Crocker-Amazon Park Improvement Proposal Divides Community

Passions flared at a community meeting about the future of the Crocker-Amazon Playground and Recreation Center.

The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department meeting about installing artificial turf baseball and softball fields drew over 100 people to the June Jordan High School on Wednesday night for over three hours.

The nearly $50 million project proposal calls for five artificial turf baseball diamonds, an artificial turf dog play area, batting cages, benches, tables and new lighting. It also proposes expanding the parking lot and improving pedestrian walkways, removing some trees with a two-to-one replacement, creating a community plaza for non-sports activities such as farmers' markets and live music and allowing some fields to be mixed-use for cricket players. One baseball field will remain grass.

“[The renovations] will bring a lot of pride to San Francisco and also [to] stakeholders throughout the city and even outside of the city,” District 11 Supervisor Chyanne Chen said. “We’ll be able to really come in and utilize this space and bring a lot of energy, but at the same time, it is really important that when we have a premier space, after the renovation, it’s important to remind us tonight, the people who are impacted the most are the neighborhood that is surrounded by the park.”

The proposal is a partnership between RPD and the San Francisco Giants and the Giants Community Fund. It will be funded largely by the Giants and the 2020 Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond.

“We very much want to improve the baseball and softball conditions of the park, for sure, but we want to improve the entire condition of the park,” Giants Chief Development Officer Jack Bair said, adding that he wants a park that the “community embraces, and that is a buzzing, fun, exciting, safe place for people to go.”

The proposal has birthed two groups on either side: Keep Crocker Real and Let’s Play Crocker.

Keep Crocker Real members want the nearly 40-acre grounds to remain grass and free of new chain-link fencing. They oppose artificial turf over its negative impacts on the environment, like the possibility of micro plastics leaching into the waterways and the risk of game-play injuries, and the potential cutting of trees would disrupt the wildlife.

The group is not against renovations to the park, but is seeking a solution that protects the green space. They have a petition calling for an immediate citywide moratorium on artificial turf that has over 500 signatures.

“You failed to inform the people that the plastic fields would be fenced off, all for profit,” said Bob Hall, a Keep Crocker Real member. “You’re evicting all the wildlife. You’re stopping peewee football games on the grass. You’re eliminating family reunion space and you’re adding 200,000 pounds of plastic that will be shedding little plastic fibers for decades.”

Let’s Play Crocker appears to be the work of Groundfloor Public Affairs, a public relations company that’s worked for the Giants, a letter from the company’s founder, Alex Tourk, obtained by Keep Crocker Real shows.

Let’s Play Crocker is advocating for the proposal as is, stating that the park has not been renovated since the 1990s and the artificial turf will be safer, easier and more enjoyable for the city’s 29 baseball and softball organizations that use the fields and encourage them to play year-round.

The group has a petition in support of the plans and claims over 1,200 people have signed, according to their website.

“I’m glad to hear that [RPD is] including more frisbee playing and family picnics out on the field,” Bay Sox Coach Rachelle "Rocky" Henley said in support of the renovations. “We’re not going to be there 24/7, but come out and play.”

Over 30 attendees used public comment to share a variety of feedback on issues ranging from environmental impacts, environmental studies, park ranger patrols, field lighting and why the Giants are supporting artificial turf when Major League Baseball teams play on natural grass.

Throughout RPD’s presentation and public comment, some crowd members hissed, booed and held up signs in protest at the mention of turf. Others called for respect for the speakers and told disruptive audience members to get in line to speak. Both sides of the debate cheered and clapped for comments they agreed with.

“You would be lucky to have this investment, and I hope that it goes through,” said Mary Harris, who sits on the advisory committee for the Minnie and Lovie Ward Recreation Center, which has artificial turf fields

Several youths shared their positions on the proposal. Most were in favor of the artificial turf, with some saying the Crocker-Amazon fields have been unpleasant and unavailable during the rainy season.

One youth asked RPD and the Giants leaders to compromise and keep half the fields natural.

RPD Project Manager Dan Mauer said some fields will be natural grass, but the goal is to maximize the amount of play year-round.

A majority of the conversation focused on the environmental impacts, with many representatives from Hummingbird Farm, a nearby community garden, expressing concern over runoff from the new turf going directly into their plots during the rainy season.

“We really need to think about what’s the compromise?” said Tere Almaguer, Hummingbird Farm and PODER’s Environmental Justice Organizer. “To me, artificial turf is not a compromise because, as an environmental justice organizer, yes, it’s easier to slide on, but what are the health impacts?”

Next steps for the project include gathering additional community feedback, plan refinements and presenting it for approval before the RPD commission sometime next year, Mauer said.

“The realness of Crocker is all of you,” a former park employee said. “Everyone here came because they believe in this park. One thing we should always do is take that love and build it so that the park you love the most, not just gets what it needs, but everyone can enjoy it. The best way we can do that is look at it as a unit and work together to make it great.”

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the number of attendees and the project description.