A vandalized mural located where Judah Street meets the Great Highway Park was restored over the weekend by volunteers. "I was overjoyed by and incredibly grateful for the outpouring of community support following the incident," wrote muralist Emily Fromm in an email to Streetsblog. "
The 60 foot public mural, A History of Play, was spray painted with graffiti on March 14, shortly after its completion. The mural represents the first of a long line of artwork commissioned towards converting the Great Highway into a two-mile oceanfront park. The graffiti coincided with other acts of vandalism, including sawing through some of the new park's wayfinding signs.
More anti-park graffiti appeared this past weekend. From a city release:
Spray-painted messages, apparently left overnight, were discovered Sunday morning scrawled on the former Great Highway and surrounding areas near Noriega Street. They included slogans opposing the park, which was mandated by San Francisco voters in November, as well as misspelled grievances such as “gentriffy” and “Your bringing trouble….” San Francisco police and park rangers responded. Rangers have increased their patrols.
The San Francisco Chronicle characterized the acts as part of "growing opposition" to turning the former highway into a park. However, Streetsblog confirmed there is no polling or other evidence for that—a statement from San Francisco Rec and Parks opines that the vandalism represents "isolated instances of bad behavior."
The city reported that all of the graffiti was cleaned up as of the publication of this post.
“People are loving the oceanfront park, and while there will always be a few outliers who choose to be destructive, we’re not going to let that get in the way of the community enjoying this space,” said Friends of Ocean Beach Park President Lucas Lux in a statement. “This weekend, thousands of people took advantage of the nice weather to use the park, even while it’s under construction. Destructive behavior by a few won’t get in the way of our work to make the coast enjoyable and accessible by all.”
Advocates with Lux's group are preparing a series of temporary art exhibits as the official opening day for the park, April 12, approaches. Find out more about it here. And help come up with a permanent name for the park by submitting your preferences here.
"Our coast deserves more than two miles of gray concrete, and we’re excited about the long-term work to restore a more natural environment," wrote the group in a post about the efforts.
