The brand new Herz Playground Rec Center is now OPEN

[Linda Stark Litehiser]

The new facility is a long sought dream to connect various recreation opportunities and merge it seamlessly with the existing boundary of Herz Playground. Now the landscape flows from the existing grass ball fields, (new) play structures, native plant garden, tennis courts, club house and coffman pool. For decades, the old park footprint and the nearby Sunnydale community were separated by a chain link fence-creating an atmosphere of separateness. With new grating and creative pathways, the park and all the facilities are all part of a huge recreation campus--all incoraported in the southern edge of McLaren Park. 

(from Hoodline, Tony Ng)

"The new facility fills a long-standing gap in recreation access on the city’s southern edge. The San Francisco Chronicle noted that it is the first all-new multipurpose gym built from the ground up in San Francisco in more than 25 years. City planners and advocates say the Hub’s mix of housing, childcare and recreation is meant to stitch McLaren Park more closely to surrounding neighborhoods and boost everyday activity on the park’s southern flank, a goal reflected in design coverage by Architect Magazine".

Community members have eagerly anticipated the new Rec Center since planning first began in 2019. 

Originally built in 1965, Herz Playground is named after former Recreation and Park Commissioner Dr. Francis Joseph Herz, who served from 1953 to 1965. Prior to the 2023 playground renovation and the newly opened Rec Center, the park last received major improvements in 1998. 

Here are some pics from the ribbon cutting and new park landscaping.  

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