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ChronicleWatch: Working for a better Bay Area
Delfin Vigil
Sunday, September 21, 2003
©2003 San Francisco Chronicle

WHAT'S NOT WORKING

In 1978, a year after San Francisco police Officer Douglas E. Gibbs was shot through the heart and killed while on patrol in the Tenderloin, dozens of his friends and family members gathered at Lake Merced to dedicate a children's fishing pier in his memory. The idea for a memorial pier came about because Gibbs, who left behind three daughters and a wife, regularly took children on boating trips during the summers. Now, 25 years later, the pier has rotted and collapsed. A jungle of weeds surrounds the chain-link fence that blocks the pier from public use, and trash is littered throughout the memorial area. Betsy Aronson of San Francisco noticed the condition and contacted ChronicleWatch. "Surely something can be done to restore the dignity of this fallen hero," she said.

Status: Elizabeth Goldstein, general manager of the city's Recreation and Park Department, told ChronicleWatch that she is well aware of the memorial pier's condition. "It's definitely on our radar screen and we're going to take care of it as fast as we can," she said. However, Goldstein explained, the pier is part of a long-term project that may take as long as a year to complete. The plan is to renovate the entire area, including the nearby Boathouse restaurant, which is also closed due to its bad condition. And in order to properly rebuild the pier, Lake Merced's exact water level must be decided -- another issue expected to be resolved within a year.

Who's responsible: Elizabeth Goldstein, general manager of the Recreation and Park Department, (415) 831-2700; [email protected]

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