Civic Design Review highlights Buchanan Street Mall plan and other city projects

Kimberly Stryker, chair of the Civic Design Review Committee, told the Arts Commission that the committee reviewed four projects in September and focused attention on a multi-block Buchanan Street Mall in the Fillmore District.

Stryker described the Buchanan Street Mall proposal as a five-block renovation that layers open-space design, play and exercise areas, and a curated sequence of vertical structures for public artwork called the "memory walk," which the committee said interprets the neighborhood's history (the area was referenced historically as "Harlem of the West"). Designers and staff reported extensive community engagement during the project's design phases.

Stryker also listed other projects reviewed: phase 1 of the San Francisco MTA Patero yard (a muni maintenance yard with housing above), a conceptual design for a new childcare center at Zuckerberg General Hospital that will return for formal review, and fence designs for three groundwater pumping stations managed by the Public Utilities Commission. Commissioners asked who would maintain the Buchanan Street Mall; Stryker stated that Recreation and Park (Rec and Park) would have permanent maintenance responsibility and commissioners and staff noted interdepartmental coordination with Rec and Park during planning.

No public comments were recorded for the committee report during the meeting. Commissioners who spoke praised the collaborative process and the way community values were integrated into the designs.

What happens next: staff and project teams will continue coordination with Rec and Park and other departments as the Buchanan Street Mall and other reviewed projects move toward formal approvals and production.