Dolores Park renovation threatens to remove bike polo courts

Katie over at Refinery 29 says a “source close to the project” revealed that the bike polo courts (AKA “tennis courts”) might be removed as part of the Dolores Park renovation. And just what do they propose to put in its place? A dog park, where your respective pit bulls and yorkshire terriers can frolic and socialize in perfect harmony.

Not sure of the validity of the claim, but true to San Francisco form, there is already a petition about it, so go sign that if you hate dogs and love bike polo (or tennis).

In other news, Mission Mission is now considering starting a petition to install outdoor ping pong tables in the “fruit shelf” area of the park. Stay tuned.

[via Refinery 29]

15 Responses to “Dolores Park renovation threatens to remove bike polo courts”

  1. KyleM says:

    I would think if you love dogs you would sign against it. A space just for dogs would mean the rest of the park would be expected to be dog free. I think we should build a pibull only space thats filled with sharp blades and poison meat. I would sign a petition for that.

  2. WE WANT PING PONG!

  3. Brenden says:

    I’ve been going to the planning meetings for the Dolores Park renovation for two months now, and i don’t ANYONE has proposed eliminating any of the tennis courts. In fact most of the talk revolves around adding more multi-use (read: bike polo) courts along side the existing tennis courts.

  4. xian says:

    Yay, Bike Polo! Tennis is soooo over anyway…

  5. tacotron says:

    I don’t use them, but I say keep ‘em. Every now and then someone wants to bat a shuttlecock around.

  6. Robert says:

    This is not true. The renovation of the courts is required by the 2008 Bond. At the public workshop last week, attended by 120 park users, we were all instructed to find a place for the renovated courts in any proposed plans. There is a discussion on making one of the courts multipurpose and sharing it with the SF Bike Polo League. Tennis is an important part of Dolores Park.

  7. Gillian Gillett says:

    Robert is correct.

  8. danfinger says:

    Here’s a ‘The more you know!’ moment for you!
    SF Park & Rec currently has 132 tennis courts in SF. A typical tennis court is 120×60 feet. 120×60 = 7200 Sq. Ft.– 7200 x 132 = 950,400 sq. ft.
    So, almost 1 million square feet of public park property is devoted solely to tennis. P&R rules preclude the use of tennis courts for anything except tennis. Bike polo has been granted temporary permission to play at 21st & Shotwell but the area is not completely bounded by wall or fence and there is constant interruption between them and the basketball court. The situation is frustrating to both the basketball players and the polo players.
    Delores Park NEEDS a multi-use court. Polo is only one sport that can use the space. SF Bike polo is more than willing to share the space with anyone else who wishes to use it. Are the tennis players willing to give up a fraction of available space to others who are willing to share with them? So far the answer has been a resounding ‘NO’.

    I applaud those involved in the reconstruction process. Last week’s meeting was really inspiring and gives me hope for some equity. THANK YOU SF P&R!

  9. Bret says:

    We used to use the courts for games Volleybonk on Sunday nights, and I would be saddened to see the courts go. A multipurpose court would be great.

  10. danfinger says:

    This is a pretty obvious ploy by Emmanuel Delorme to get hits on a petition for tennis only. Notice the petition mentions nothing of a multi-use play area.

    Hey Emmanuel, why can’t you share some of that million square feet of court?

  11. DK says:

    Why are they cutting down the trees around the playground???

  12. Sean Zilla says:

    There will be no bikes on our tennis courts- one way or the other. For you idiots that don’t know, the courts would be ruined with tire marks, and too much space is needed. This is a fad that no city is fully prepared financially to insure. Last I heard, Mission High uses the courts for practice in the fall and spring seasons. I don’t think the city can remove any courts in district 8, but regardless, the courts will stay.