spectacular site was neglected for decades. The current retrofit is the payoff for dedicated residents who struggled to save the site from being torn don to make way for an apartment complex, and who worked closely with Rec. & Park so that no detail was too small to not be addressed. The original character is preserved with materials and unique architectural features intact—it will look much as it did 100 years ago.

Although the octagonal building was originally a horse-n-buggy turn-around and open to the elements, the retrofit now encloses the interior which will be comfortable, well lit and featuring state-of-the-art controls to keep the space secure. Many types of public and private gatherings can be accommodated. A small kitchenette space is an added feature particularly useful for events including food service.

The landscaping still features magnificent palms, including the tall, smooth skinned Chilean Wine Palm. Flora was specifically selected to enhance the palms and be low water consumers. Winding paths add interest and ease of movement throughout.

FSC is engaging the community for stewardship of the site and surrounding Joost Mini-Park and Monterey Blvd. median garden. Regular public access to the building will be an issue for discussion with Rec. & Park at the November 16 Community Meeting. FSC welcomes ideas on backyard sustainability and artistic experience, and will solicit helping hands for Opening Day.

Stay tuned: www.sunnysideconservtory.org “

great work everyone! this has been a tremendous effort by the community, and for the community, and you’ve done us proud.

the story with the conservatory

as you can see above, progress is whizzing along on the sunnyside conservatory. just think of what it looked like this time last year! it looks pretty darn cool, so the question on residents’ minds is – when will it be ready for prime time?

i spoke with sally at the sunnyside conservatory project (the people who made this happen), and she said that while all involved had hoped it would be open to the public by halloween, it’s now unclear whether or not it’ll be ready to go before winter.

which is plenty of time for locals to figure out what we’re gonna do with it.

making earth day matter on the local level

the lovely folks at the sunnyside conservatory project have done a good job of getting these posters out and about, but just in case you’re a shut-in or too busy cooking meth in your dark, dank basement, i thought i’d help promote this good deed.

dunno if i’ll be in town for it myself, but if so i’ll gawkin’ with my stone-age digital camera.

sunnyside stimulus

 

(kevin rogers/the chronicle)

 

 

just in case you might have missed the chron’s bit of sunnyside love this past sunday, here it is in a form that won’t clutter up your ottoman.

so this is supposed to “finally” give some identity to our neighborhood? interesting. we’ll see. anything beats monterey pizza, i suppose. maybe they can offer an indication of the history of the area somehow, like maybe some prints of old photos like the ones up at the glen park library.

just an indication of how different sunnyside will be in five years. can you feel the excitement? we’ll only be a heartbeat away from gentrification! can’t wait …

and it’s sure cool to see the hood contributing to the flaccid economy by keeping some hardhats at work! pretty prescient of the fotc to make sure dem shovels got ready in december.